Carol, this is our family recipe which we love. I think the reason these stand out is because it calls for many more oats than flour. They are good also with all butter but they spread and produce a thin cookie...but oh so good.

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3/4 cup Crisco shortening or butter or 1/2 each
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups old-fashioned or quick oats; uncooked
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Beat together shortening, sugars, egg, and vanilla with an electric mixer until creamy. Add combined remaining dry ingredients, mix well. Chill dough for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350°. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased (or parchment lined) cookie sheet. Bake until set; 8-11 minutes.

{{gwi:1497435}}, or coconut, dried cranberries & white chocolate chips.
*Using all butter will produce a thin cookie, buttery cookie

Marilyn

This is a favorite here-a little different and not what you asked for but very good.
Toasted Oatmeal Cookies
3/4 c butter
2 c quick cooking oatmeal, uncooked
1 c firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 c chopped pecans
Melt butter in a skillet and cook over med. heat until lightly browned. Add oats and cook for five minutes or until oats are golden. Cool
Combine sugar, egg, and vanilla. Combine flour, and next 4 ingredients. Stir all ingredients together. Mix well.
Drop dough by rounded tsps 3" apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten with a glass a little. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or til golden. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to racks to cool.
Yield 3 1/2 dozen.
RL`

Mississippi Oatmeal Cookie
2 dozen large cookies
350º oven
Dough has a chill requirement
1 egg
1 3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup half butter/ half shortning
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teasp. ginger
1/4 teasp. allspice
1/4 teasp. cloves
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teasp. baking soda
1 1/2 teasp. salt
2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup raisens

1 egg white - unbeaten for top
granulated sugar to sprinkle on top

* Cream egg, sugar, butter/shortninng, spices, and milk.
* Mix together flour, baking soda and salt;
add to creamed mixture;
mix well.
* Mix in oatmeal and raisens.
* Chill dough overnight - or at least for several hours until hard.
* Form into golf-ball-size balls.
Place balls on un-greased cookie sheet. (I use parchment on cookie sheet.)
Flatten with a floured fork.
Brush with egg white.
Sprinkle with sugar.
* Bake at 350º F for 15 minutes.
* Remove from oven when light brown;
carefully slide parchment with cookies onto a cooling rack;
Sprinkle with powered sugar;
Let rest until firm.

MotherÂs Old-fashioned Oatmeal Cookies
6 Dozen large
350º oven

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teasp. vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
1 teasp. salt
1 teasp. baking soda
1 teasp. ground cinnemon
1/2 teasp. ground Cloves
1/2 teasp. ground Allspice

3 cups Old-fashioned Oatmeal
3/4 cup pecans

Powdered Sugar

* Cream butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla.
* Mix together flour, salt, baking soda, and spices. Add to creamed mixture
and mix well.
* Make into balls;
put on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper;
flatten with floured fork;
Bake at 350º F for 15 minutes.
* Remove from oven when light brown;
carefully slide parchment with cookies onto a cooling rack;
Sprinkle with powered sugar;
Let rest until firm.

This is my all time

. Made with butter they are wonderful. Thin, buttery, soft and chewy. I like them plain or with dried cranberries. The secret is to not over bake them.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Best Oatmeal Cookies
==============================
1 Cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup
packed brown sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 2/3 cup flour
3/4 Teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon
baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
dash nutmeg
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
. Preheat oven to 350 Cream butter and sugars together until light and
fluffy. Add egg and beat until smooth. Add vanilla Combined flour,
soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir into butter
mixture. Add rolled oats. Roll into small balls (golf ball size) and
flatten with glass dipped in sugar. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until
bottoms are golden. Cookie should not get brown. Cool on wire rack.

Source: Toronto Star

I just made Oatmeal Raisin cookies of the weekend. The recipe I use is very similar to the "MotherÂs Old-fashioned Oatmeal Cookies" recipe that westelle posted. The only differences are I use 1/2 cup butter or margarine and 1/2 shortening instead of 1 cup butter; I substitute nutmeg for the allspice; increase the pecans to 1 cup and add 1 cup of raisins. To plump up the raisins, I simmer them for around 10 minutes with about a cup of water and then drain them before folding them into the cookie dough. You might also try adding about a 1/4 teaspoon of maple extract. I accidently grabbed maple extract instead of vanilla and didn't realize it until I'd dumped in the first teaspoon. I grabbed a paper towel and soaked up as much as I could, but there was still a lot left in there. Anyway, my mistake turned out alright because the family thought they were the best oatmeal cookies I'd ever made!!

Janet

I've tried a lot of oatmeal cookie recipes, but our favorite is still the one on the Quaker oatmeal box, made with quick oats (not instant).

Here's another Quaker Oatmeal recipe that I found in "Everyday FOOD" January/February 2007 (from the kitchens of Martha Stewart Living). I just made these today and you could put any type of dried fruit in place of the dried cherries - or leave the fruit out entirely and you'd still have a great cookie. These are nice and soft with a nice undertone of spice. -Grainlady

Chewy Cherry-Oatmeal Cookies

1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
OR 1 c. apple butter (for a healthier alternative)
1 c. packed light-brown sugar
1/4 c. honey
2 large eggs
1-1/2 t. vanilla extract
1-1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1-1/2 t. cinnamon
1 t. baking soda
1/4 t. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 t. salt
3 c. Quaker old-fashioned rolled oats
1 c. dried cherries

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt; set aside. Place the butter, sugar, and honey in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat to combine. With the mixer on low, gradually add reserved flour mixture and beat until incorporated. Stir in oats and cherries.

3. Drop 1 tablespoon of dough at a time about 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake until lightly golden brown, 10-12 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Makes about 4 dozen.

(Note of experience: allow mixture to sit, refrigerated, for 20 minutes before baking. You could easily add 1 c. chopped walnuts, if you'd like.)

My high-fiber, no-sugar changes... (changes have a *)

1 c. butter
*1 c. agave nectar (natural, low-glycemic sweetener)
2 large eggs
1-1/2 t. vanilla
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
*3/4 c. freshly-milled soft white wheat flour
*3 T. flaxmeal
1-1/2 t. ground cinnamon (I used Penzey's Chinese Cassia)
1 t. soda
1/4 t. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 t. salt
3 c. Quaker old-fashioned rolled oats
1 c. dried cherries
*1 c. chopped walnuts

Here's our current favorite. It's from Cook's Illustrated.

Big Chewy Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies

If you prefer a less sweet cookie, you can reduce the white sugar by one-quarter cup, but you will lose some crispness. Do not overbake these cookies. The edges should be brown but the rest of the cookie should still be very light in color. Parchment makes for easy cookie removal and cleanup, but itÂs not a necessity. If you donÂt use parchment, let the cookies cool directly on the baking sheet for two minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Makes 16 to 20 large cookies
2 sticks unsalted butter (1/2 pound), softened but still firm
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
3 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups raisins (optional)

1. Adjust oven racks to low and middle positions; heat oven to 350 degrees. In bowl of electric mixer or by hand, beat butter until creamy. Add sugars; beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time.

2. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg together, then stir them into butter-sugar mixture with wooden spoon or large rubber spatula. Stir in oats and optional raisins.

3. Form dough into sixteen to twenty 2-inch balls, placing each dough round onto one of two parchment paperÂcovered, large cookie sheets. Bake until cookie edges turn golden brown, 22 to 25 minutes. (Halfway during baking, turn cookie sheets from front to back and also switch them from top to bottom.) Slide cookies on parchment onto cooling rack. Let cool at least 30 minutes before serving.

wow, thanks for all the great recipes! Guess I'll have to try them all :))

This one is low-fat and whole-grain and is very moist and chewy. I know that some people don't like raisins; you could probably sub dried craisins, dried blueberries or dried something else. I add some walnuts, too. The recipe is from a little SunMaid raisin pamphlet

Low-Fat Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup white whole wheat flour or whole wheat flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. cinnamon
½ t. baking soda
½ t. salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
¼ c. fat-free vanilla or plain yogurt
2 T. canola or corn oil
1 large egg
1 t. vanilla
1-1/3 c. uncooked old fashioned or quick-cooking rolled oats
1 c. raisins

Heat oven to 350. Combine dry ingredients. Combine sugar, yogurt, oil egg and vanilla in large bowl. Add dry to wet and blent. Stir in oats and raisins. Drop onto cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 min. Makes 40.

Per cookie: Calories 63, Protein 1.1 g., Fat 1.1 g. (Sat. Fat 0.1 g), Carbohydrates 12.7 g, Dietary Fiber 1 g, Cholesterol 5 mg, Sodium 63 mg.

I made the Cook's Illustrated recipe today and they were wonderful. I used my standard changes of using bread flour instead of all-purpose and letting the dough refrigerate overnight. I also made them using a regular cookie scoop instead of making giant cookies.

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Tracey, Those look perfect!