One Smart Cookie Teacher Gift & Best Ever Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Are your kids out of school yet? 

This was the last week of school this year for mine. So as usual I turned to Pinterest for some teacher gift pin-spiration. There are always several fun ideas to choose from, so after going over a couple that I liked best (here) with my kids we decided on making their teachers a fun little jar of cookies, with a tag that reads "I'm one smart cookie thanks to you!"
 

Putting the jar and tag together was pretty easy. Wide mouthed medium sized mason jars seemed to be the best option for this, and luckily they happened to be on sale this week at my local craft store! 

I used my silhouette to create and cut out the tags, and also to cut circles out of scrapbook paper to fancy up the tops a bit. I made the tags kind of big so that my kids could write a little personal note to their teachers on the back side.

It would be easy enough to design the tag on Publisher, or any other computer program you use (or find already designed printable tags that you'd just have to print out- I saw a bunch for free online), and just cut them out yourself. But, since I have a Silhouette I decided to make use of it! 

We popped about six cookies in each jar, sat the circle over the top before screwing on the rim, then wrapped thin yarn around the jar to make it look pretty and to attach the tag.

Easy as that! It really didn't take very long to put these together. 

I thought about painting the metal rims on the jars for a little extra effect, but decided to just leave them silver, and keep it simple this time. 

My three elementary school aged kids reported that the cookie jars were a hit! 

The cookies we made for this were the perfect size to fit in the jars. We used my favorite cookie recipe... The Best Ever Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.

While I've tried a lot of different cookie recipes from Pinterest (and I'm sure I'll try many more), I seem to always come back to my tried an true oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe. It's definitely a favorite in my family. What I love about these cookies is that they are filled with oats, which makes them stay thick and chewy, and maybe a teeny bit healthier, but you don't even realize that the oats are there. They taste so good, and the combination of two different kinds of chocolate in them makes them even more melt in your mouth delicious! 

My recipe comes from before the days of Pinterest, when recipes and ideas were passed around through e-mails. There was a recipe circulating that claimed it was the recipe used to make the famous "Nieman Marcus" cookies. 

You've probably heard of it... the story was that a lady ate a cookie there and loved it so much that she asked for the recipe. She was quoted "two fifty" for the recipe, and thinking it was a great price she paid for it with her credit card. Later she noticed that instead of being charged the two dollars and fifty cents she had expected, she was charged two hundred and fifty dollars!! So, to make up for it she mass distributed the recipe so no one will ever again have to pay $250 for it! 

I've made these cookies so many times since then that I've lost count. Over the years since I first tried this recipe I've made a few changes, but the main ingredients have stayed the same. 

This recipe makes about 80 cookies. I used to half the recipe, but have learned that there is never enough, so now I always make the full batch. I have made these and frozen them before (individually so my kids could take them in their school lunches), and found that they are great even after freezing and thawing. So, if you do make a big batch and find that there is too many (unlikely at my house!), just throw them in a freezer bag and freeze until you have your next cookie hankering! 
 

Here's the recipe for making the

Best Ever Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Makes about 80 cookies)

  2 cups butter or margarine

  2 cups white sugar

  2 cups brown sugar

  4 eggs
  2 tsp vanilla
  4 cups flour
  5 cups blended oatmeal
     *measure and then blend or            process into a fine powder
  1 tsp salt
  2 tsp baking soda
  2 tsp baking powder
  1 12 oz bag of chocolate chips
  1 8 oz Hershey bar (grated) OR
  1 1/2 cups of M&M's
  3 cups any chopped nuts - optional

1. Cream the butter and both sugars together. Add eggs and vanilla
2. Mix together flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda
3. Add in chocolate chips, Hershey Bar/M&M's, and nuts. 
4. Roll into balls and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet
5. Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees
6. Cool, and enjoy - But, resist the urge to eat them all right then. Trust me when I say that these cookies taste even more delicious the next day once the flavors have had a chance to mesh together!

**Recipe Notes: 

Instead of blending my oatmeal I usually just use one 8 oz box of baby cereal oatmeal. It is the exact right amount, and already a nice fine consistency. And it saves me a step... always a plus! 

I usually use M&M's in these cookies, though I have used the Hershey bar and that is really yummy too, just less colorful. This time I used mini M&M's which was fun for a change. You could probably exchange any other chocolate candy you like too.

I don't usually add the nuts (some in my family aren't nut-in-cookie lovers), but I think that they would be a tasty addition! 

These really are the best ever cookies... giving away eighteen of them to our teachers wasn't easy for my kids! The rest of them got gobbled up in no time. Luckily they are easy enough to make that I'm sure it won't be too long before we whip up another batch!