Butterscotch & Pecan Oatmeal Cookies

As a reduced-carb person, I haven't bought cookies in a while.  Wow, they got expensive.  All I wanted was a box to throw in the freezer and pull out a couple when I wanted a sweet snack.  Time to make my own.  There were butterscotch chips in the mix-ins box and I had bought pecans for the muffins.  Oatmeal cookie time.

I decided to try a different recipe, one with two eggs in it so I could cut it in half.  It still made two dozen.  Sunset Easy Basics for Good Cooking came out in 1982 and is surprisingly available used on Amazon.  I don't open it often, but it has a lot of good recipes for the comfort foods everyone makes.  It's also a bit of a textbook, which was great in the days before the internet.  The first cookie recipe is oatmeal chip.

*1/2 C chopped pecans
1/2 C margarine, room temperature 
3/4 C lightly packed brown sugar
1 egg, room temperature 
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 C flour
1 C + 3 Tb rolled or quick oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
*1 C butterscotch chips

1.  Lightly toast the pecans, either in a dry pan over medium heat or in the oven, stirring every minute or two.  Nuts go from not done to burnt in a blink.  Set aside to cool.  Preheat oven to 350º and line a cookie sheet or two with parchment paper or a Silpat.

2.  Cream together margarine (butter is ok, but margarine or shortening makes a crisper cookie) and brown sugar until smooth.  Scrape down bowl.  Add egg and vanilla and beat again until smooth.  Scrape down again.

3.  Add flour, oats, soda, and salt and mix until combined but not over-beaten.  Stir in chips and pecans.

4.  Drop by rounded tablespoons on the prepared sheets.  I used the small cookie scoop.  At this point, you can freeze them to bag up and bake later.  I don't have room in the freezer right now for a cookie sheet and baked them all.

5.  Bake 12-14 minutes, rotating halfway through.  Let sit on the sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool.  Store airtight at room temperature up to 3 days, or freeze for longer storage.

Makes 2 dozen

Difficulty rating  π