Baking with Oatmeal...Famous Oatmeal Cookies

This is my husband’s favorite cookie.  When we were first married, I tried recipes from the “big” classic cookbooks…nada.  Then I tried the obvious one on the oatmeal box…these are the ones.  This isn’t the one on the box today; but it’s still the way I make them.  It makes a big recipe, but I freeze the dough to bake later.  Be sure you use the combination of shortening and butter; it gives them the best qualities of both.                     

               Famous Oatmeal Cookies

  1           Cup  Shortening -- 7 ounces

     ½       Cup  Butter -- 1 stick

  1           Cup  Sugar -- 7 ounces

  2           Cups  Brown Sugar -- 1 pound

  2           Large  Eggs

     ½       Cup  Water

  2          Teaspoons  Vanilla Extract

  2           Cups  Flour, All-purpose -- 10 ounces

  1           Teaspoon  Baking Soda

     ½       Teaspoon  Salt

  6          Cups  Oats -- 18 ounces

  1 -2      Cups  Chocolate Chips -- or raisins

·        Cream together shortening, butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, water and vanilla extract until light.

·        Mix together the flour, soda and salt.  Beat into creamed mixture.

·        Stir oats in by hand or with a large mixer.

·        Stir in chocolate chips or raisins.

·        Drop on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes.  Let them rest on the sheet a minute or two before cooling on a rack.

This recipe is a good one to freeze.  I drop the dough balls close together on waxed paper on a half sheet pan and freeze them till they are solid.  Then I roll up the wax paper, cookies and all, and put it in a freezer bag.  Mark the bag with baking time and temp.  I bake them right from the freezer, usually for 15 minutes.

Yield:  "5 Dozen"