Two Weeks of Christmas Treats, Day 7: Oatmeal Cinnamon Chip Cookies

I love these cookies for one simple reason: They make me think of my mom.

My mom started making these cookies as soon as the cinnamon baking chips were released in the store, so I ate them a lot during college. Our house seemed to always smell like them. I’ll never forget the time she made a batch for her doctor’s office when she was heading there for an appointment. It wasn’t until after she was home, after everyone in the doctor’s office had eaten (and LOVED!) the cookies, that she realized she had completely forgotten to add flour to the mix. She shrugged and chose to see the humor in it, which was the way my mom always seemed to handle tough things in life – small things like flour left out of cookies, or big things like her cancer.

I miss my mom every single day, but I miss her the most this time of year. I wish she was here to bake these cookies, and many other kinds of cookies, with me. But when I bake them, and my house fills with their familiar, spicy smell, and I take a bite of a still-warm, delicious cookie, I really do feel like a part of her is still here with me. This recipe is very, very special to me.

Oatmeal Cinnamon Chip Cookies
slightly adapted from Hershey’s

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 10-ounce package Hershey’s cinnamon chips

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Beat butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in bowl until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Combine flour and baking soda; add to butter mixture, beating well. Stir in oats and cinnamon chips. Drop by heaping teaspoons unto ungreased cookie sheet.

3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Makes about 4 dozen.