Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip and Pecan Cookies

I love cookies. They are without question my favorite treat. Small and compact, they are a great way to have a little something sweet, provided you don't eat a dozen at one sitting! Cakes, ice cream, and pies don't do for me what a good cookie will do. I just love them.

One of my favorites is the oatmeal cookie, and particularly at this time of year I get in the mood to bake them. I really love this recipe; it's not the traditional "oatmeal raisin" variety. I think this one's better, mainly because of the great combination of oats, chocolate and pecans. I think it's especially because of the pecans that I crave them in the fall. Also, rainy weather puts me in the mood to bake - I don't know what it is. Good thing it doesn't rain around here too often!

I made a batch of these tonight after dinner. Here's my ensemble of ingredients.

You'll love these if you like cookies that are slightly chewy on the inside, yet crisp on the outside. YUMMY! What's important is waiting those 2 minutes after taking them out of the oven to crisp up a bit so that they are just perfect!

Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip and Pecan Cookies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Ground oats

1 cup regular oats (I grind them briefly in the food processor for a finer texture)
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup softened butter
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
(mini chips will disperse better but regular sized ones will give you more chocolate!)

Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and the next 4 ingredients (through salt), stirring with a whisk; set aside.
Place sugars and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add vanilla and egg; beat until blended. Gradually add flour mixture, beating at low speed just until combined. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips. Drop dough by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper or Silpat. Bake at 350F for 12-14 minutes or until edges of cookies are lightly browned. Cool on pans 2 minutes. Remove cookies from pans; cool on wire racks. Yield: 3 dozen.

I usually don't bake them all at once else I would eat them all at once. So I take out enough batter for a batch of 6-8 cookies and freeze the remaining dough, taking out just enough for when I want to bake just a few more.