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* I am having camera uploading difficulties so this post will be without pics for a short while. But for deadlines sake, I am posting as is. Please bear with me!*

Last year on a whim I decided to participate in a blogger cookie swap. I figured with all the time I spent in the kitchen baking ANYWAY, I might as well do something productive with all the butter in my fridge. My experience was wonderful so when the opportunity to sign up came along, I did not hesitate.
Last year, upon joining, I received an awesome bake sale cookbook which was helpful for conjuring up ideas this year. And this year, I received an awesome cookie spatula that made this year’s cookie batch frustration free with regards to transferring cookies to the cooling rack.
One of the rules is to make a new recipe or revamp an old recipe. With respect to shipping, there are only so many kinds of cookies that ship well. So, I remembered way back in my very early college days making my first ever from scratch cookies. Oatmeal chocolate chip. I had made them for a doctor who performed my tonsillectomy. I was 19 years old. Having a tonsillectomy as an adult is the pits. But this doctor made me feel like a brand new person. All my love and gratefulness went into those cookies and my mother asked if I could make a batch for her friends. Something went wrong along the way. Maybe I was too confident. Maybe I didn’t measure the ingredients right. But the next batch was awful. And I never made them again.
…
Until recently.
I figured going back to my first cookie and making it MY way would be successful. I don’t know about my recipients, but I was really happy with the results of this batch. And mom was a grateful recipient of the extras in this batch; imagine tasting a cookie you have been wanting for 10 years? (and now, I feel old. Dammit.)

Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies
 
Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies (makes 3 dozen)
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 bar of 75% Cacao Dark Chocolate (I used Scharfenberger), roughly chopped
1 cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
 
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*.
Using a stand Mixer, or a hand mixer (I used a kitchen aid), set the mixer on low with a flat paddle attachment and beat butter until smooth, approximately 1 minute. While the mixer is still on, pour in the sugar and the brown sugar until they are well incorporated, about 3 minutes. Next, add in eggs one at a time, followed by vanilla. Mix until the eggs are no longer visible, 2 minutes.  Add baking soda, cinnamon, and cinnamon on low. Now, kick up the speed a tiny bit. Using a ½ cup size measuring cup, add flour ½ cup at a time. If necessary, you may interrupt the mixer to scrape down the sides. When the flour is well incorporated into the cookie dough, turn the mixer off and fold in the dark chocolate and the rolled oats.
On a lightly greased (with unsalted butter OR oil) cookie sheet, add rounded spoonfuls of cookie dough onto the cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. I use a very small ice cream scoop for uniform cookie shapes. Bake at 350* for 10-12 minutes.
When you take cookies out of the oven, allow them to rest for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet and then transfer them to a cooling rack for about 30 minutes.  Store them in an airtight container once completely cooled and eat within 7-10 days.
I really liked this recipe and decided, since I had already dirtied the kitchen, to make another batch. This time, split the batch between BR’s parents in the UK, My next door neighbor who ALWAYS accepts packages for me in my absence, and my mother, who really needed cheering up.
On the receiving end, I got some great goodies. Some Italian Knot cookies from Jennifer, Cranberry- Pistachio white chocolate cookies from Stephanie, and Ginger Molasses cookies from Julie (whom I sent cookies to last year- small world!).