Apple Oatmeal Cookies

After playing around with a recipe I found online, I baked my first batch of these cookies. Oops, they cooked a bit faster than expected. O.K. on to round 2! These I took out a couple minutes sooner, and they seemed fine, but they were very thin. I decided that perhaps the batter was too runny, so I added some more flour and oats before trying a third batch in the oven. The result was higher cookies that kept their rounded shape from the cookie scooper.

I took samples of both the flatter cookie and the higher, rounder cookie to a friend's house. There was good news and bad news. The good news is that everyone liked the cookies! The bad news is that the vote was split as to which was better--the flatter cookie or the higher cookie! I'll give you directions for both and you can decide which you like better.

Apple Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:
3/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons apricot brandy (you can substitute vanilla extract for this)
1 cup flour*
1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3 cups quick oats*
1 1/3 cup peeled and diced apple (about 2 small apples)

*for the higher, rounder cookies add an extra 1/2 cup flour and an extra 1/2 cup oats

Preheat the oven to 375 and grease your cookies sheets or line them with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, white sugar, egg, milk, and apricot brandy until well blended.

In a small bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and nutmeg. Add to butter mixture and beat at low speed until thoroughly combined. Stir in oats and apples. Scoop onto cookie sheets and bake 10 minutes. Cookies should be slightly browned around the edges.

Cool for a minute before remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Yields: about 36 cookies