Magic Cookies

Baking is magic.  Or at least it seems like magic to me.  I know it's really just science...but you put lumps of a slightly cold, gelatinous mish-mash of edible-but-not-very-tasty ingredients into a hot oven and PRESTO CHANGE-O...magic, I tell ya.

I don't bake very often for a few reasons.  1) It's just me and the Z-meister at home.  A recipe of cookies usually makes something in the neighborhood of 50 cookies.  There's no way we could (or should) eat all those cookies by ourselves.  2) While baking is magic, it is also very finicky.  Too much of this, not enough of that, or even just the wrong humidity in the kitchen can make a recipe go south without you even knowing what happened.  3)  By the time I get to the end of a baking adventure, I've licked so much dough/batter off my fingers the spoons that I don't even want to try what I've made!

Tonight, however, the planets aligned and gave me an opportunity to bake AND have it come out wonderfully (although I was still sick of the cookie dough by the end of it all).  One of my classes at school earned a prize so I made them cookies.  BEHOLD:

 Ok...well, that's them in the unbaked state.

 

That's better!  Here they are cooling out of the oven.

 

Mmmm....the finished product.  There were enough extras for Z and I to taste test.  They are delicious.

These are cranberry dark chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.  They are surprisingly not bad for you as far as cookies go.  Something along the lines of 100 cal per cookie.  I also think they would make an awesome breakfast.  Hey!  They have cranberries and oatmeal in them...what more do you want?

Here's the recipe.  It's from the Taste of Home cookbook with a few tweaks:

1 cup baking margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup dark chocolate chips
1 cup sweetened dried cranberries

1)  In a large bowl, cream butter ans sugars until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon; add to creamed mixture and mix well.  Stir in oats, chocolate chips, and cranberries.

2) Drop by rounded spoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 for 10 minutes until golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack.

The original recipe said it made 4 dozen.  I got 74 cookies out of it.  Maybe my cookies were really small?? I don't know...

If you try the recipe, let me know how it turns out!!