Jenny bakes

Yes, you read it right. I officially started baking and I'm liking it! I just baked my very first oatmeal cookies last Friday. I got the recipe from http://desarapen.blogspot.com/. I’ve been browsing this blog for quite a while and it’s just now that I had the courage to try one of the recipes. I chose the one which I think is the easiest and whose ingredients are easy to find. The original recipe has nuts and apricots but I eliminated it here in my recipe since I’m not fond of those. Anyway, it still turned out good according to the people who tasted it. I'm not sure if they really meant it or they just felt obliged. Either way, I am still posting the recipe. :)

Ingredients:
250 gm [1 cup] unsalted butter - softened at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour - sifted
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups porridge oats (I used organic rolled oats so Jared can also enjoy it)
1 cup coarsely chopped white or milk chocolates (or dark chocs for me)

Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C/gas mark 4.
2. In a bowl combine 1 1/2 cup flour, salt and bicarbonate of soda until well mixed. Set aside.
3. Beat together in a big bowl the butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla at medium speed until well combined. (around 2-3 mins)
4. Add in the flour mixture to the beaten butter mixture with a wooden spoon.
5. Stir in oats.
6. Add in the chopped chocolates. Mix well.
7. Shape dough into 1 1/2-inch balls and flatten slightly. Place them about 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
8. Bake for 11 - 13 minutes or until slightly moist in the centre and browned at the edges.
9. Remove from oven and let cool for a couple of minutes before carefully removing from the baking sheets onto a cooling rack. Cool completely.

Note: If the dough is too soft, the baked result tends to be too spread out or flat. You can put the dough in the fridge for about 30 minutes before shaping them into balls. Or you can shape them into balls first then put in the fridge for the same amount of time or you can do both (chill before and after shaping into balls).