A Pinch of Love, A Smidgen of Joy - Cookies and Milk

There's something extremely comforting about cookies and milk. I'm talking cookies hot out of the oven with an ice cold glass of milk. Usually chocolate milk, but sometimes regular 2-percent white milk. Never fat free! That's a family rule when it comes to cookies and milk. I have fond memories of Momma making cookies of an evening and giving me one straight from the oven with a side of cold Coleman's milk, which is an Arkansas dairy. Here in Maine, we have several local brands, but one in particular dairy is my favorite. Smiling Hill Farm has blueberry, banana, coffee-flavored, chocolate, strawberry, and regular milk - all in glass bottles.

The best thing about getting milk in the glass bottles is that it feels like you're experiencing something out of early 1900s America. Like when dairy farmers would drop fresh milk off by your front door of a morning. You can even recycle the bottles and take them back to the dairy, which is located just outside of Portland. But what bottle of milk would be complete without something sweet? That's where cookies come to the rescue.

Chocolate chip, peanut butter, snickerdoodle, molasses, and oatmeal raisin - these are just a few varieties I recall Momma making most often. I enjoy different takes on the oatmeal raisin cookie, like substituting raisins with dried cranberries and white chocolate chips. When I was home in Arkansas for a few weeks this summer, I made Momma's recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies but used dried cranberries and white chocolate chips instead of raisins. They were absolutely delicious!

Here is my own special take on Momma's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (original recipe found on pg. 154 of "A Pinch of This, A Smidgen of That" cookbook)

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup butter, softened to room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups quick cook oats
1 cup dried, sweetened cranberries (like Craisins)
1 cup white chocolate

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat well. In another large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Stir in oats, cranberries and white chocolate. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 1 minute on cookie sheet before removing to counter to cool. Yields about 4 dozen cookies.