Hello from Prince Edward Island! For this Californian, winter’s been a bit too cold and a bit too long. Although, according the seasoned locals, it’s been quite mild and merciful on me. Sigh.
Nonetheless, spring, they say, is on its way. Yippie!!! We had a brief but glorious taste of spring with temperatures up in the 20’s Celsius (70’s F), blue skies, chirping birds, and the works for a few days last week. The ice along the harbourfront even melted! Seeing the waves dancing in the brilliant sunshine nearly made me jump with excitement! Sadly, it was short-lived. Overnight, winter came back with a gust and has been snickering all weekend long. The weather forecast called for what we hope is one last week of bleary weather, so I decided to make some cookies to punch Winter in the nose, and tell it to go away!
I guess that “punch” looked delicious because I got a text from my sister asking for the recipe today. It’s a fairly easy one, and I hope it lives up to your expectations! So, dear sister of mine, here it is. For you and anyone else who needs a good dose of chocolate to punch in the nose whatever it is that’s dampening your day, enjoy!
INGREDIENTS
2/3 cups of butter (softened)
2/3 cups of shortening (or whatever substitute you prefer. I experimented with coconut butter this time around. It’s an expensive alternative, but a healthier one, and it turned out just fine. No noticeable taste difference, it did make the dough a bit dry and therefore, crumbly.)
1 1/2 cups of brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup of cocoa powder
1/2 cup of oats
3 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt
As many semi-sweet chocolate chips your heart desires.
*****
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (it’s not necessary but it keeps things simple and clean for me).
Cream 2/3 cup of butter, 2/3 cup shortening, and 1 cup of sugar until well combined. Add 2 eggs (one at a time) and 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract. Beat until combined.
In a separate mixing bowl, combine 3 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup of oats, and 1/2 cup of cocoa powder together. Stir to combine.
Add the flour combination into the wet mix, roughly one cup at a time. Add 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1 teaspoon of salt with the last cup.
Generously sprinkle the chocolate chips in and stir them into the dough.
Form the dough into 1-inch balls (or whatever size you want them) and place onto the cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before transferring them onto a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely before storing.
But you don’t have to wait that long to taste-test one or two… or three of them out! 🙂 I like them when they’re still a bit warm and gooey on the inside while crunchy on the outside. Nom nom nom.
Makes about 40 cookies.
You can always freeze whatever dough you don’t use and have fresh cookies ready for the oven whenever. I suggest you form them all into balls before you freeze them.
Enjoy…and happy Lent!
xoxo
live. laugh. love.
