This is truly an amazing recipe. When you get to the part where you can add raisins, Don’t!

Add, chocolate chips instead, or date pieces, or white chocolate and macadamia nuts, walnuts or maybe butterscotch chips! The secret is below.

In your favorite mixing bowl, blend (don’t whip)

2 cups shortening                                                                                                      

1 ½ cups white sugar

1 ½ cups brown sugar

2 Tsp. real Vanilla

4 eggs

Wisk together in another bowl

2 Tsp. soda

3 cups flour

2 Tsp. salt

2 Tsp. Cinnamon

Combine the ingredients of the two bowls

Add

2 Tsp. hot water (give it a little twirl)

4 cups of oatmeal

Add 2 cups of your favorite (raisins, or semi-sweet chocolate, etc.)

Blend with a sturdy wooden spoon for aesthetics. Do not turn the oatmeal flakes into powder. Now, let the batter set for a few minutes! Everything will meld without being beaten to death!

Drop 12 evenly spaced cookies on each cookie sheet. Use that wooden spoon.

Here’s where you make them great. Depending on your oven, bake in the middle of a pre-heated 375° (+ or -) oven for 10-12 minutes on an ungreased cookie sheet. The first batch on the cold cookie sheet will take a little longer than the second batch on the heated cookie sheet.

Do Not Over bake! The cookie will spread out, bake, and start to brown on the tops of the little oatmeal peaks. Watch closely! The cookie will just start to brown all over. Take the sheet out and put it on a cooling rack. They are still baking from the heat of the sheet. Wait until they are firm enough and transfer them to another cooling rack. Refill your cookie sheet while it’s still warm and bake when the next sheet comes out. This batch may take ½ to 1 minute less to bake.

Let the cookies cool, Don’t Eat Any, and then put them in Zip lock bags. The next morning, if you haven’t over baked them, you will have chewy, delicious cookies. The raisin or date ones are a little moister the next day. You can freeze them, just squeeze out all of the extra air in the bag.