I ended up baking them one tray at a time. The first tray is what you see pictured. The cookies spread out a bunch (’til they touched each other) and were very flat. While the first tray was in the oven I put the remaining dough in the fridge to cool. When I dropped the chilled cookie dough onto the next tray I also used smaller portions, and the result was a batch of slightly thicker cookies. So if you want thicker cookies, chill the dough first. And don’t flatten the cookies with your fork; they’ll do that themselves while they’re baking. I prefer the thin versions, but you do have to be careful to let them cool before you lift them off the tray, or else they’ll fall apart. Anyways, these are great if you like your oatmeal cookies thin and buttery.

In other news, my Ph.D. applications are finally all done, and I just sent the last three (of six) application packages off this morning using Xpresspost. It’s odd that of the schools I applied to, the advantages that each one has varies quite a bit. One has a professor with research interests more similar to my own than any other. Another is the home of one of my favourite journals. Another is one of the few schools doing research into digital media and new literary mediums. Then there’s the one with the crazy library resources. We’ll see what happens, I suppose.

Plain Oatmeal Cookies Recipe

• 2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1.25 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 cups quick-cooking oats

1. Cream butter and sugars until smooth.
2. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
3. Mix flour, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl, then add this to the wet mixture. Fold in the oatmeal.
4. Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 11-13 minutes. Let cool on the pan for awhile, unless you want them to fall apart on you (especially if they are very thin).

To the recipe I added ground up white chocolate (using a magic bullet), took out some dark chocolate to compensate, and threw in a bit of cinnamon. I love cinnamon on everything, so I am biased, but my girlfriend assures me it was a wise choice. The taste is subtle, bit it’s clearly there.

The white chocolate spread throughout, combined with the oatmeal and cinnamon, makes for a pretty good cookie. If you don’t want to try the white chocolate just add a corresponding amount of regular chocolate chips.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

• 1¬†cup butter
• 1¬†cup sugar
• 1¬†cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2¬†cups flour
• 1¬†tsp baking soda
• 1¬†tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2¬†cups quick-cooking rolled oats
• 2¬†tsp vanilla
• 8 oz dark or milk chocolate, chips or chopped
• 4 oz white chocolate

Directions

1. Chop up dark chocolate if not in chip form. Grind up white chocolate chips into a powder.
2. Blend butter and sugars until fluffy. Add and beat in eggs.
3. Sift flour, baking soda and salt; add to wet mixture. Stir in oats, vanilla and chips. Add cinnamon.
4. Drop by batter by rounded tablespoon onto a greased cookie sheet.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until the edges seem cooked. Remove and let cool on wire rack.

I got about 50 oatmeal cookies.