Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today was a very lazy day. Embarrassingly lazy. I spent the morning catching up on favorite television shows online, and during each commercial break I was bombarding with the Payton/Eli Manning versus Donald Trump Oreo spots. Have you seen these? They are cringe-worthy, but after 2 1/2 hours of television I turned to Matt and said, "Can you get me some Oreos?" (Very good call on their part to market to pathetic women in their pajamas watching equally questionable shows like Grey's Anatomy.)

Of course he said no, and since I was still not dressed I decided to take matters in my own hands and make some cookies. I saw delicious cookies on The Bright Side's blog, but I decided it was chocolate or bust today (I still had Oreos on the brain). I had a little bit of butter, a little bit of oats, a little bit of chocolate, and a little bit of raisins on hand. No worries, because I found the perfect recipe for a little bit of everything: Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are wonderful: crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside, and Matt and I adore the raisin/chocolate combo. Our favorite candy bar, in fact, is Cadbury's Fruit and Nut (chocolate, raisins, and almonds = divine). Even Matt, who is a cookie snob - oh, and he knows it - devoured them with his nightly coffee.

I'd also like to add they're quite filling, which is really a plus if you're like me and usually eat no less than eight cookies at a time.

Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies
(recipe courtesy of The Dragon's Kitchen)

Makes 16 large cookies.

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup golden raisins

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. In a mixer bowl cream together the butter, brown sugar and maple syrup until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the egg and vanilla, beating well.

3. In a bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

4. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture and mix until just incorporated.

5. Stir in the oatmeal, chocolate chips and raisins.

6. Drop 2 tablespoons of dough into mounds onto a parchment lined cookie sheets. I made my mounds bigger by using an ice cream scoop. Space mounds about 2 inches apart. Bake until lightly golden around the edges about 10-12 minutes.

My mom got Matt parchment paper (well, amongst other things) for Christmas this year. I'm not sure why. But she just wrote me an email saying she was looking at the blog and disappointed I had not used the parchment paper in any of the recipes so far. So this is for you, mom. Sit back and take it allll in.

What; you don't let your dog lick the bowl, too? (For anyone who eats at our house: all dishes are thoroughly washed and disinfected in the dishwasher. Well....most of them at least.)

Camouflage cookies!