Butterscotch Or Scutterbotch?

I grew up with a mom that wasn't exactly a laugh a minute.

Don't get me wrong--I love my mom bunches, but her sense of humor
was what I might describe as quiet.

She did, however, love playing with words.
Like saying 'absotively' and 'posilutely' (I won't insult you by translating).

So the day I heard her call those light brown chips 'scutterbotch', I
adopted it as my own. And to this day, my fascination with words grows.

So for my mom, who at 82 years old and still the best cook I know,
I give you...

...Scrumptious Oatmeal Scutterbotch Cookies
(adapted from a recipe from Vintage Victuals)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup unsalted butter (I used regular), softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 eggs, large is best
1 1/2 teaspoons best vanilla
1 1/4 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups regular oatmeal (not quick-cooking)
1 12-oz package of butterscotch chips

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, incorporating well. Beat in vanilla.

In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and oatmeal. Gradually add the dry ingredient mixture into the creamed mixture. Stir in butterscotch chips.

Use a large ice cream scoop (or heaping tablespoonsful) leveled off to drop the
cookie dough onto the cookie sheets. These will spread while baking.

Bake for about 8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

Like It Or Leave It...For Me

I don't know about you, but I have two people in my immediate vicinity
that dislike coconut.

Yeah, I agree with you--they're crazy that way.

If you have someone like that that you're baking for, this cookie is
not for them.

I mean to say, you could put aside some of this cookie dough before you add
the coconut, baking both kinds but thereby shamelessly spoiling and enabling them in this
arbitrary aversion.

Not me, boy.

I don't coddle 'em. If my husband and son don't like coconut,
that's all the more for me.

Double-Chocolate Coconut Cookies
(adapted from Jess Thomson)

Ingredients:

2 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup regular cocoa powder
1 cup regular butter, softened*
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, large is best
1 teaspoon best vanilla
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chunks

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cover two baking sheets with silpat or parchment paper.
Sift first four ingredients into a medium bowl and set aside.**
In an electric mixer with paddle attachment ***, cream the butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, scraping bowl frequently. Add the eggs, one a time, mixing well. Add vanilla and mix well. On low speed, add the dry ingredients that were set aside and blend just until incorporated. Stir in coconut and chocolate chunks.

Drop batter in heaping tablespoonsful (I used a medium-sized ice cream scoop)
onto cookie sheets. Bake for 12-14 minutes. The cookies are done when the edges are firm. Cool for 5 minutes before placing on cooling racks.




*The original recipe called for unsalted butter, but I thought the salt in regular butter would enhance the sweetness of the dark chocolate, and I was right!

**I rarely sift dry ingredients in recipes; I simply place them all in the bowl and whisk them a bit--it works fine for most things.

***I'm not sure why recipes always specify 'paddle attachment'--seems a bit of snobbery to me, since not everyone has a KitchenAid. Until last Christmas, I used a Sunbeam with traditional beaters and it worked well for an amazing number of years.

These dark brown beauties looked so dark in some of my pictures
they looked black!