Chocolate Chip Cookies with Oatmeal and Pecans

Because there is no end to the goodness of the Chocolate Chip, here is an delight some cookie recipe from the Once Upon a Tart cookbook. Which if you don't have, you might want to think about getting yourself one. Not only because the recipe are so good, but it's fun to read, and has lots of good tips.

Recipe brought to you by Susan:

"All of you who have Once Upon a Tart know that it is a fantastic cookbook with lots of yummy looking recipes.  I swear about 85% of them are on my list to try - not something I could say about most cookbooks.  The scones are especially delicious and hard to resist.  I could eat one or two every day of my life, they are so good.  So I thought I'd try baking their cookies for Sammy's birthday.  These are chocolate chip with oatmeal and pecans and I thought they turned out pretty good.  They are a variation of their chocolate chip cookies, which the authors say are the best selling  cookies in their NYC cafe. I used all whole wheat flour which turned out fine and left the raisins out - I ALWAYS leave the raisins out.  Nothing like raisins to ruin a delicious baked good.  I think you could use a little less sugar and they'd still be plenty sweet - maybe 1/4 cup or so."

Best Big Chocolate Chip Cookies pg 314 and the Variation: a.k.a. The Cookie Frank (Co-Author) Is Most Likely to Bake on a Rainy Day pg 315

• 20 tbsp (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips; or 12 ounces good quality dark chocolate, broken into pieces

1. Position your oven racks so that one is in the center, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together in a big bowl, using the whisk attachment of an electric mixer on high speed (or a sturdy wire whisk), until they are fluffy and light lemon-yellow in color, about 5 minutes. with the mixer on  low speed, beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla.
3. In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together. Gradually add this to wet ingredients, using the paddle attachment of your mixer on low speed (or stirring with a wooden spoon) until no flour is visible. Then stir in the chocolate chips.
4. To make big cookies, use a 1/3 cup or your hand (eyeballing for size) to scoop out the dough. Roll the dough for each cookie between your hands into a ball. Have some flour handy to dust your hands in case the dough is too sticky to work with. Place the balls on your baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between them, and flatten each with the heel of your hand until it is about 4 inches in diameter. To make smaller cookies, use a teaspoon to scoop up the dough and your finger to scrape it onto the baking sheet. Drop the cookies 1 1/2 inches apart - no flattening necessary.
5. Place the baking sheet on the center rack in the oven, and bake the cookies for 18-20 minutes (10-12 for smaller cookies), or until the cookie centers no longer have the shiny look of raw dough.
6. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, and place on a wire rack to cool slightly. Lift the baking sheet off the rack, and use a metal spatula to lift the cookies off the sheet and onto the rack to cool completely. If you're using parchment paper, there's no need to let the cookies cool on the rack. Slide the paper with the hot cookies off the baking sheet and onto a flat surface to cool.

Variation:

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips; or 9 ounces good-quality dark chocolate, broken into pieces
• 2 cups rolled oats (not quick-cook or instant)
• 1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
• OPTIONAL 1/2 cup dark raisins (if you like your cookies to be ruined)

Prepare the dough and drop and bake the cookies in same way as our Best Big Chocolate Chip Cookies.

From the cookbook Once Upon A Tart