Spice in the Kitchen: Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies

I went to a used bookfair the other day and as I was perusing the cookbook section, I came across a very 1980s looking copy of the Mrs. Field's I Love Chocolate! Cookbook. Normally I would just pass over a cookbook like that because the recipes are so heavy in eggs, but I remembered my friend Åsa had given me a recipe from it that has become a standard go-to in my cookie making rotation. My sister and her daughter were coming so I wanted to prepare a somewhat healthy (well, not really) sweet for her and the kids to snack on. Flipping through the cookbook, I came across a recipe for "Monster Chunk Cookies" that I adapted for this recipe. It's heavier in flour than oats, so it's less dense than a traditional oatmeal cookie. Use appropriate vegan substitutes if making vegan, but I don't need to tell you that, right?

Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies Recipe (eggless, vegan-izable)
makes about 24

Ingredients

• 2 cups of unbleached flour
• 1 cup of old fashioned oats
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• 1/4 tsp of salt (leave out if using Earth Balance in replace of butter)
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup of Greek Yogurt
• 2 TB cornstarch
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 bag of chocolate chunks (or coarsely chop 12 ounces of vegan chocolate)
• extras: add 1 cup of roasted walnuts or pecan pieces and 1/2 cup of dried cherries)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300.
2. Mix flour, oats, baking soda and salt.
3. Cream together butter, sugars, yogurt, cornstarch and vanilla extract.
4. Combine wet with dry and fold in chocolate chunks and any extras.
5. Scoop out the cookies as big as you want them--from 1 TB to 1/4 cup--and cook on a parchment lined cookie sheet for 18-22 minutes. Flatten each scoop a bit. (the bigger the cookie, the harder it falls, I mean, the longer it will take to bake. Just keep an eye on them--they're ready when they are light brown.)
6. Let rest on cookie sheet for a minute or two and transfer to cooling rack with a spatula.