Dark Chocolate-Maple-Oatmeal Cookies

I think cookies make good car food. You can hold them with one hand. They aren't too terribly crumbly. They're tasty. And they're easy to make when you decide the evening before the car trip that you're going to take a trip and don't want to get hungry on the road. I'm always eager to experience the food that the road offers up. But it's nice, too, to bring along something from home, and of home.



Just butter and sugar so far, folks!

That was the impetus for these cookies. And their substance—a mixture of the season (gooey maple, warm cinnamon) and the stock of the pantry (tiny dark chocolate chips, a seemingly bottomless tin of floury oats). They came together quick--if a bit bigger than I'd intended. My measurements made twenty-four generously sized cookies, each oozing with chocolate and oats. And there's a cozy bite of cinnamon to them that lingers beyond the final crumb.

Dark Chocolate-Maple-Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 eggs

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup regular oats

1 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

--Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease two baking sheets.

--In a medium bowl, cream together butter and two sugars. Add maple syrup and eggs and mix until incorporated. Add baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

--Stir flour into sugar mixture. Add oats and chocolate chips and stir until well incorporated.

--Roll dough into 1-inch rounds and place on prepared sheet. Bake 10 minutes, or until edges are lightly crisped.