Once I fine-tune a recipe to my liking, I move on. However, I’m not a gal so set in her ways that I’m not willing to be flexible about revisiting a recipe. (This does NOT apply to household activities in which I’m constantly suggesting (okay, nagging) that my husband put his keys and wallet in the same spot so he doesn’t have to spend 15 minutes daily looking for them.)

Three years ago I created an OATMEAL CHIP COOKIE which I loved. So when I recently saw a chewy oatmeal cookie recipe in Cook’s Illustrated magazine, I nearly gave it a miss. But, I like to learn about the science of cooking, so I read it. One thing lead to another and I decided to make them, adding butterscotch chips…just because.

They were chewy, moist, and the butterscotch was a perfect additional to the bland oatmeal. I’m a convert!

QUEEN OF FREEZE TIP:  Cookies (both baked and the batter) freeze well. Surprisingly, they don’t loose moisture when thawed. Just set the frozen cookies on a plate for a couple of hours and, presto – dessert!

OATMEAL BUTTERSCOTCH COOKIES – makes about 22-23

• 145g (5 oz ) (1 cup + 2 T) all-purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 55g (4 T) butter (salted)
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 150g (5¼ oz) (3/4 cup + 2 T) dark brown sugar, packed
• 96g (3+3/8 oz) (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
• 3¼ oz (125 ml) (1/2 cup) vegetable oil
• 1 egg, whole
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 240g (8+3/8 oz) (3 cups) raw old-fashioned oats (not the quick cooking kind)
• 160g (3+5/8 oz) (2/3 cup) butterscotch chips

NOTE:  It’s best to weight ingredients like flour and brown sugar. This gives you an exact amount, which is important in baking. Even 1 tablespoon too much or little makes a difference. I included cup amounts, just in case. But, if you don’t have a scale, put it on your birthday wish list!In a small bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

Put butter in a light colored (such as silver) small skillet or saucepan. Over medium/high heat, melt and brown butter until it’s amber. There will be a lovely fragrance! This will take 2-3 minutes, so DON’T LEAVE UNATTENDED! Immediately pour into large mixing bowl.Stir in cinnamon until blended. Then, using a large spoon, add in brown sugar, granulated sugar, oil, and vanilla, mixing until smooth.Lightly beat together the whole egg and yolk, then mix into batter. (Don’t add the eggs at the same time as the sugars – the butter is still too warm and you don’t want to cook the eggs. Mixing in the sugars, etc cools down the butter.)Stir in the flour mixture until most of flour is incorporated.Finally, stir in oats and butterscotch chips.Preheat oven to 375º Fahrenheit.

Note: Don’t make smaller cookies or you’ll loose the chewiness.

Place about 2½ – 3 T dough blobs on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Smoosh together to form cookie. Don’t crowd them – they’ll spread. You can get about nine per sheet. Bake at 375º F for 9-10 minutes. The key is to look at the edges, not the center. The edge should start to look baked, but the center should not be browned. Because the cookies will continue to cook on the hot sheet out of the oven, if you wait to remove them from the oven until they look baked, they’ll be overcooked.Let cookies cool on cookie sheet before removing them to a wire rack.