HELEN OLSON'S (WHOLE GRAIN) OATMEAL COOKIES

The peaches that I bought a little over a week ago finally ripened in the paper sacks. I had checked them about mid week last week, but they had still not ripened. Saturday when I opened the top of the sack, I smelled peaches. I knew they were ripe.

This morning I decided would be a good time to make a batch of jam/preserves. Today the forecast high is 91 and the last time I checked that was exactly what it was. I knew it would be easier to do them before the house heated up and it heated up outside.

I managed to make 4-1/2 pints of the prettiest peach jam who have ever seen. (See picture below.) It took 12 peaches to make that much but I still have plenty to do something else with....and manage to eat one ever so often. I found a recipe for a peach cake that I am going to make in the morning to take to Hillcrest Thrift Shop. Good friend N.C. and his wife are moving on the 7th to OK and we hope to do something special for him tomorrow. I think they will like this cake. I will be sharing it later this week.

I usually only go into Hillcrest of Tuesdays, but I have signed up for Saturday, the first shift, a couple of times lately. Last Saturday was one of those times. Since I have to be there by 9:45, I knew I would be rushed to make something then, so I decided to make some cookies Friday evening.  

It was so funny when I saw Jerry, he asked me if I made the cookies. When I told him I had, he said smiling, "I knew you did because they are so good." Mark came up to me at the register and asked, "What did you make and bring today?" Oh my gosh, can I ever go again and not take something? 

Anyway to the recipe. This was Charlotte Banks' contribution to the Home Cookin' cookbook from our church in Ventura, CA, College UMC. I'm not sure who Helen Olson was but she did know how to make a good cookie. Charlotte is another one of the dear, sweet ladies from the church who is no longer living. She always made me feel so special and that she was really glad she had gotten to see me. The only changes I made in the recipe was to use brown sugar blend thereby reducing the amount of sugar and I did use whole wheat pastry flour.

HELEN OLSON'S OATMEAL COOKIES

2         sticks margarine (1 cup), softened
1-1/2  cups brown sugar (I used 3/4 cup brown sugar blend)
2         eggs
2         teaspoons vanilla
1-1/2   cups whole wheat (pastry) flour
2         teaspoons baking soda
2-1/2 to 3 cups oatmeal (I used 2-1/2 cups quick oats)
1         pkg (12 oz) chocolate chips (I used a 10-oz bag of dark cacao chips)
1-1/2  cups chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Mix the margarine, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl with electric mixer.

Combine the flour, soda, and oats and add them to the mixture.

Add the chips and 

nuts.

Mix well.

Drop by teaspoon; press down. (I used my cookie scoop and 

did pressed them down with my fingers.)

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. (Since I used the parchment paper, I only baked mine about 10 minutes.  Check them at 10 minutes. Mine weren't very brown but the bottom was when I checked them. My oven also heats a little hot too, I think.)

Remove immediately and cool on wire rack.
  

Here is a picture I took of my peach jam. I did a tutorial last year showing how easy it is to make this jam. You can check it out HERE. It is a popular post of mine.