Good As Store Bought Cookies

These cookies will never win a beauty contest. They are fat and squat with a funny crumbly looking texture and a slightly brown, but not quite chocolate color going on. Once you taste them though, you won't care that they are kind of ugly. The texture comes from the oatmeal that is ground up and used as part of the dry ingredients. The funky color comes from the 8 oz of chocolate that are grated up and added to the dough, ensuring plenty of chocolate flavor in each and every bite. Add to that the chocolate chips and the chunky pecans and you have a winning combination.

Since there are literally thousands of variations on chocolate chip cookies, and nobody can quite agree on any one version -- I have to recommend that true aficionados give this version a try. It's not the traditional flat cookie with a crispy/chewy crumb, this one is more fat and chewy, but man is it good.

Some of the other versions I have made of chocolate chip cookies:
Ginger Wasabi; Triple Chocolate Chunk with Toasted Pecans; Chocolate Chip Oatmeal with Spiced Pecans; Bourbon Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies; Mint Irish Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies; Cowboy Cookies; Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pecan Cookies; and the Chocolate Chip Cookies from The Pastry Queen.

That's a lot of chocolate chip cookies. Of that list my favorite cookie for texture would probably be the Chocolate Chip Oatmeal with Spiced Pecans -- I've made them with regular pecans and spiced and they are a great version of the classic. Other than that the Pastry Queen version is also always a favorite for flavor and texture. The ones from today are lower on the texture rating -- at least as far as classic thinner crispy chewy cookies go -- but right near or at the top for flavor, especially when you want a really strong chocolate flavor. So many variations, so many choices, and all them good. :)




Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups rolled oats finely ground
8 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsps vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tablespoon espresso powder
2 cups chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups chopped walnut or pecans

Preheat the oven to 350. Line baking sheets (I used insulated ones) with parchment paper or silpats.

Put the oats in the food processor and grind briefly. Add the bittersweet chocolate and grind some more until powdery. Pour that mix into a bowl and add the flour, salt, baking powder and espresso powder. mix to blend.

In the bowl of a mixer cream the butter and sugars until light and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, the the vanilla and blend well. Add the dry ingredients and mix until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Add the chocolate chips and nuts and mix well.

Bake by tablespoonfuls for about 12 minutes. As with most cookies, underbaking is preferable to overbaking.