(MY FAVORITE MISTAKE) OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Out of everything I make, these cookies have to be the most coveted amongst my friends, and they've been that way for a very long time. Some of my friends ask me to ship them to a different state, even though I've provided them with the recipe. A few times. They swear they don't taste the same when they attempt them on their own. (I'm not sure I believe them!) Until recently, my recipe was basically the same for years.

Have any of you ever read the book Beautiful Oops!? If you haven't, you should. It's a children's book that I purchased for my older son when he was having a difficult time accepting when things, sometimes very insignificant things, weren't perfect. The book provides examples of things that initially appear to be accidents or mistakes, but then shows how beauty and magic can be created because of and from those mistakes. Much like these cookies...

My younger son was "helping" me make these cookies one day. He loves to bake, and he's actually very precise with his measurements, something extremely important in baking (not so much in cooking). But occasionally he becomes a little overzealous when dumping ingredients into the bowl. On this auspicious occasion, he added more than double the required salt while my back was turned grabbing the cinnamon. We baked them anyway, and they were the best batch of cookies I'd ever made! So now, in addition, to the updated amount of salt, I sprinkle coarse sea salt on the cookie dough just before baking. The result is sheer indulgence and comfort all at once.

1 cup (2 sticks)                     unsalted butter, softened
½ cup                                   granulated sugar
1 cup                                     light brown sugar*, lightly packed
2 large                                  eggs
1 ½ teaspoons                      pure vanilla extract
1 ½ teaspoons                      kosher salt
1 teaspoon                           baking soda
1 teaspoon                           ground cinnamon
1 ½ cups                               all-purpose flour
3 cups                                  quick oats
1 ¾ -2 cups                          semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips                                                      
                                            sea salt for sprinkling

*I like organic light brown sugar with larger granules. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a wire whisk, cream the butter and sugars. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix. Add the salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and flour, and mix until combined. (Do not overmix. Overmixing releases the gluten in the flour and can make pastries tough.) Add the oats and combine using a wooden spoon or spatula. Fold in the chocolate chips. Type and amount of chocolate chips are purely preference.

Using a small spoon, scoop balls of dough about 2 inches in diameter and place on an ungreased cookie sheet about 2 ½ inches apart. (12 cookies typically fit on a standard cookie sheet. Do not compress the balls of dough, and they do not need to be perfectly round.) Just before baking, sprinkle sea salt on top of the cookies. I use a grinder from Trader Joe's for coarser flakes, but any sea salt will do.

Bake for 9-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to rest on the pan for 1 minute.

Using a spatula, move cookies to a wire cooling rack.

Eat. Try to eat just one. I don't think you can.