He-Man Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yesterday afternoon, I was in need of a cookie ministry. A pack of chocolate chips from before Christmas was sitting open in my pantry. Rather than munch on them by the handfuls, I decided to bake.

Out came my recipe book, actually a photo album where my hand-written recipes live, and there was my recipe for He-Man Cookies. They contain a lot of oatmeal so, since they would be so much more healthful... This recipe is from the Yankee Kitchen Radio Program, which ended in the late 90s.

I loved Gus Saunders the host of the Yankee Kitchen. Googling this morning, I found that Gus passed away last year and I felt sad as if I had lost an old friend and hadn't been told.

On summer vacations, my children would be off playing in their "secret" playhouse under the 100 foot pine whose branches swept down to touch the lawn. And I would spend many afternoons puttering in my blueberry kitchen cleaning or preparing for supper all the while listening to Gus's mellow voice sharing recipes and cooking tips. The premise was that in order to request a recipe, you had to offer one. It was a swap thing. My notebook and pencil sat at the ready to hurriedly snag a recipe the old-fashioned way. Good thing that Gus was a gentleman who knew just how to slow down and repeat things in the right moments. Ahhhh, dear Gus.



He-Man Chocolate Chip Cookies
from the Yankee Kitchen Radio Program

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup butter
* 1/2 cup shortening
* 3/4 cup brown sugar
* 3/4 cup white sugar
* 2 unbeaten eggs
* 2 tsp vanilla
* 1 TBS hot water
* 2 cups quick oatmeal
* 1 1/2 cups flour
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 cup chopped nuts
* 1 12 oz package of chocolate chips

Method:

Mix butter and shortening, sugars, eggs, hot water, and vanilla.

Add oatmeal and the remainder of the dry ingredients. Lastly, add the chocolate chips and nuts.

Drop onto parchment-lined cookie sheet. Bake 10–12 minutes @ 375°

These are a tasty, crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside cookie. Hope that you'll try them sometime!