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Have you ever had a Mrs. Fields cookie? As a kid growing up in the Michigan suburbs, my favorite treat, hands down, were the ridiculously delicious cookies at the mall…
Gooey, rich, warm enough to melt in your mouth — what is it that’s so insanely good about them?
Decades later, now living in New York, I was reminded of these beauties when one of our beloved babysitters, Carolyn, brought over a homemade batch. We tried them and immediately freaked out: THEY WERE SO GOOD. When I asked for the recipe, she told me that they were inspired by Mrs. Fields cookies.
Next she sent me photos of her mom’s chocolate-splattered recipe cards (how cute are those?). “These cookies are always our party trick and potluck contribution, and anyone who tastes them immediately asks for the recipe,” Carolyn told me.
When the boys and I baked them, I realized the fascinating secret: the flavored dough. You actually grate a chocolate bar, chop oats and chop pecans, and blend them right into the dough BEFORE even adding the chocolate chips. So, where a regular cookie has regular dough, you have CHOCOLATE-Y NUTTY OAT-Y DOUGH. Here’s the recipe…
Recipe: Mrs. Field’s Cookies
Makes 18-24 cookies, depending on size
You’ll need:
1 cup butter (2 sticks)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
2 ½ cups oats, lightly chopped in blender for smoother texture (almost like flour)
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
12 oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 Hershey bar, finely chopped or grated (although any bar will work!)
1 ½ cups pecans, chopped
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Cream together butter, sugar and brown sugar.
3. Mix in eggs and vanilla.
4. In separate bowl, mix flour, oats, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
5. Mix together all ingredients above.
6. Stir in chocolate chips, Hershey bar and pecans. (Then, if you can handle it, you can refrigerate the dough for a couple hours so all the ingredients come together; if not, go right ahead and bake!)
7. Scoop golf-ball-sized balls of dough on greased cookie sheets, spacing them 2” apart.
8. Bake for 8-10 minutes. (Do not overbake! The gooier the better.) Cool on a rack.
Enjoy! Maybe even more than you did in a mall circa 1996.
P.S. Nine cookbooks that earn their keep, and if you’re in the mood for more sweet treats:
* Cream cheese chocolate chip cookies
* The best oatmeal cookies
* Three-ingredient butter cookies
* Brown butter rice krispie treats
* Peanut butter chocolate cookies
* Thumbprint cookies.
* Mint chocolate chip cookies.
* Three-ingredient shortbread
* And can you even handle these brownies???
P.P.S. Plus, the very first Cup of Jo post of all time — featuring cookies:)
(Photos by Yossy Arefi for Cup of Jo.)
