Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I asked my husband what he wanted me to bake this weekend, he said "oatmeal cookies." I'm not a huge fan of traditional oatmeal-raisin cookies, mostly because I don't like a lot of raisins in my baked goods. So, I decided to use Martha Stewart's recipe for oatmeal-raisin cookies, but I substituted dark chocolate chips for the raisins. It turned out really well, but I'm sure it would also be great with raisins or another type of dried fruit, if that's what you prefer.

The recipe in her book is very similar to this one for oatmeal-raisin cookies from her web site.

The first step of the recipe was to mix together the dry ingredients (except for the oats). There were a couple of unique ingredients in this recipe, including shredded coconut.

Then I creamed the butter and sugar in my stand mixer. Here is a "before" picture...

And an "after" picture....

I added eggs and vanilla, and then added the flour mixture to the sugar/butter mixture. Finally, I stirred in the oats and chocolate chips.

This is a great cookie dough batter to eat raw. I ate a little too much of it that way!

I baked the cookies in my convection oven, and I was able to cut down on the recommended baking time by about 1/3. I think the final results speak for themselves:

This is a great, hearty cookie with a lot of oat flavor. I think it emphasizes the oats as much as the chocolate. If you're looking for a traditional chocolate chip cookie, this may not be the best recipe for that. But if you want really good oatmeal flavor, with a decent chocolate kick, and a hint of spice, I would recommend it.