Va-Va-Vanilla

(Jon says to sing to the the tune of "Hava Nagila.")

Hey, look!  A field full of cookies!

You can have plain old chocolate chip cookies anytime, but how do you make them a little more interesting? Easy: Pump up the vanilla, the obvious yin to chocolate's yang.

I use a triple shot of vanilla in this cookie: ground up Nilla Wafers, instant vanilla pudding mix, and extra vanilla extract. Throw in some mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, and you've got a great little cookie with great big flavor.

I use the pudding mix and NIlla Wafers here the same way I use graham crackers in my S'mores and Golden Girls cookies. It's not quite "Semi-Homemade," but it sure does brings home the flavor.

Creamables	2 sticks butter 2 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
Wet Ingredients	1 egg 2/3 cup milk 2 1/2 tablespoons vanilla 1 ounce instant vanilla pudding mix
Dry Ingredients	1 cup finely ground Nilla Wafers 1 1/2 cups flour 1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips 4 cups oatmeal 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. In your Kitchen Aid or a large mixing bowl, cream together the creamables.
2. In a small bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Whisk together the wet ingredients and add to the creamables. Mix together until smooth.
3. In another large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold together until evenly distributed. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the creamables and wet ingredients. Mix until evenly combined.
4. Preheat oven to 350º.
5. Shape dough into balls—about 2 tablespoons each. Place chilled dough balls about 2 inches apart on Silpat- or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.
6. Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes. Then place cookies on wire racks to cool.

Comments

[Lorraine]

I am a BIG vanilla fan!! I usually prefer it to chocolate so this is the perfect cookie for me. I can't wait to make it. I did make the smore's last weekend and they came out terrific!!

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

These turned out to be really popular...

[Vicky]

I tried your Va-Va-Vanilla cookies this weekend, and they are awesome! Some family was over for Easter and proclaimed them the best oatmeal cookies ever. Thanks for the recipe!

[Em]

I used dark brown sugar, is that what I was supposed to use? Some of them didn't keep their shape very well and were very soft (but still delicious).
I brought them to class to share (I'm in college) and everyone raves about them and demanded the recipe. One of my favs so far.

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Hi, Em. Yes...dark brown sugar. (I've updated the recipe to say "dark" specifically.) Hmmm...maybe they needed another minute or so in the oven. Wow! I'm impressed: you're doing all this baking AND going to school. Geeze...when I was in college the most cooking I did was microwave popcorn. Kudos to you!!

Oh. Here's another tip for baking flawless cookies: invest in a Silpat or silicon baking mat. You'll get perfect cookies every time.

[kendra]

how many cups of chocolate chips would you add to the batter? sounds yummy... trying it for my cookie gifts this year.

[Oatmeal Cookie Guy]

Hi, Kendra. D'oh! I left the chocolate chips out of the recipe grid. Sorry about that! I just added them...1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips.