Grandmother's Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies

Now, this one just came from a book - the Good Housekeeping favourite cookies book. But it is good, and Jess wanted the recipe, so I'm hoisting it up here. Must be the Scot in me, but I really don't think you can go wrong with oatmeal cookies.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats, uncooked
• 3/4 cup dark seedless raisins or chopped pitted prunes

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. In small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt
2. In large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat butter and granulated and brown sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla until blended. Reduce speed to low; beat in flour mixture just until blended. With wooden spoon, stir in oats and raisins.
3. Drop dough by heaping tablespoons, 2 inches apart, on two ungreased large cookie sheets. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes, rotating cookie sheets between upper and lower oven racks halfway through baking. With wide metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completley.
4. Repeat with remaining dough.
   

Granny's Shortbread

This was my great-grandmother's or great-great-grandmother's shortbread recipe, which we make every Christmas. The brown sugar is unusual - I think it might be a highlands-lowlands thing? But it certainly makes for tender and flavourful shortbread. Good quality butter makes a big difference too.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar (scant)
• 1 tsp salt (scant)
• 2 1/4 cups flour

Method (in my mother's rambling email wording)
Cream the butter, sugar and salt, stir in the flour and knead lightly till it blends and holds together. Roll gently, with as little extra flour as you can manage, to 1/4" thickness, or something that feels right - they won't rise much (Not too thin!) Cut in suitable shapes, place on ungreased cookie sheets, bake at 250, 300 if your oven is unusually cool, until the bottoms are just starting to brown - I forget how long - maybe 15-20 mins. Knead and reroll trimmings, again with as little extra flour as you can manage, and repeat. I have always decorated (before baking) with slivers of glace cherries, but you could use dried cranberries or cherries, nothing, or your own invention. Cool completely and store in a cookie tin - freezing not required. If you eat them all, make some more. Bring with you when you come home for Christmas.

You see, dear blog reader, where I get it. I particularly love the instruction to make more after eating them all - it makes this like some sort of recipe go-to loop.

Mrs. A's Chocolat Chippers

These are the cookies of my childhood, best made by the mother of my childhood best friend, who was known as "Mrs. A" because she worked in a daycare centre where the other woman had a name that was unpronounceable by little mouths and preferred to be known as "Mrs. B." Now Armstrong is not so difficult, but it seemed only natural that she become Mrs. A, and when I was little, that's what everyone called her. Her cookies were one of many reasons why I referred to her as "my second mum".

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup butter
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 2/3 cup brown sugar (lightly packed)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 6 oz chocolate chips

Sift or blend together flour, soda, and salt. Cream butter and sugars. Blend in the egg and vanilla. Stir the flour mixture into the wet mixture, and then add the chocolate chips. Drop onto an ungreased baking sheet leaving plenty of room for them to spread. Bake at 375 until starting to brown around the edges. Cool a minute or two on the sheet, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.