You know those recipes floating around the web for homemade store-bought things? Like oreo cookies or ice cream sandwiches or animal crackers? So good, right? I, for one, love to feel I’ve won over the food corporations by one-upping them at their own game. So let us visit a staple of childhood around here and then make it so, so much better. (And don’t feel bad for the poor store-bought cookie we’re going to leave in the dust; at some point store-bought cookies were imitations of something homemade, right? We’re just coming full circle.)

 

 

Who remembers—and/or still eats—Dad’s Cookies? Those sweet, crispy oatmeal cookies, sometimes with chocolate chips, sometimes without (but always best with) that came in rows wrapped in that yellow package. There’s that caramelly flavour and satisfying hint of salt. Tooth-aching sweetness, but a crunch that has you eating more than you probably should.

 

Well, these are not Dad’s Cookies. They’re Everyone’s Cookies, and you should make them for everyone you know. They have the same nostalgic, oaty goodness, but with chew (so if you prefer the crunch, get ye some Dad’s; on that point these deviate). The sweetness is dialed down a little and the coconut comes through more. Good quality chocolate chips also really shine here. So far, they’re the cookie I’ve had the most recipe requests for.

 

Best Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, Evah (Sorry, Dad)

 

Ingredients

 

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups brown sugar (or 1 cup panela, 1 cup brown)

2 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla

2 cups sifted flour

1½ tsp baking powder

1 tsp kosher salt

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

2 cups rolled oats

1½ cups dark chocolate chips

 

Method

 

Preheat the oven to 375. Line two or three cookie sheets with parchment, or grease with butter.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition, then add vanilla. In a medium bowl combine flour, salt and baking powder, then slowly add this mixture to the butter mixture. When the dough has come together and no more flour can be seen, add the coconut and oats, mix to combine, then add the chocolate chips. At this point I find my mixer has a hard time combining everything at the bottom of the bowl, so I take off the paddle attachment and mix with a wooden spoon.

Roll golf ball-sized balls of dough between your palms and place two inches apart on the cookie sheets. You can press the balls down a little if you want. In my oven they bake for 18-20 minutes, rotating trays halfway through, but check yours a bit sooner if your oven runs hot. The cookies are best when still slightly soft in the middle and browning a little on the edges. Let them sit on the cookie sheets for a minute before you move them to a cooling rack.

Makes a whole bunch—probably over two dozen.

Store in an airtight container after they’ve cooled completely (they also freeze very well). Amazing when still warm but also highly memorable later that day and the next day. By day three you should be taking the rest to work anyway.

 

XO

Ria