Oatier Oatmeal Cookies

These have ore oats than typical recipes, and rum-soaked raisins add an extra kick. What you'll need:

• 1 lb rolled oats
• 10 oz unsalted butter, softened
• 6 oz dark brown sugar
• 3 1/2 oz sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• kosher salt
• 4 oz raisins (optional but recommended) soaked overnight in dark rum

How to proceed once you've got all your ingredients:

1. Spread oats evenly on a sheet pan, bake at 375° for 20 minutes or until lightly toasted.
2. Place half of toasted oats into food processor, process until reduced to a fine powder.
3. Combine both sugars and the butter in mixer, beat at medium speed for 3 minutes, umtil smooth.
4. Reduce mixer speed, add egg and vanilla. Mix thoroughly.
5. Add cinnamon, baking soda, and a pinch of kosher salt to the powdered oat mixture. Mix thoroughly.
6. Slowly add powdered oat mixture to butter/sugar mixture while mixing. Mix until incorporated then mix in raisins and the other half of the oats. Mix a few minutes until fully combined into smooth batter.
7. Place 1 1/2 oz scoops of batter on pan lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375° for 12- 14 minutes until edges are brown, rotating halfway through.
8. Cool on pan for 2 minutes, then move to rack.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

A few twists in the typical recipe put these over the top. The instructions below will produce 16 large cookies. The photo is 10 of them on a standard size dinner plate (roughly 10").

• More brown sugar than white sugar adds extra chewiness
• Melting the butter first and browning a portion of it adds a little extra nutty flavor
• Two egg yolks but only one egg white makes them less cake-like and more moist
• Allowing the sugar to dissolve improves the texture
• Skipping the cheaper household standard name brand chips in favor of good chocolate makes a huge difference. Use either Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips or, if you can't find them, Hershey's Special Dark Mildly Sweet Chocolate Chips will suffice.