Oatie McCocoNutties

OK, you got me, that's not the name these little cookie do-dads were born with. After watching the amazing gold medal hockey game (Molson + Tim Hortons = Triumph), I decided it was time for a Northern Neighbor tribute. I'm pretty sure there is only one way to pay tribute to Canada through baking - and that's Best of Bridge, my friends.

If you didn't grow up with your mother's cupboards overflowing with Best of Bridge series cookbooks, you should just give up now. Get yourself into counseling before you realize how deprived your childhood really was, join a "My Mother Didn't Love Me Enough to Cook Canadian" support group. If that still doesn't work, I will write you a prescription for butter tarts - they do solve all problems (well, except weight loss, I suppose).

In a mood to celebrate, I flipped through a trusty BoB cookbook (The Best of the Best Volume 1, to be exact) and landed on a recipe rather simple yet classic - "Mona's Mother's Mother's Best Friend's Favorite." How can you pass up a recipe with a title like that? Hold on to your beaver hats, folks, let's get baking....

You'll Need:
1 cup of butter, softened or melted and cooled slightly
1.5 cups of brown and white sugar**
1 egg
1.5 cups flour
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1.25 cups rolled oats
3/4 c coconut (I used sweetened) 

**The real recipe calls for 1 cup of white and half a cup of brown but I reversed it since I only had half a cup of white. Sometimes you just have to make do - and as long as you get to 1.5 cups, you really can't go wrong in my book!

As any good recipe should, this recipe starts out with "cream the butter and sugar." Even just typing that phrase makes me smile!

Throw in (not literally, of course) the egg and mix thoroughly. Combine the flour, powder, and soda and add gradually. Don't overmix, just get it together. You heard me, get it together.

  

Mix in the oats - NOT instant, if you can help it - and the coconut. 

 

Depending on whether or not you melted your butter, you might want to stick the dough in the fridge or freezer to harden up a little bit before shaping.

Roll into 1-inch balls and press with a fork - just as if you were making peanut butter cookies. It's easier if you dip the fork in some water every once and a while to prevent sticking.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. This recipe yields 3 dozen cookies, give or take. Mine spread out pretty far while baking (as you can see) so don't crowd 'em all on the sheet!

And there you have it - some tasty, simple and traditional nibbles from our northerly neighbors. Now call your mother and demand that she either go halvsies on your therapy bills or get you some BoB cookbooks for your birthday... :)