Bake at the Drop of a Kippah*

Frume Sarah told me I'm one of "those moms"...meaning I'll bake cookies at the drop of a kippah*, I guess;-)

I do like to bake, and my family and friends have come to expect it of me. Feeling a need for sweets? Just hint to me and I'm likely to bake you a batch of cookies. Cold Shabbat afternoon? Let's bake cookies!

How do I do this easily?
1. I always have on hand all the ingredients for this recipe of cookies (below). Anything else I might not be able to bake. I also keep at least one box of cake mix and cupcake papers handy always. I buy the cakemixes on sale when I catch them. (I also keep pudding mix on hand, helpful when you need to use up some milk.)

2. I keep my stand mixer (isn't that one over there a beautiful color? mine is white.) on the countertop, tucked behind our water filter system. It's accessible and I don't have to lift it up from a cabinet or dig it out from behind other appliances I don't use as often as I should.

3. I have perfected this one recipe. No one seems to mind that I make the same over and over again because they're *darn good*! What makes them so good? I have taken a recipe from the back of a Nestle Chocolate Chip bag and edited it...I use half butter and half margarine (although this actually depends on what's in my house), I use all brown sugar in place of the white...that's about it. Plus, I beat and beat the sugar and butter (see below) and I use parchment paper. And I made a few other comments in the recipe below.

Ingredients:

* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 3/4 cups packed brown sugar
* 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
* 2 large eggs
* 2 tablespoons milk
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 2 1/2 cups quick or old-fashioned oats
* 2 cups chocolate chips
* 1 cup coarsely chopped nuts (optional - I never use them)

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat brown sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until creamy. (I find this is a key step too. I put it in my Kitchenaid mixer and start it going and then let it go and go while I sort out the rest of the ingredients. The longer the better.) Beat in eggs, milk and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats, morsels and nuts; mix well. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets - line with parchment paper for best results.

BAKE for 9 to 10 minutes. Take them out when they look slightly underdone (but not raw in the middle) and then make sure you cool on baking sheets for 1 minute or even longer, they will finish cooking nicely this way. Then remove to wire racks and trust me, they won't last long.

I also have one of these toys which I just got recently and love for its ease! Why did I never have one before!?

What works for you?


*Kippah is the Hebrew word for skullcap, worn by Jews.