Rocky Mountain Cookies

The week before Christmas. Oak Lawn in December is everything it is supposed to be — Patty has the wreath on the door and the candles in the windows and the small nativity scene on the mantle that has been there since before I was born. She starts the Christmas cookies the third week of December, always in the same order: cutout sugar cookies first, then thumbprints with jam, then the Polish ones, the chrusciki, the fried dough pastries that Babcia Rose taught her, that Babcia Rose's mother taught her.

I helped with the cookies this year. Actually helped — not just eating them, but standing at the counter with Patty, cutting shapes, pressing the jam into the thumbprints, watching her fry the chrusciki in hot oil until they are pale golden and crispy and dusted with powdered sugar. Patty does this every year and she is fast at it, the way Babcia Rose is fast at pierogi, muscle memory built over forty years of the same kitchen.

Matt and Danielle came in with the kids for the pre-Christmas visit — Jake is seven now and Lily is five, and they were in full December chaos mode. Jake ate six sugar cookies before dinner. Lily declared that thumbprint cookies were "the best food in the world" and then ate only three bites of actual dinner. Steve watched all of this with the expression of a man who is deeply tired and deeply happy simultaneously.

I slept in my childhood room under the blue comforter and ate cookies for breakfast twice and did not read anything for professional development and did not cook anything complicated. I just let Patty cook. I just let the house be what it has always been — loud and warm and full of sugar and Steve's coffee at six AM and Patty's voice saying "Don't eat the cookies before breakfast" to whoever will listen, which is no one.

Of all the cookies Patty made that week, the ones that disappeared fastest weren’t the delicate chrusciki or the pretty thumbprints — they were the big, chunky, oat-and-chocolate-loaded cookies she tossed onto the tray almost as an afterthought. Jake and Lily went through them like it was their job. These Rocky Mountain Cookies are that kind of cookie — sturdy enough to survive a kid’s grip, sweet enough to eat for breakfast when no one’s watching, and easy enough to add to whatever holiday baking you’ve already got going.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 12 minutes | Total Time: 27 minutes | Servings: 36 cookies

Ingredients

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Instructions

Cream the butter and sugars. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Mix in the vanilla extract.
Combine the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, mixing on low speed until just combined.
Fold in the add-ins. Stir in the rolled oats, chocolate chips, shredded coconut, and chopped pecans by hand until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Chill the dough. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. This helps the cookies hold their shape and develop a chewier texture.
Preheat and scoop. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the prepared sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
Bake until golden. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden but the centers still look slightly underdone. They will firm up as they cool.
Cool completely. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week.

Nutrition (per serving)

Rocky Mountain Cookies — The Kind You Eat Six of Before Dinner