Today, I’m taking you back to your childhood. No matter who you are, where you grew up or what kind of Mother (or Father) you have, you surely came home to the smell of freshly baked cookies at one point in your life. Whether they were chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter, snickerdoodles or sugar cookies, somewhere, sometime, you had them fresh out of the oven.

My Mother used to bake a cookie called “Bunny Cookies”. They were chewy, dense and full of fat, juicy raisins. The recipe had been passed down from a friend, whose Mother, Bunny, made them for him when he was a kid. They weren’t your average cookie, mind you. There is a whole drawn out process to making them and they take forever to bake, but they do pay off in the end. I will post a recipe for them coming soon. Well, my own version anyway. I can’t leave well enough alone, you must know that by now!

We’ve been playing host to my parents recently, who travel back and forth between my sister and I for six months of every year. They are Snowbirds, you see. The kind who live in far off tropical bliss every winter, while I freeze my butt off up here in the North. They come back just as the frost is melting and leave again when it comes back. This year is a bit different, as my older sister is expecting her first child at the end of November. We’re all very excited to be adding to the family. Finally a cousin for my little monster!

Anyway, when my parent’s are here, I tend to make more desserts. When it’s just my husband, our young son and me, it feels like too much to always be making huge amounts of desserts. Not that we wouldn’t eat it, on the contrary, we would eat it all. My thighs heave a sigh of relief every time I hear my parents RV pulling into the driveway.

So whether you lived a depraved life of no home baking, or your mother made the same cookies every time she baked, these cookies will surely become a classic in your house. Combining three of the most popular home baked cookies into one, these will remind you of childhoods long forgotten.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

Adapted from Gourmet

1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup peanut butter (smooth, chunky, natural, whatever)
2 eggs
1 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks

1. In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients.
2. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugars.
3. Beat in vanilla, peanut butter and eggs. Add flour a little at atime and mix until completely incorporated.
4. Stir in chocolate chips and do one of two things: Roll into 2 logs, 2 inches in diameter and refrigerate for 2 hours OR spoon onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 1 1/2 inches apart and flattening into cookie shapes and bake right away. The chilling does help a bit in the forming process but I found it somewhat unnecessary. (If you do refrigerate the dough, simply cut into discs, roll around a bit to soften edges, flatten, and bake for the same amount of time).
5. Bake at 375°F for 13-15 minutes.

For my young son, I hope to stoke the fires of culinary creativity at an early age. Not that I am pushing for a rock star chef, but I would love for my son to appreciate food as much or more than myself. Doing such small things as baking cookies for him when he’s still too young to really remember, I hope to do just that.