Tried & True Tuesday: Spiced Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

.  Geesh.  These Tuesdays are coming around mighty fast these days.  And I'm quickly winding down the number of old pictures I have for recipes I've tried in the past.  Hmm...what to do, what to do.

But for time being, I still have a few good ol' recipes up my sleeve.  Treats that have been patiently waiting for their reveal to blogland.  And these Spiced Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies are a perfect example.  A chance in the limelight is just what they deserve.

To me, the name alone of this goodie screams winter, hot chocolate, and fire-snuggling.  Ha, that's a pretty picture, huh?  And these cookies would be a fitting complement, rounding out this scene to a 'T.'

So what is so special about these cookies?  I mean they're just chocolate chip cookies, right?  Just chocolate chip cookies?  Shame on you.  These are anything but a plain old chocolate chip cookie, or POCCC as my dad would like to call them.  These cookies are well...spiced.  Spiced with flavorful cinnamon and dark brown sugar, giving these lovelies a deep, rich, beautiful color.  And jam packed with hearty oatmeal and decadent chunks of chocolate chips.  Gah, pure cookie heaven.  I remember making these while I was in college when Robbie and I had some friends over to watch a football game and they got rave reviews.  Rave, I tell ya  .

My Notes:

• You can use what ever type of chocolate you'd like, though I would probably stick to regular chocolate rather than white.  Just my opinion though.  And you an also experiment with some add ins, such as cherries or cranberries.  Mmm, those would be good.

Adapted from chocolate bar

Ingredients:

1-3/4 c. all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 c. unsalted butter, softened

1-1/4 c. dark brown sugar

1/4 c. sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2-3/4 c. old fashioned rolled oats

12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips or chunks

Directions:

1. Sift the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together; set aside.  In a medium-sized bowl, cream butter, dark brown sugar and sugar until smooth.  Add eggs and vanilla extract, beating until very fluffy.
2. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, mixing thoroughly until batter is smooth.  Add old fashioned rolled oats and chocolate chips, mixing until just blended.  Chill dough for 1 to 6 hours.
3. Heat oven to 350°F.  Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheet.  Bake 13 to 15 minutes.  Let cool on pan before transferring to wire rack.

Yield: 2 dozen cookies