Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

I am really sorry to do this to you. I really am. Usually, this little blog is full of healthy tips and low-fat recipes, but I had to share this with you. It’s really rather selfish of me, but I simply couldn’t keep this one to myself. You see, I’ve been working on a chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe for 6 months and two days ago, I finally got it right. Over the dozens and dozens of attempts (filled with hair pulling and cursing), I couldn’t quite get the chewy consistency that I was looking for. I tried butter, margarine, crisco and various combinations of the three, but the cookie kept coming out too crisp for my taste.

In a moment of reckless desperation, I added oatmeal and maple syrup to my recipe just for kicks. And it worked. I danced a jig around the kitchen and I shoved a chocolate chip cookie into my husband’s unwilling face and I praised the baking gods for blessing my kitchen on this fine day.

Then, I scrambled to write down exactly what I threw into the mix lest I forget the combination. And now I give it to you. Here’s what you need to make these little bites of chewy heaven.

1/2 cup butter (one stick), softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 whole egg
1 to 1.5 cup flour
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1.5 cups quick cooking oatmeal
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Mix the sugars and butter until creamy. Add in the vanilla, maple syrup and egg. Once combined, mix together the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder in a separate bowl and then add to the mixer. Finally, add in the oatmeal and chocolate chips and mix on low until well blended.

Then, scoop out onto a cookie sheet in tablespoon sized dollops and bake for 9-12 minutes (mine were perfect at 10 minutes). I almost always eat two cookies while they’re still too hot to taste, but the four I ate the next morning were still so soft and chewy. Pure cookie bliss. While I can’t in good conscience recommend that those of you trying to stick to wonderful eating habits make these immediately, I can say that if and when you decide to make them, it will be worth it.

Naturally, I’m headed straight to caloric purgatory until I burn off the SEVEN cookies that I ate in 12 hours, but that’s okay. My chewy cookie pilgrimage is over. My spatula can rest…for the moment.