Birthday Oatmeal Cookies !

Well hello! I hope everyone had a really great, fun weekend! I sure did... two of my good friends were married up in Asheville AND I'm currently at home in Charlotte, couldn't be better!

SO, you guessed it... today is my birthday! (apologies for the late post, i slept in) ;) What a GREAT treat for me to be at home with my family today INCLUDING my fabulous, kitchen magician grandma, Gege! Gege is the other woman who's taught me everything I know about being confident in your own kitchen and wise with what you cook and how you cook it. She's a TOTAL inspiration in every way, THE BEST mother, the BEST grandmother, the BEST cook, the BEST baker and the VERY BEST FRIEND and prayer warrior anyone could dream of having. And SHE is the one making MY BIRTHDAY COOKIES! WITH MY MOTHER! Seriously?! I'm in Heaven. Cookie Heaven. What's better?

It's only fitting that today I would share this "vanishing oatmeal cookies" recipe with you. Sad to say, it's not our recipe.. it's good ol' Quaker's brand recipe, but seriously, no one's is better, I'm sure of it! So friends, who's ready for some oatmeal and coffee?? ME!

YOU WILL NEED:

• 1/2 cup plus 6 Tablespoons softened butter- mom says to tell you all that if you haven't let your butter soften long enough, put it in the microwave for ONLY 10 SECONDS at a time, and do it twice. doing a full 20 seconds all at once will make a big gaping hole in the butter sticks and make it too liquid like and your cookies won't rise.
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar- helpful hint. when they say 'firmly packed,' they mean it. it really is fascinating how much more brown sugar you can fit in there if you smash it down with the spoon
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional.. but i highly suggest it... balances out the sweetness! also mom says to tell you she likes to use FINE GRAIN sea salt for this... not regular old sea salt, that's too big, FINE GRAIN... but regular salt will do just fine as well)
• 3 cups Quaker Oats, quick or old fashioned, uncooked
• 1 cup raisins... they split the batch for me, my husband isn't a huge sultana (raisins) fan so they made all the dough up first, stole some plain out, and then mixed in the raisins.. so sweet of them!
• 1 cup walnuts (optional... mom also said she likes to BREAK them instead of using a chopper)

Ok friends, go heat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream the butter and both sugars with your electric mixer. 

Add the eggs and vanilla and beat well.

Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and mix! Add the oats, raisins and nuts and mix some more.

Drop by rounded tablespoons on UNgreased cookie sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes. You want them to be golden brown. Then try to contain your desire to scarf them all and let them cool. :) Good luck.

(here's the finished product- raisins and no raisins, yes, while i'm blogging about them) :)

You guys I'll tell you what, even more so than chocolate chip cookie dough, I could truly sit and eat half the ball of this raw dough all on it's own. These cookies are just SIMPLY perfect, so PLEASE make them... and be warned. This recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies... so get ready to wrap 'em up and give them away as gifts! EVERYONE. WILL. LOVE. YOU. :)

HAVE A FABULOUS DAY FRIENDS... happy eating!