Mrs. Fields & iVillage 30th Anniversary Cookie Contest (643 photos)

Loaded Oatmeal Cookies

I love cookies and I love to bake! I have many tried and true cookie recipes from great cookbooks (chocolate chip, peanut butter, sugar, etc.), but the perfect oatmeal cookie always eluded me. All the recipes I tried had too much oatmeal, not enough, or were too plain. I played with the proportions and "extras" like nuts and chips until I got it perfect for me! The secret to the extra-tasty oatmeal cookie seems to be 1) the mix of the creamy white chips with the cinnamon and 2) the dark brown sugar, which I accidentally bought once instead of light brown sugar. Everyone seems to love them - they are always gone first at office parties and family gatherings. My recipe was also published in a small cookbook, with credit given to me.

1 cup butter (no substitute)
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup raisins
1 cup pecans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream butter and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix flour and next four ingredients. Slowly add flour mixture to the butter mixture. Fold in the rest of the ingredients. Roll the dough into 1 to 2-inch balls and bake for 12 minutes. The cookies should look a little underbaked when they come out of the oven. Let cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. When completely cool, store in an airtight container.