These are my go-to for backyard BBQs, crawfish boils, parties, house guests, welcome-to-the-neighborhood treats, or basically any other occasion.  When selling our Houston house, we had a fresh baked tray out for potential buyers before each showing.

Many Houston friends and neighbors have asked for this recipe before we leave town, so I thought I’d share it here on the blog too.

Let’s get started!

Room temperature butter and eggs are best for efficient blending. (I let mine sit out on the counter all morning before mixing in the afternoon, or overnight if mixing up a batch in the morning.)

Plop 1 cup of unsalted butter in a large mixing bowl.  (Salted butter is okay if that’s all you have – just reduce the amount of salt added later on in the recipe.)  I prefer high fat butter for extra richness.

(So does my assistant.) 🙂

Add 1 cup of pure cane sugar and 1 cup of packed light brown sugar to the butter.

Beat on medium high for about 2 minutes.

Add 2 teaspoons of good quality vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.

Add two room temperature eggs.

Then mix on medium low until incorporated.

Add 1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour, 1-1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or a little less if you used salted butter), 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder to a small bowl.  

Side note: when I first stared baking about 20 years ago, I thought the addition of salt to a sweet recipe was a typo. It is not a typo! I prefer coarse ground kosher for this recipe.

Whisk to blend evenly.

Then dump it into the butter-sugar-egg mixture.

Blend on low until combined. Watch out for a cloud of flour dust!

Add another 1-1/2 cups flour and 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats.

Stir until combined.

Add 2 cups of dark chocolate chips or chunks. I like Ghirardelli 60% cacao chips or chopped up chunks of Trader Joe’s Cost Plus Chocolate Bar, but pick whatever suits your taste. Today I used Nestle Dark Morsels because they were on sale at my local grocery store.

Stir to combine.

Scoop out ~3 tablespoon sized dollops onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and pop it into a preheated 350 deg F oven.

Set timer for 10 minutes. (I have been letting mine cook for about 11-12 minutes lately. Each oven will be slightly different so you’ll have to check in 10 minutes and go a little longer if needed.)

While you’re waiting, clean the beater…

 

The cookies should still be gooey in the middle when taken out of the oven. They’re just starting to brown around the edges but still light and sticky in the middle.

Let them rest on the baking sheet for 3-5 minutes.

Then transfer them to a wire rack with a spatula to continue cooling.

I always try one at this point just to be sure. 😉

This batch makes about 36-40 cookies. The dough can be saved in the fridge for up to ~ 3 days.

For a printer friendly version, click here.

 By the way, I hope to share with you more updates on the farmhouse soon. We are itching to get back to work on it after a busy few weeks finalizing the sale of our Houston house and doing lots of organizing & packing for the big move!

~Miranda