Nutty for Oats Cookies

First of all, I must apologize for completely and entirely neglecting the blog.  The keyboard on my computer is broken, and I've just been lazy and haven't bothered to use someone else's computer to write a post.  And so, to make it up to you, my lovely readers, I present my new favorite cookie--perhaps one of the best cookies I've ever made.  The weather's cooling down, and that just makes me want to bake cookies--chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, oatmeal cookies... And this year I found this cookie recipe that is basically a combination of all three. And, even though it doesn't call for any flour, it tastes amazing.  Are you ready?

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Nutty for Oats Cookies

(from the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking cookbook, of course)

2/3 cup smooth peanut butter

4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, ground for 30 seconds in a food processor, grinder, or blender (You basically want it to be like a coarse flour-ish consistency.)

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

2 cups chocolate chips

1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease 2 baking sheets or line them with parchment or waxed paper.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, cream together peanut butter, butter, sugar, vanilla, salt, and baking soda.  Beat in eggs, scraping the bowl, then add the ground oats, the rest of the oats, and the chocolate chips.  Mix until combined, then drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets.  By the way, did you know that when a cookie recipe calls for teaspoons or tablespoons to be dropped onto the sheet, they aren't really teaspoons and tablespoons like we normally use?  It actually refers to the spoons we use when eating at the table.  Technically a "teaspoonful" of dough equals about 3/4 of a tablespoon, and a "tablespoonful" is about 4 teaspoons.  So now you know.

3. Bake the cookies for 11-13 minutes, or until they're barely set and barely browning on the edges.  Don't forget to rotate the pans halfway through (switching top and bottom pans and rotating them around so the front is at the back) so they cook nice and evenly.  Remove the pans from the oven and let the cookies cool completely on the pan.  

4. Grab a glass or milk or some hot cocoa and enjoy your delicious cookies.  But try not to eat the rest for breakfast the next day or your toddler will spend the whole day crying because he wants more cookies.  You might cry too when you run out of these.  They're that good.