Cowboy Oatmeal Cookies

Cookies are a staple in my house. Everybody loves them, especially the homemade kind! I'm always on the lookout for new recipes and I try one pretty much every week.

I love chocolate chip cookies, and since we are trying to eat a bit healthier, I decided to go for the oatmeal variety. I found this recipe, and decided to give it a shot with some variations. I'll list the ingredients as they were stated in the recipe, and include my variations.

Cowboy Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter (I used applesauce)

1/2 cup oil (I used applesauce)

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup white sugar (I used 2/3)

2 eggs

2 cups quick cooking oats (I used 3)

1 cup butterscotch chips (I used chocolate)

*all ingredients should be at room temperature

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, cream butter, oil (applesauce), brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Gradually stir in the sifted ingredients until well mixed. Mix in oats and chips.

the recipe calls for one cup of chips. I put in the cup, and then figured what the heck? if a cup is good, the whole bag is better right?!

Ok, back to our regularly scheduled program...

3. Drop from a teaspoon onto ungreased cookie sheets (I used a cookie scoop).

doesn't the batter look good? Yes, it tastes as good as it looks! Hi, my name is Kristin, and I'm a batter-aholic.

4. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until edges are golden (it actually took about 14 minutes in my oven, but ovens do vary). Let set up on the cookie sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

What I would do differently:

• These cookies are yummy, but are pretty sweet. I would definitely cut both sugars back next time, to 2/3 cup (or less) each. I didn't think about cutting back until I had already put in the brown sugar, or I would have used less of that as well.
• Use less chocolate chips. My "if one cup is good..." philosophy didn't quite pan out this time. It was a bit too rich for my taste, and the chocolate kind of overpowered the cookie.

Aren't they gorgeous?

And wouldn't they go great with a nice tall glass of this?

'Til next time...