From the Cabin Kitchen.....Chewy Oatmeal Walnut Cookies

I've made three batches of these cookies in the past few days, but there's nary a picture to show for it. They just keep disappearing before I can get to the camera. Perhaps batch #4 will be the lucky ones to achieve cookie stardom. And batch #4 will probably be made tonight, after Mark picks up walnuts and butter from the grocery store after work. I'm not quite willing to brave a grocery store run during the snow and ice with a toddler and a two week old just so I can make some cookies. Even these cookies, which understandably could inspire one to take such desperate measures. But, in single digit temperatures, I can wait. Besides, these are really Mark's cookies. I make them, and he eats them. With coffee, late at night, for breakfast. By the fistful. I have a slew of holiday recipes I'm dying to try out (like Nigella's chocolate orange cake, Molly's peppermint bark, and Deb's Roasted Chestnut Cookies), and yet each time I suggest the mere possibility of something new, he shrugs his shoulders and looks so sad at the possibility of a day without these oatmeal walnut chewies that I can't help but give in. It's funny because my dear one of the picky palate so rarely gets this enthusiastic over anything culinary (except ice cream).

These are humble little cookies, much more at home in a lunch box than a holiday cookie buffet. Even when I do manage to get a photograph of them, it's unlikely to be very impressive (not like this cake on the cover of December's Bon Appetit that Kate is insisting we make...clearly she has a misplaced faith in her mother's cake decorating abilities). In the midst of the holiday cookie extravaganza, these cookies won't do much to excite the eye, but they are divine nonetheless. I've snuck in a few bites myself, and they are indeed chewy, dense, nutty morsels of perfection. I'm happy to report that the gestational diabetes did indeed go away after Andrew's birth, and my blood sugar levels have returned to normal levels. But, even though I have been eating bread again, I'm still staying away from refined sugar as much as possible, which needless to say is something of a challenge during the holidays. I'm not doing nearly as much baking as I usually do, and as this recipe illustrates, when I do bake, I tend to devote my baking energies to the tastes and requests of my nearest and dearest. It's working out well so far. If I were to make these cookies for myself I would jazz them up by tossing in some dried cranberries and chunks of dark chocolate, but Mark would be horrified. Keeping them simple, rustic, and monochromatic works out best for both of us.

Chewy Oatmeal Walnut Cookies

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour *
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 cups old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1 cup walnuts

*(A note about the flour.....the recipe calls for all-purpose, but I've been sneaking in whole wheat flours wherever I can lately.....This book is definitely on my Christmas list......So, for these cookies I used 1 cup all purpose unbleached flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour.....Shhh, don't tell Mark.......)

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat together butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat well.

Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in small bowl. Add slowly to butter/sugar/egg mixture. Mix well.

Stir in oats, walnuts, and coconut.

Drob by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool one minute on cookie sheet. Remove to wire rack to cool completely. Or just start eating.