best oatmeal cookies

Yeah, I went there. I called these cookies the best. I try to avoid using the word best to describe a recipe, because everyone's tastes are different. I have my favourite chocolate chip cookies, but they are not the best. These oatmeal butterscotch cookies, though? They are the best. Which is saying something, because oatmeal cookies are so diverse. There are those that are light on the oatmeal, heavy on everything else. There are the paper thin "chip" type cookies that have that lovely, crisp oat-y texture. Then there's the question of what to put in the oatmeal cookie: raisins, chocolate chips, nuts, nothing at all?

Generally I appreciate all types of oatmeal cookies. I've loved a white chocolate and cranberry combination from a nearby coffee shop. Boxed oatmeal cookies rarely disappoint. Chocolate or raisins is a hard choice, and there's plenty to be said for letting the oats shine on their own.

These cookies, though, are all about butterscotch chips. They just might be the perfect oatmeal cookie combination in my mind; somehow the way the slightly caramelized flavour complements the slight nuttiness of the oats is perfect. You don't get the same melted chip goodness that chocolate chips will give you, but the texture is perfect.

It's not often that I make a sweet twice in one week, but this one I made last weekend, and then by request for Bunny's end of the school year party on Friday. Out of every cookie I have ever sent to his classmates (and I have sent quite a few) this was the one they requested. So I said ok, and told Bunny I wanted to experiment with the butter quantities. To which he very seriously told me that if I changed a single element of these cookies I was an idiot. Then he told his classmates, who also begged me not to change anything.

One of the guys even told me I should enter the next season Recipe to Riches with these, which may be the best cooking complement ever.

So now that I've given you the reviews on the cookies, what else should you know about the cookies themselves? These are heavy on the oatmeal type cookies, and it works well. The texture holds up for several days (and, uh, I left them uncovered on a plate) which is always a big plus for me - but honestly don't expect them to last that long. Don't mistake yourself: these cookies are dense, and filling.

I've made a couple of small changes from the original recipe, but honestly not many.

Now go make them. Thank me later.

Oatmeal Butterscotch Chip Cookies
adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

• 3/4 cups butter or margarine, softened
• 3/4 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all pupose flour
• Note: I fudged this, the second time. One heaping cup of flour. Worked pretty perfectly
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 heaping tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• if you need, you can substitute quick oats, but the texture will probably tend towards being softer.
• 1 300g bag butterscotch chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375* F.
2. Cream the butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl, until well incorporated. When it starts to look fluffy you're good to go.
3. Add the eggs and vanilla, beating well until fully mixed in.
4. Wisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and garam masala. Add the flour to the butter mixture in two batches, stirring until completely blended. If using a KitchenAid type mixture, you'll want to scrape down the bowl a couple of times.
5. Stir in the oats, until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of your bowl as needed.
6. Stir in your butterscotch chips.
7. Drop by spoonfuls (normal cookie scoop sized) onto a greased cookie sheet, about two inches apart.
• I used a silicone sheet and found that a light coating of cooking spray made a huge difference in my ability to remove these from the sheet at the end.
8. Bake for 10 minutes. The edges will just be begining to brown.
9. Let cool on the cookie sheet for five minutes, transfer to wire rack or platter to continue cooling.
10. Eat them, before everyone else does.