Too Good to Skip!

Once again my blogging has fallen way behind, I'm actually embarrassed to admit that I couldn't even remember one of the type of cookies I did two weeks ago so I could add it here.  How sad that I had to ask my official guinea pig, uh, I mean 'taste tester' to jog my memory ... Chocolate Chip Cookies with Oatmeal & Pecans ... thanks Candyce!

Because I couldn't recall them I figured they were just that, un-memorable, but now that the cobwebs are clearing, I definitely wouldn't say that.  They actually were really good.  Of course they were, there's Pecans in them!  To me Pecans are to Baking as Bacon is too Cooking.  It's almost like cheating - I mean have you ever had anything 'wrapped in bacon' that wasn't delicious?  And I'm not a huge fan of brussel sprouts, but cook 'em up with some bacon (and bacon fat) and suddenly they're showing up on the Food Network show 'The Best Thing I Ever Ate."  Yeah, Pecans are like that, pretty hard to go wrong with them and they just make everything even more delicious!  And these cookies were no exception.

But then I realized the main reason they didn't pop into my head right away was because my mind was too busy reminiscing about the other cookie I made that week: Soft Maple Sugar Cookies!  After having tasted one of these, well there's little room in my food focused brain to think about anything else.  Now, I don't want to brag, but holy crap, I thought these were good!  But then keep in mind, that's the 'sugar addict' in me talking, these were a very sweet cookie - and one batch was maybe even 'too sweet' because I mis-measured and added 1/2 rather than 1/4 cup brown sugar.  In that batch I upped the flour a bit to compensate - but I still thought they came out perfect, but then there's really no such thing as 'too-sweet' for me.

This cookie was one of the ones featured in the annual Better Homes and Gardens Special Christmas Cookie edition ( I know it's out ALREADY).  I buy it every year and have had great success with many of the cookie recipes.  I picked up the 2010 edition when I saw it a few weeks ago (they usually don't last long, so don't hesitate!) and I love browsing through them.  This recipe struck me as a perfect 'fall' cookie.  Just something about all the seasonal flavors this time of year: maple, pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg - they all smell so good and makes the house seem so warm - to me these are the ultimate 'comfort food' flavors.

If you venture to make these, following the recipe on the brown sugar will likely serve you better and they do look just like the picture - they tend to 'fall' in the middle once out of the oven, but they have this awesome, crisp sugary texture on the outside and then a little chewy in the middle and full sweet maple flavor ... I just have to make those again soon!

(PS - I couldn't find a link to info on the special edition magazine online, but did see that many of the cookie recipes from this years edition are here.)