There was a time in my life where I made the same batch of cookies almost weekly. They were my specialty and became a staple in lunch bags and the fingers of those seeking an evening treat. The recipe was from the milk chocolate Chipits bag and was marked by its use of melted butter and only brown sugar. Underbaked, they were my ultimate homemade chocolate chip cookie.

As my interest in food has grown, I’ve moved beyond my standby. Although I’ll likely be the last person in the blogosphere to make David Leite’s famous recipe, I have plans to attack it soon. And an upcoming post will show a cookie dance I had with Nigella.

But first things first. Meet The Handshake Cookie.
I brought these to a friend’s soiree one night.  White chocolate oatmeal cookies. Not very exciting, right? Wrong. They’re thick, yet not soft. Crisp, but they don’t rain crumbs because there’s enough chew to stay together. They have that grandmotherly oat flavour but are slightly rich from the white chocolate and balanced from the sprinkling of salt.

I’m conditioned to believe that people-pleaser cookies are soft and gooey (mostly because those please me). These cookies taught me that this is not so. Even I liked their crispness! Like a good biscotti, they call out for a pairing with a rich cup of coffee… or a glass of vin santo.

Oh yeah, and the important part about their presence at the party? A guest actually came over to me and shook my hand because the cookies were so good.

 

 

Crispy Salted Oatmeal White Chocolate Cookies

I followed Smitten Kitchen’s recipe exactly except on one point. Based on comments she received, I used 12 tablespoons of butter instead of 14. Other than that, my only other comment is to always slightly underbake your cookies by at least one minute. I did that with these and they still came out with the intended texture.