With the warm, sunny days returning, a lot of us are thinking about picnics again. I could never understand why ordinary food tastes so much better when eaten outside. And, that’s not just my opinion. I’ve noticed that when my grandchildren are eating under a tree or sitting beside a creek in the woods, they gobble up food they’d usually pass up at the kitchen table.
When I took the grandkids outdoors, I’d fill a backpack with simple ham salad or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, pickles, chips, pieces of fruit, drinks, and, of course, no picnic is complete without homemade cookies for dessert! Though most of our grandkids are grown up now and their tastes have changed, there’s one item from their old picnic days they still love – homemade cookies!
Not all cookies, however, are easy to manage on picnics because they crush or fall apart too easily. These Honey Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, a combination of the grandkids’ two favorite cookies (oatmeal and chocolate chip), though, remain in perfect shape if packed for a picnic or piled high on a platter in the kitchen. Best of all, they are tasty no matter where they’re eaten!
HONEY OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
1 cup honey
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick-cooking oats, uncooked
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat honey, shortening and butter with electric mixer until smooth. Beat in eggs, one at a time; add vanilla.
In medium bowl, combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt; mix well. Add dry ingredients to honey mixture; mix thoroughly. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet. Place cookie sheet above center of oven; bake 12 to 16 minutes, or until lightly browned. Let cookies stand 1 minute and then remove to wire racks to cool.
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