Christmas Cookies

Well, the cookies are done, and packed, and ready to take a trip to Florida or be shipped to Chicago, and I simply hope that they all make it intact. I am worried about the lace ones. They are tasty, but fragile. I couldn't find great cookie tins so they are in boxes. I lined each box with saran wrap, then layered cookies in between paper towels, and then closed up the saran wrap at the top before putting on the lid. I *hope* this serves to keep them fresh as well as cushioned. My husband said it reminded him of his 5th grade project where he had to prep a box such that an egg would survive a fall.

Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Cookies were by far our favorite of the bunch, so here is the recipe (from WW, with my changes):

3/4 cup all purpose flour

2T unsweetened cocoa (we used Hershey's Dark Cocoa)

1t baking soda

1/4 t ground cinnamon

1/4 t ground nutmeg

1/2 t salt

3/4 c butter at room temperature

1/2 c sugar

3/4 c packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 1/2 c uncooked oatmeal (we used quick oats)

1/2 c dried cherries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Cut any large cherries into 2 or 4 pieces. This is tedious but it will give your cookies a more uniform amount of cherriness.

Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cocoa, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

Cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl using a paddle attachment and beat until fluffy. Add brown sugar and beat until incorporated. Scrape down sides of bowl.

Beat in eggs one at a time until incorporated. Slowly add flour mixture and beat until incorporated.

Stir in oatmeal and cherries by hand until incorporated and uniform looking.

Drop rounded teaspoons of dough onto a nonstick pan or silpat but DO NOT USE A BAKING STONE BECAUSE THEY WILL STICK AND YOU WILL CRY.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, but if your oven has been on all day and you are baking lots and lots and lots, then check them after 8 minutes because they will probably bake fast.

Delicious.

(and 2 points per cookie)