Kids Dish

From the Holiday Insights website:

When: Always December 18th

But, Bake Cookies day is for EVERYONE!

I love baking cookies. Well, I love baking most cookies. I cannot, no matter what recipe I use and what approach I use, bake pretty chocolate chip cookies. I can make delicious chocolate chip cookies, but time after time they’re ugly. They always look lovely when I open the oven door, but as soon as they hit the air of the kitchen they begin to spread and flatten, leaving pockmarked crepes with bulbous chocolate chip lumps. Not pretty. Tasty, but not pretty. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I’ve experimented with the temperature of the butter, I’ve used the stand mixer, a hand mixer and my hands to mix. I’ve tried the recipe on the chip bag and the recipes in three different cookbooks. I’ve put them on the cookie sheet in rounded tablespoons and teaspoons wondering if it was the size of the uncooked dough that was the problem. I bought new baking soda. I let them cool on the tray and I’ve let them cool on parchment and I’ve let them cool on the racks. No matter what I do make them pretty. So I quit.

Instead I bake oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Delicious and higher in fiber than regular cookies. My new recipe of choice? Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, and Pecan cookies. They’re the perfect cookie- crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. A bit of orange zest adds some unexpected flavor. The cookies are addictive and store well though three dozen cookies of these cookies don’t last long.

Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, and Pecan Cookies
from Epicurious

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment or a Silpat (rubber nonstick baking mat). Using an electric mixer, beat the butter in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla, and beat until well mixed, about 3 minutes. Stir in eggs, one at a time. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove in a separate bowl. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter with the mixer on low speed. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the second half. Stir in the oats, pecans, orange zest, and chocolate chips. Drop the dough, by the tablespoon, onto the cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and cool the cookies on a rack. Store at room temperature in a cookie jar or other airtight container.

I used less orange zest than the recipe called for the first time based on a recommendation from Smitten Kitchen (the photo was borrowed from Smitten Kitchen too since her photography is far superior to mine) and the full amount the second time I baked these. Everyone who ate them loved them both ways. I was surprised that no one mentioned the orange, especially after reading some of the reviews on epicurious.