Oatmeal Cookies

Oatmeal cookies are probably my favorite kind of cookie. Chocolate Chip runs a close second though. Actually, my Grandma's Oatmeal Raisin Sunflower Seed cookies are actually my favorite to eat, but they are harder to make so we don't have them as often. The girls were delighted when I told them we could make cookies for breakfast this morning. No, they aren't a healthy breakfast cookie, but I figure they can't be any worse than a poptart.

The original recipe from Mama. I think she got it from the box of Kroger brand oatmeal when we were kids. You can tell I have made these many times.

Kroger Oatmeal Cookies

2 cups shortening

2 cups sugar

2 cups brown sugar

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons salt

6 cups oatmeal

Cream shortening and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, salt, and baking soda. Stir in oatmeal. Drop by spoonfulls and bake at 350F for about 10 minutes.

This makes a LOT of cookies. Not sure exactly how many. I usually only make 1/2 batch. Of that I cook 1/2 right then, and the other 1/2 I go ahead and scoop out onto a cookie sheet. Then I put those in the freezer overnight so they are frozen solid. Then I put them in a gallon ziploc bag so I can pull them out and cook them as we want them. You can also freeze them already baked, but doing it unbaked lets you have fresh hot homemade oatmeal cookies without all the mess later.

I prefer to use a cookie scoop so that all my cookies turn out the same size and are nice and round. I can never seem to get them even when I use a spoon to scoop them out.

I stuck a few M&M's on a couple of them before I baked them. The girls liked them but I prefer the plain ones.

They will look like this when they are ready to come out of the oven. They should look slightly golden brown but still underbaked. This will make sure they have a crispy outside but a little soft and chewy inside.