Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Oatmeal-lemon-chocolate-chip cookies

A few weeks ago, when I was in LA, my great-aunt gave me a bag of lemons for my mom. This is what the front of the bag looked like:

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Things I love about this: 1) There was a picture of happy dancing teeth on the bag. 1a) Happy dancing teeth with sunglasses. 2) Someone felt the need to write LEMONS on the bag of lemons. 3) This person also felt the need to cross out the happy dancing teeth before writing LEMONS.

The last of the happy dancing teeth LEMONS got used in a batch of cookies last week, when I got the need-to-bake-cookies itch. We were watching a movie about Leo Tolstoy, and I kept getting distracted by cookie ideas. Something with chocolate, but not just chocolate chip. Oatmeal chocolate chip with cinnamon? Seems too wintery. Oatmeal chocolate chip with lemon? I like oatmeal, chocolate, and lemon; surely this will go well. (The movie was interesting enough. I was just multitasking, which is a nice way of saying "distractable.")

Despite the lack of forethought that went into these cookies, they were really tasty, confirming my instinct that it's hard to go wrong with oatmeal and chocolate. They are chewy, slightly lemony, and very chocolatey. If you like the combination of chocolate and citrus, I think you'll like them.

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Oatmeal-lemon-chocolate-chip cookies
Adapted from the Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies recipe from a Quaker Oats lid
Makes about 4 dozen

1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1.5 cups granulated sugar (see note below)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp molasses
1 generous tbsp lemon zest (I used two lemons)
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chunks or chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream the sugar and butter until fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beater, then add the eggs, vanilla, molasses, and lemon zest. Beat until smooth and scrape down the bowl and beater again.

Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, and rolled oats) to a separate bowl and mix well.

Add half of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix until almost incorporated, then add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Mix in the chocolate chunks.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet, leaving room for the cookies to spread. Bake until golden brown on the edges and set in the middle, 10 to 12 minutes. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 1 minute, then transfer to a wire rack.

Note: The original recipe calls for 1 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of granulated sugar. I substituted white sugar plus molasses for the brown sugar because I was nearly out of brown sugar, and I think this made the cookies chewier. Either way will work.

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