Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies the best, moist and chewy on the inside and crisp at the edges. I’ve made these cookies often for my family for the last 38 years. I use Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips and it is a HUGE hit everywhere I take them. And of course, the cookies start to disappear as soon as they hit the cooling racks.

1/2 cup butter, room temp.

1/2 cup Crisco shortening

3/4 cup light brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs, room temp.

3 tsps. vanilla

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

2 cups oatmeal, quick cooking

1 chopped pecans, toasted

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Position oven rack in middle of oven.

For more even baking, position oven rack at the center of the oven and bake one sheet of cookies at a time. If you prefer to bake two sheets, space racks so oven is divided into thirds and switch cookie sheets top to bottom and back to front halfway through baking.

Place nuts on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant.

Line light-colored baking sheet(s) and line with parchment paper. or lightly grease with non-stick vegetable oil spray. Using light-colored baking sheets, the cookies that keep burning on bottom.

* NOTE: Lining the cookie sheet(s) with parchment paper—cookies won’t stick and it will help them bake a bit more evenly. It also makes cleanup a breeze!

In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and shortening until evenly combined. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl.

* FY!:


Cookies Made With Butter spread more and are flatter and crisper if baked long enough. However, they are more flavorful than cookies made with shortening.

Cookies Made With Shortening bake up taller and come out softer but more dense, but aren't as flavorful.

Cookies Made With Butter and Shortening resulting in the best of both worlds — buttery flavor, but tenderness too — using the combination of butter and shortening. Don't substitute butter with shortening in cookies like shortbreads or sugar cookies, where butter really is a key flavoring.

Add the sugars, beating until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl so all of the butter/sugar mixture is incorporated.

*Note: If you don’t cream your butter and sugar long enough, the cookies won’t be light and fluffy—they’ll be flat.

Add the eggs one at a time. Crack the eggs directly into the bowl with the butter-sugar mixture. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Scrape sides of bowl.

Add vanilla extract, beat until well mixed, about 20 seconds. Scrape sides of bowl.

Whisk or sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.

Add flour mixture and oatmeal into the creamed mixture stir until just combined, with some streaks of flour remaining. Once again, be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl so all of the butter/sugar/ flour/oatmeal mixture are incorporated.

Gently stirring in by hand, add chocolate chips and toasted nuts. Scrape the bowl.

YUM, my personal favorite part of making the dough.... eating cookie dough!!!!

Using a portion scoop, or spoon ensures consistent size and the proper yield of cookie. Scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets and level off the dough on the edge of the bowl for perfectly round cookies. Space about 2" between cookies.

* Note: If the dough seems too soft, chill it for 20 to 25 minutes before using.

Cookies only need to bake between 8-14 minutes, depending on the size of the dough.

A muffin scoop (1/4 cup) will make 20 large, palm-sized cookies.

A tablespoon cookie scoop will make 50 medium (2 3/4" to 3") cookies.

A teaspoon cookie scoop will make 100 small (2 1/2") cookies.

Bake the cookies 10 to 15 minutes (pending on size cookie). For even baking, rotate the cookie sheet halfway through baking so that the back side faces front.

Bake cookies until they're a light golden brown, with slightly darker edges. Their middles may still look a tiny bit shiny; that's OK, they'll continue to bake as they cool on the pan. To ensure a chewy texture cookie, under bake them.

Remove the cookies from the oven, and as soon as they're set enough to handle, transfer the cookies to racks to cool.

Note: Never use a hot cookie sheet when doing cookies in batches, putting raw dough on cookie sheets still warm from the oven can cause them to begin spreading, leading to burnt edges. Always allow cookie sheets to cool completely before adding cookie dough.

No matter how many cookies I bake, they seem to disappear within 3 days. Well all... except for a strange reason, there always seems to be 1 cookie remaining in the jar, hmm.