Improvising is Sometimes Best

On a recent long weekend, I decided to work on reducing the bits and bobs in my pantry. It was a little out of control.

{One of my UK friends, J, had reminded me a while back that she shops on an as-needed basis and rarely had the storage/organization problems that I do. While I'll probably always be a bit disorganized, and probably shop for more than I need, I appreciated the reminder that less can be more.}

So I pulled half-empty bags of this and small packets of that out of the pantry and surveyed what I could make. And, as these things often happen to go, the cookies that I made up from my leftovers and overstock are now some of our favorites.

That means, of course, that everything I used up I now have to restock. Even worse, one of the items is a seasonal product, so I bought all remaining stock and have stored it in the freezer. My clearing out project has led to some major hoarding.

Oh well. One bite of these cookies and you'll see that it was worth it!

Shannah's Oatmeal Goodness Cookies

• 1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
• 1-1/2 c golden brown sugar, packed
• 2 t. vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 c old-fashioned oats
• 1-1/2 c all-purpose flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• 1/2 t ground nutmeg
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 c chopped walnuts
• 1/2 c golden raisins
• 1/2 package cinnamon chips
• 1/2 package dark chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter. Add vanilla and eggs, mix until light and fluffy. Add oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Stir until well blended. Add nuts, raisins, cinnamon chips and dark chocolate chips. Drop batter by heaping spoonfuls 1-1/2 inches apart onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake for 10-13 minutes or until golden brown. Cookies will feel soft but will firm up as they cool. Let stand on baking sheets 2 minutes before transferring to racks to cool.

Make your husband very happy by freezing the batter so you can bake fresh cookies whenever you want. Simply stick your loaded baking sheet in the freezer until the raw cookie dough balls are frozen solid. Remove from sheets and place parchment sheets directly into freezer bags. Be smart: label the freezer bag with the baking instructions! Remove the air from the bag (straw, suction power, seal quickly) and freeze until the need for cookies becomes overwhelming.