I’m glad football season is back for a ton of reasons, but one of the Top 3 is that I now have someone to give these baked goods to! My baking slows down severely in the offseason because I can’t afford to have piles of cookies, bars, and cakes all over my kitchen. There are now a bunch of hungry offensive lineman eager to help me out with all the extra treats.

This is a recipe that I am constantly tweaking. It can take adjustments and additions so I love to play around with it. This combo is my favorite right now!

Ingredients 

1/2 cup rolled oats, chopped
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
8 oz. cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
2 eggs
3 cups miniature chocolate chips
1-1/2 cups finely chopped walnuts (optional)

Instructions

1. Prepare oats and walnuts. Use a blender/or food processor to pulse the rolled oats till they are roughly chopped. This gives you a chewier cookie.
2. Cream together butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Mix in the eggs one at a time, until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon). Stir into wet ingredients till dough forms. Gently fold in the oats, walnuts, chocolate chips.
4. Chill the dough overnight. BE PATIENT!*
5. Bake cookies at 325 degrees for 15-18 minutes. You are looking for barely brown edges and cracked tops.
6. Let cool, Enjoy!
7. *It’s easiest to scoop the dough onto plates covered with wax paper before you refrigerate the dough. Scooping cold dough is not fun.

TIPS

Get creative with your add-ins! Try coconut flakes, pecans, dried cranberries, or butterscotch chips.