How many of you appreciate good oatmeal cookies, raise your hand? I raise my hand high because I've convinced myself that anything made with oatmeal is a healthy choice and allowable even at breakfast. And especially with tea or coffee and cream with sweetener, please!
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The inspiration for this oatmeal cookie recipe is from my best friend back home. It was her Mama's original recipe. Ms. Gladys was a mother of 10 and an ingenious cook. I'm so thankful for everything she taught her youngest child Tina so I could reap the benefits.
The Secret To These Oatmeal Cookies
Ms. Gladys was a school lunchroom cook or Lunchroom Lady as I respectfully call them. My husband's Mamaw was a Lunchroom Lady also, and her specialty was peanut butter cookies. We have a warm place in our hearts for these hard-working women today. Lord knows how many cookies they bake and how much food they prepare to feed our children every school day. Thank you, Ma'am!
Ms. Gladys' recipe for oatmeal cookies had a unique ingredient of pure cane syrup. After tasting some that Tina baked, I realized that no other oatmeal cookie compares. We also had 5 rambunctious boys and 1 little girl between us who liked them. I remember cooking lots of oatmeal cookies to fill them and their friends up.
Steen's pure cane syrup gives this cookie a boost of flavor much like molasses does, but not as strong. You may have heard me mention Steen's Syrup before which is made in Abbeville, LA from locally grown sugar cane. It's popular in a lot of Cajun's kitchens.
My Rendition
Through time I have made my own adjustments to this recipe by reducing the sugar and flour amounts and increasing some old fashioned instead of quick cooking oats to one cup more. I also add pecans because I am so fond of them and I like a bite-y cookie. Yes, I just made up a word, and Grammarly doesn't like it.
Baking cookies is a breeze when using parchment paper. Actually, this roll of paper is now a staple in my kitchen pantry. I use it when roasting vegetables also because of the easy cleanup and non-stick surface that it provides. Don't tell anybody, but sometimes I don't even wash the pan. I just slide the cookies off with the paper, wipe the pan, and put it away.
Recipe
Lunchroom Lady Oatmeal Cookies
A delicious oatmeal cookie uniquely flavored with cane syrup, cinnamon, and butter inspired by a school lunchroom Cook's recipe and fond memories.
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: 4 dozen cookies 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 tablespoons cane syrup
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup regular flour
- 3 cups oats, old-fashioned or quick oats
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup pecans, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Cream together butter and sugar.
- Beat eggs into butter and sugar.
- Add syrup and vanilla, mixing in thoroughly.
- Combine oatmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon into a medium bowl.
- Stir oatmeal mixture into butter and sugar combination.
- Add pecans and stir until all ingredients are incorporated well.
- Spoon cookies by rounded teaspoonfuls a few inches apart onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, then turn pans around and bake for 1 or 2 minutes more.
- Place cookies on racks to cool.
Notes
Turning the pans during baking browns the cookie all around.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Category: Sweets
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 3 cookies
So treat yourself and someone else to some Lunchroom Lady Oatmeal Cookies. The next time you see one of these hard-working women thank her by giving her a hug around the neck, especially if she's feeding your own children. She may even give you a good cookie recipe!
“Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord, where I can go in and shut the door, and kneel to my Father in secret, and am at peace as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around and above is trouble.”
