Ovens Make Great Space Heaters and Cookies

FIGHT THE COLD WITH COOKIES!



Winter Pro Tip: Ovens make for the best space heaters. They warm up the home while making something tasty for the tummy. I can't think of a better win-win situation at this moment.

The Siberian cold front is upon Chicago in full force. Today's weather is a eyeball-freezing high of "too cold for any thermostat to be effective" - brought to you by Google, my open living room window, and my failing radiator heaters.

At least it looks pretty outside...

As I was huddling with the kitties for warmth, I decided to fire up the oven to make a comforting cookie treat. After posting a quick picture of the delicious results, I received a bunch of requests for the recipe...so by popular demand, here is the tasty secret I used to warm up the home.

Chocolate Chip Pecan Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  
• 3/4 cup cane sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 3 large eggs
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbs cinnamon, ground
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Culinary Dance Steps:

1. If you have a convection setting on your oven, I recommend using this setting to preheat the oven to 350°F. Otherwise, preheat a regular oven to 375°F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, use an electric hand mixer to beat the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs, vanilla extract, cinnamon, salt and mix well.
4. Evenly sprinkle the baking soda and baking powder over the dough and thoroughly mix.
5. Mix in the flour. Set aside the electric hand mixer.
6. Using a large mixing spoon, manually stir in the oats, chocolate chips, and chopped pecans.
7. Shape the dough into 1.5" balls and place the dough balls about 2" apart from each other on a baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper. Don't skip the parchment paper - it is not the same as non-stick cooking spray - parchment paper helps to keep the cookies from spreading out too much.
8. Place the baking sheets with dough balls in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes. This chilling will ensure the cookies are soft and fluffy, not flat and crispy.
9. Once the dough balls are chilled, bake them in the convection oven for 13 minutes. If using a regular oven, bake the cookies on the center rack for 12-15 minutes, rotating the baking sheets after 6 minutes.
10. Remove the cookies from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before eating or storing.