Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Baking cookies is a good afternoon activity at our house. And, really, chocolate chip cookies make life better.

This is a recipe adapted from my childhood. I have been really interested in the changes that the author of the Sneaky Chef makes to recipes by adding in vegetable purees and ground nuts. My favorite of her additions are what we call "orange plops," which are a mixture of cooked carrots and cooked yams/sweet potatoes that are then pureed. I freeze these in 1 T portions in my ice cube trays, store them in the freezer, and then add to almost anything with eggs, tomatoes, and lots of cookies. The plops I used in this particular batch of cookies only had yams, which we're also using for baby food.

The wheat flour from our Lonesome Whistle CSA has such a great flavor, but a completely different texture from white flour which certainly changed the character of the cookies. I love this description of the wheat from our farmers, "Farmer David Fife first cultivated this variety in Canada in 1842 from a few seeds he brought over from Scotland. This wheat is considered a landrace variety and can adapt to many climatic conditions. Artisan bakers consider this the premier whole grain bread flour for flavor and texture."

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 c butter

1/2 c brown sugar

1/2 c white sugar

1 t vanilla

1 egg

1 c Red Fife flour (from Lonesome Whistle CSA)

1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

2 T yams cooked and pureed (aka orange plops)

1 c oatmeal

1 T flax seed ground

1 c chocolate chips

1/2 filberts chopped (from Thistledown Farm)

Cream butter and sugar. Add in eggs and vanilla. Add remaining dry ingredients. Spoon dough in 1t of dough portions onto cookie sheet. Bake 375F for 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack.