Scott’s Luxury DS Cookies
Prep and Cook time:Â 40-50 minutes | Makes 24-36
These cookies are my Mom’s take and my later take on a 1960’s recipe of a department store cookie. Mom always baked these on holidays and special occasions. They really are a wonderful marriage of a decadent chocolate chip cookie and an oatmeal cookie. The ingredients below make a sizable amount of cookies so feel free to cut the ingredients in half or in thirds. Remember to remain true to the fractional amounts below if reducing or increasing the ingredients. You won’t be able to eat just one! I promise!
INGREDIENTS:
4 sticks unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs, beaten
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. fine sea salt or Kosher salt
5 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
24 oz. bittersweet chocolate chips (such as Ghirardelli 60% cacao)
8 oz. Hershey’s* chocolate bars, chopped or broken into chunks
3 cups very roughly chopped walnuts, pecans, or a combination
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 375°F with two racks close to the center.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and both types of sugar together with an electric mixer until lightened in color and texture, about 3-5 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula. Add the oats and stir to combine. The dough will be very thick. Stir in the chocolate chips, Hershey’s or Ghirardelli bars, and nuts.
Using an ice cream scoop, your hands, or a couple of spoons, form the batter into loose, golf-ball-sized mounds. Place two inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets or parchment paper.
Bake for eight to nine minutes, until the tops are just golden and the cookies are still soft. Transfer to a wire rack to cool at least slightly before serving.
NOTES:
Use unsalted butter, or use salted butter and reduce the salt in the recipe by half.
You can use either semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips. Semi-sweet will give the cookies a slightly sweeter flavor profile. I use Ghirardelli 60% cacao chocolate bars. Depends on your taste. Also, you can leave out the nuts if you prefer.
Once cooled, baked cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for two to three days. Or freeze them and bake them later for up to three months.
To freeze the cookie dough for later, roll the dough into balls and place them on parchment-lined baking sheets. Freeze until solid, then transfer to an airtight container or zip-top freezer bag for up to six months. Add a minute or two to the baking time when baking straight from frozen. There’s no need to defrost the dough first.
Photo credit: Peter DaSilva for The New York Times
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