Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Valentine Oatmeal Sugar Cookies

I wish my mom were here today instead of in Seattle.  She loves to bake.  I don't.  My brother and I fight over who is her biggest cookie fan.  He lives in Seattle so he gets to have more of them than I do.

Valentine's Day was always one of my favorite holidays.  I loved the colors, the fancy papers, choosing cards for my classmates, helping the teacher decorate the box where we'd put them; and then coming home to mom's sugar cookies.  Of all the cookies in the world, those are my favorites - home made rolled and frosted sugar cookies!

Much as I love them, I don't make them very often.  It's a lot of work, I shouldn't be eating that many of them, etc.  But when I talked to my daughter earlier today and she said she guessed she was going to go out and buy a big cookie for each of her boys, the sacrilege got the better of me.  I told her I'd make them cookies.



Here's my mom's recipe for oatmeal sugar cookies - that she got from her mom.  And you can see in the corner of the recipe - ( mama).  That's how I know it was grandma's recipe - I have almost never called my mother 'mama'.  Also, you see that it's not a good idea to double the recipe - I tried once and it was a holy mess!

Another little note - the dented tin measuring cup you see is my grandmother's very own - the cup that produced such great treats from her kitchen from the time I can remember - and that's a long time!

2 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c. butter
3/4 c. sugar
2 Tbsp. milk
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. oatmeal
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.  In another bowl, cream butter, sugar, add milk, egg, and vanilla.  Beat till blended, then stir in oats.  when you can gather it into a ball, roll out on floured board to 1/4" thickness.  Cut into heart shapes.  Bake on greased cookie sheets at 375 for 15 minutes.  Decorate with tinted confectioner's sugar frosting.

My husband doesn't like frosted cookies - so I left some plain.  These have a delicious nutty flavor, so they are absolutely wonderful, even when they are not gooey with frosting!