A Promise to Share

Another book I took to the coast to read last weekend, since I can only absorb so much serious Buddhist material in any given day, is a lovely new book by Molly Wizenberg called A Homemade Life. Molly is the author of a crazily popular blog called Orangette, also has a monthly column in Bon Appetit. This is her first book, a lovely collection of food-related stories with a recipe or two in each chapter. I highly recommend it.

One chapter made me feel a bit guilty -- she really has some strong feelings against hoarding secret recipes, and I have a recipe I've hoarded for years now despite many, many requests. So to all of you who asked and did not receive, here it is. I'm pretty sure that none of you will find it here, and I apologize for that, but I hope others will enjoy. I'm a hoarder no more.
I'm embarrassed to say that in making a batch of these cookies tonight so I could take photos, I ran into a bunch of problems with excessive spreading and browning. It can't be the recipe. That's tried and true for 20 years. I thought about it all evening and finally, in the middle of the night, I realized that in my insomnia and stress-driven fatigue, I'd simply added half the amount of flour called for in the recipe. Duh! I really need some sleep. The photo isn't exactly representative of what the finished product generally looks like -- they're more like lace cookies -- but they still taste wonderful. Truth be told, I actually like this version and may do it again someday, on purpose. Who needs all that flour, anyway -- these are lacy and yummy and get right down to what matters!

The heart of these luscious cookies is the oatmeal, coconut, chocolate chips and walnuts (or pecans). I've cut the sugars down to the barest minimum so they're sweet, but not too sweet. Lots of butter -- pure unsalted sweet butter is just plain good.

I don't advise trying to mix the oatmeal mixture into the creamed cookie batter -- instead, put the batter into the bowl with the oats and other goodies, and make good use of your hands to mix it thoroughly. It's the only way, and has more than a little bit of therapeutic value.

This cookie dough will not look or behave like the cookie dough you're used to using. There is so much good stuff mixed into the creamy basic dough that it doesn't stick together at all. You can make them any size you like, but unless I'm going for a big splash, I generally gather a bit of dough in my hands and squeeze it together gently to form a somewhat cohesive ball about the size of a walnut, then put it on the cookie sheet and press down slightly. Space them well apart, because they do spread -- although not as much as they did tonight.

It's a little hard to specify how long to cook these babies. It just all depends upon how big they are, whether you want them chewy or crisp, your oven and the whims of fate. My favorite point to take them out is when they are just lightly browned and still rather moist in the middle. But -- bake them longer until they're as brown as you want them -- this produces a delightful crispy cookie. Sometimes I've been able to take them out at about 12 minutes, lately it's been more like 18 minutes.  Let them cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before removing them to a cooling rack.

As you can see, this is a recipe born to be played with. Try it out, test sizes and cooking times, add more granulated sugar if you like sweeter cookies -- make it your own. One thing I can assure you is that however they come out of the oven (aside from being totally burnt), they will be delicious. I find them addictive, and I'm not the only one!

I've shared these cookies with a lot of people over the last 20 or so years, in different states in different parts of the country. On two separate occasions, in two separate states I had two friends who tasted them and said "Kitty, these are the best damn cookies I ever had in my life!", and the name stuck. Well, one of them was Mormon so he said 'darn', but he'd have said 'damn' if he could. I also had a fella out on the Appalachian Trail ask me to marry him upon tasting them, right in front of his un-amused wife. They're good.

Kitty's "Best Damn" Cookies

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3 cups old-fashioned, whole rolled oats
1 generous cup chocolate chips or chunks
1 generous cup walnuts or pecans, broken slightly but left in large pieces
1 generous cup shredded, sweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350.

Toss the oats, chocolate, nuts and coconut in a large bowl, set aside. Blend the dry ingredients in small bowl, set aside. Using electric mixer, cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, beat well. Add dry ingredients, beat well. Transfer batter from mixer bowl to large bowl of goodies, use hands and fingers to mix well.

Bake as suggested earlier. Enjoy.