These cookies were my all-time faves when I was growing up. They originally came out of a magazine and were called "To My Valentine" Oatmeal cookies. My mom made them for me and used heart cookie cutters with pink icing. They were definitely yummy. I made them when I was a teenager and I've made them for my kids. Now, you can make them too.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 T. milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup oats
A note about the ingredients---the original recipe calls for sifted flour. Remember this was from an old, probably the 5os, magazine. We didn't have finely sifted pre-packaged flour like we do today. Regular, all-purpose flour is fine without sifting but if you want to make the recipe extra smooth, go ahead and sift before measuring. If you use margarine, be sure to pick the one with the highest fat content because the lower the fat content, the softer it is. Soft margarine (especially tub butter) doesn't work well in baking because it keeps your cookies or cakes from keeping their shape. Don't use skim milk, but 1% or 2% are fine. Of course, whole is best in cooking. And finally, any kind of oats will do, but quick oats mix in better.
1. Preheat oven to 375 and grease cookie sheets (I use Pam spray and then wipe off a bit with a paper towel. If you use aluminum foil, you won't have to wash the cookie sheet afterwards. If you use a silicone liner, you won't use any grease.)
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer.
3. In a smaller bowl, mix together lightly with a fork or whisk, the flour, baking powder and salt. It's more like fluffing, really.
4. Begin to add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar a little at a time. It might take 3 to 4 additions.
5. Add milk, egg and vanilla.
6. Stir in the oats. It is a very stiff batter and you'll have to use a little muscle, but don't over mix.
7. Roll the dough into a ball and put in a zipper plastic bag and put into the fridge for about 20 minutes. This will help the dough keep its shape when you roll it out.
8. Take this time to clean up, get out your cookie cutters. Throw some flour out on the surface where you'll be rolling out your dough.
9. After the dough has stiffened a bit, roll it out to 1/4-inch thickness. This is pretty thin, actually. Cut out your shapes with the cookie cutter and put cookies on prepared cookie sheets. You can put them pretty close together because they shouldn't spread a lot.
10. Bake for about 12-15 minutes. They should be a delicate brown color around the edges, but if they aren't, don't cook them anymore. They are very tasty however they are cooked.
11. Decorate them with iced confectioner's sugar frosting. Use 1/3 cup softened butter, 1 box powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla and 2-3 T. milk for good consistency. Tint the icing with whatever color you want...Enjoy!
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