Secret Ingredient Oatmeal Cookies-Guest Post

Everyone please welcome Heather from The Frill of Life as she is guest posting for me today and sharing her recipe for Oatmeal Cookies. These look so delicious! Make sure you check out her blog too!

I love oatmeal cookies. I remember when I was little my Dad used to keep iced oatmeal cookies in a fancy glass cookie jar on the counter. I used to sneak those cookies after everyone went to bed. I made an art out of getting the lid off and on without making the glass clang. But even better than those are homemade oatmeal cookies. You know, the ones that have a little crunch but are soft and chewy on the inside…

Is your mouth-watering yet? Mine certainly is!

I never could get them quite right, though. They’d always be perfect right out of the oven, but would quickly turn hard as they cooled. After a couple of years of tweaking, I finally got it right. Not just right, but perfect.

And somehow I got the crazy notion to post this perfect recipe on Emily’s blog for all of her awesome readers (that’s you!). I just ask one thing from you in return: leave a comment below or over on my blog and tell me what I should start calling them! Obviously “Secret Ingredient Oatmeal Cookies” is no longer appropriate. Regardless of what they’re called, I hope you and your family enjoy these as much as we do. Okay, friends, let’s do this!

Click here for a printable copy of the recipe.

Okay, first thing’s first. Get out your mixer:

I love this thing. It changed my life.

In a large mixing bowl, cream margarine and sugars. Do not use shortening instead of margarine, that’s just gross (unless you like that sort of thing; then I guess it might be okay). Do not use butter instead of margarine, your cookies won’t stay soft. Just stick to margarine. Here’s my disclaimer: Any alterations to this recipe may result in unwanted consequences. Neither Heather nor The Frill of Life is responsible for hard or icky cookies when altered from this recipe. Okay, where were we?

Oh yeah! Margarine and sugars…

Beat in eggs and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine the oats, flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spices (now you know my secret).

Gradually add oat mixture to creamed mixture.

This is where you can get creative. Add raisins, chocolate chips, Craisins, whatever your heart desires at this point. I prefer raisins. Most oatmeal raisin recipes call for a 1/2 cup of raisins, but I like more. I double that.

So, whatever you’re putting in your cookies, be sure you fold them in. This makes sure you don’t smoosh up your raisins or Craisins and helps keep the consistency…well…consistent!

Drop by the tablespoonful 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets. I prefer to use parchment paper so they don’t stick at all, but they really don’t stick anyway. Oh, who am I kidding? I just don’t want to wash the pan…

Bake at 375 degrees (F) for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and drop pan on counter to flatten, and move right away to wire rack to cool. Two important steps here that I’ll explain briefly:

1. Drop pan on counter to flatten. Yes, this is loud and obnoxious. But hey, if your husband is nearby you might get to see him jump! But seriously, if you don’t do this, the cookies will fold up and fall apart while you’re taking them off the pan. Trust me, I made about 5 batches of these last holiday season.
2. Move right away to wire rack to cool. These cookies will continue to bake if left on the pan. I pinky promise you this will happen. Don’t risk it. Not even just to run to the other room real fast.

When you remove these from the pan right away, be careful with them. They are very fragile in this state. They may appear underdone, but do not cook them more if you want them to remain chewy when they cool.

Finally, pour yourself a glass of milk and enjoy some of these, because they’re really awesome.

Click here for a printable version of this recipe!

Looking for a Picture Perfect Sugar Cookie recipe? Head over to this post!