Nonna's Loaded Oatmeal Cookies

When I was a little girl my nonna used to make these gigantic oatmeal cookies loaded with chocolate chips, raisins, and walnuts. This recipe is sturdy enough to support all those morsels, and still soft enough to make them heavenly!

Nonna's Loaded Oatmeal Cookies

If you prefer a less sweet cookie, you can reduce the white sugar by one-quarter cup, but you will lose some crispness. Do not overbake these cookies. The edges should be brown but the rest of the cookie should still be very light in color. Parchment makes for easy cookie removal and cleanup, but it’s not a necessity. If you don’t use parchment, let the cookies cool directly on the baking sheet for two minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
INGREDIENTS
2 sticks unsalted butter (1/2 pound), softened but still firm
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon table salt, omit if using salted butter
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg or cinnamon, or 1 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup raisins or craisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup shredded coconut

1. Adjust oven racks to low and middle positions; heat oven to 350 degrees. In bowl of electric mixer or by hand, beat butter until creamy. Add sugars; beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time.
2. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg together, then stir them into butter-sugar mixture with wooden spoon or large rubber spatula. Stir in oats, chocolate chips, raisins and nuts.
3. Form dough into sixteen to twenty 2-inch balls, placing each dough round onto one of two parchment paper–covered, large cookie sheets. Bake until cookie edges turn golden brown, 22 to 25 minutes. (Halfway during baking, turn cookie sheets from front to back and also switch them from top to bottom.) Slide cookies on parchment onto cooling rack. Let cool at least 30 minutes before serving.

Buon apetito!