Oatmeal Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

Life lessons I’ve learnt this week:

1. A kitchen sponge (the ones with the green scourer side), is not an appropriate tool to use when washing your car. It’s use results in lots of tiny little scratches that only a re-spray can possibly fix (as I learnt from the giggling car detailer earlier today).

I’m shattered to say that I’m actually not kidding. It happened.

2. Never pay your younger brother to wash your car (please see above).

3. When a recipe says to grease the pan, then grease the pan. Even if you think you have a super-duper, new, non-stick pan that the rules don’t apply to. Because the rules do apply. And you’ll end up with a pan of 24 delicious mini berry friands that you’ll have to eat out of that pan with a fork.

And that’s just a shame.

4. When you’re putting Portuguese tarts into the oven, and your goal is crisp, flaky pastry, it would be a good idea to set the oven to bake. NOT to steam. You know?

5. Replacing the raisins in these yummy oatmeal raisin cookies with chocolate chunks just makes them a hundred thousand million times better (if that’s even possible). You NEED to do this.

Just don’t do all the other things I did, okay? Okay.

• 110g unsalted butter, softened (1/2 cup)
• ⅔ cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ¾ cup plain flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ – ½ tsp sea salt, to taste
• 1½ cups rolled oats
• ¾ cup dark chocolate chips
• ¼ cup toasted walnuts, chopped

1. Line a couple of trays with baking paper.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar until combined.
3. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth.
4. Turn the mixer onto a low speed, and add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and oats, just until incorporated.
5. Stir in the chocolate and walnuts.
6. Use a small cookie scoop or tablespoon to scoop balls of dough on the prepared trays.
7. Refrigerate the trays for 30 minutes, to ensure the cookies bake up thick.
8. minutes into the chilling time, preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F).
9. Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, until the edges are golden and the centres still soft.
10. Makes 18 small cookies.
11. Happy baking!

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen.