The Best Oatmeal Cookies. Ever.

These cookies turn out thick, chewy and oh so delicious! I found this recipe 'out there' on the Internet and while it's mostly true to what I originally found, I've changed it up a bit to satisfy my oatmeal cookie needs. Grinning here. These cookies make me smile!

This recipe makes a couple of dozen cookies but is easily doubled if you must have more! More! More!

1/2 C (1 stick) butter, softened -- I use unsalted
2/3 C light brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 C all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 C rolled oats (I use Quaker Oats)
3/4 C raisins (but you can change it up with chocolate morsels)
1/2 C walnuts, chopped (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, line baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.

In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together. Stir this into the butter/sugar mixture gradually with hand mixer on low.

Add the oats, raisins (or chocolate morsels) and nuts, if adding them and mix well with wooden spoon.

The real secret to this recipe is chilling the dough before cooking. The chilling keeps them thick while cooking and makes them chewy!

Using a small ice cream scoop, place the dough two inches apart on two cookie sheets lined with parchment paper and slide into the fridge for a few minutes. Once the dough is chilled, place trays in the oven and set your timer for 10 minutes. While the cookies are baking, prepare two more sheets with dough and place in the fridge.

Check at the end of ten minutes, if the edges are golden and the tops are 'just about done' the cookies are ready to come out of the oven.

Cool for five minutes on the pan and then transfer to a wire rack. Store in an airtight container between layers of waxed or parchment paper.