Fresh Baked Cookies at a Moment's Notice

I love homemade chocolate chip cookies. I especially love them warm from the oven. Actually, as I think about it, I love them any way I can get them--warm, room temp, frozen, and even raw (as in dough form). I have a recipe that I've used for over twenty years that is the ultimate. It has oatmeal in it which, technically, makes it heart healthy. This recipe makes a huge batch (7-8 dozen), so I like to bake a dozen or so. I then scoop the rest of the dough out by rounded tablespoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and freeze them.

Once frozen, I but them into a ziplock bag and leave them in the freezer. I can then pull out a few, place them on a cookie sheet, let them thaw, and then bake them whenever I want or need them.

There is one caveat. If my husband knows they are there, he will eat them raw and frozen until they are gone. I try to only make them when he is gone. I then hide the frozen dough in one of the freezers. Unfortunately, he has a sixth sense about the it. He can sniff out the dough no matter what. He recently ate about three dozen raw cookies in a little over a week. I keep trying to outsmart him, but it's no use. Maybe next time, I'll try disguising them in a frozen brussel sprout bag.

Big and Luscious Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 pound butter (no substitutes)

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 cups brown sugar

3 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

5 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup oatmeal

4 cups (24 ounces) chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream butter and both sugars well.

Add eggs and vanilla; mix well.

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt; add to creamed mixture.

Stir in oatmeal, chocolate chips, and nuts.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. (Dough should be the size of golf balls. Flatten slightly.

Bake 10-12 minutes.