Chocolate Oatmeal Lunchbox Cookies

Chocolate Oatmeal Lunchbox Cookies
Dorcas Annette Walker

Another school year has started and the Labor Day weekend is upon us- the last holiday of the summer signaling the beginning of a new school and work year. I vividly recall the days in yesteryears hurrying down a gravel road to meet the school bus each morning; walking through crisp autumn leaves hoping the bus would be late, shivering and stomping my feet on the snowy ground while turning one’s back to fierce winter gales praying that the bus would hurry up and arrive, to the delight and wonder of spotting the first blooming violet announcing that spring was on its way all while waiting for bright yellow school bus. Today children rush out the front door and hop on the school bus at their doorstep hardly noticing the weather.

Arrival at school meant reuniting with old school friends that you hadn’t seen all summer, checking out new students amidst the confusion and uproar of shouting and laughter, coordinating the labyrinth of different schedules, teachers, and classrooms, inhaling the intoxicating smells of thick textbooks that soon would become familiar companions, and writing down the first word in a brand new notebook.

But I think the biggest change today is the absence of lunchboxes. How important one felt starting out the school year with a brand new metal lunchbox without any dents or scratches. While I am thankful that today’s school child gets a free nutritious lunch, I feel a pang of sympathy for school children that don’t know the joys of trading sandwiches or cookies with other school chums during the lunch hour. Lunchboxes have become a relic of the past sitting in dusty corners of antique shops forgotten and forlorn. Even the working man and woman of today seldom carry a lunch finding it more convenient to buy from a fast food place. I know that time marches on, but in the hurried rush of today I’d love to once again snap open up a metal lunchbox, unwrap a sandwich folded in wax paper, nibble on some homemade cookies, and take a crunchy bite out of an juicy apple.

My Chocolate Oatmeal Lunchbox Cookies are a soft and chewy cookie dusted in sugar with a double chocolate taste. You can add raisins or walnuts to these cookies if you prefer. Either way these cookies are delicious and filling with a cold glass of milk. Preparation time for my Chocolate Oatmeal Lunchbox Cookies is twenty minutes and this recipe makes about four dozen cookies.

Chocolate Oatmeal Lunchbox Cookies

2 c sugar
1 c shortening
1 egg
1 c milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1½ c self-rising flour
1/3 c cocoa powder
3 c uncooked quick oats
6 ounces of semisweet chocolate chips

Cream 1½ c of sugar, shortening, egg, milk, and vanilla together. Mix in flour, cocoa, and oats thoroughly. Fold in the chocolate chips. Form dough the size of a large walnut, roll in remaining sugar, and place on a greased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly and bake at 350º for ten to twelve minutes. Let cool slightly and store in an enclosed container!

Weekly tip: For softer and chewier homemade cookies substitute honey for part of the sugar called for in the recipe!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcaswalker@twlakes.net. For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.webs.com