Oatmeal Gumdrop Cookies

In case you didn't know, you can't have Christmas without these cookies.

You can try.

But it's not the same.

Don't panic.  You still have a week before Christmas (OMG - a week!!!!!), and the grocery stores still have a few baking supplies on their shelves.  Although not much.  I almost lost an arm diving for the last bag of Andes baking chips at Target yesterday.  It's a jungle out there people.  Note to self: Avoid grocery shopping the last Saturday before Christmas weekend.

Anyway, my mom found this recipe in one of those holiday baking magazines many years ago, and it quickly became not just a favorite but an absolute must have!

Recipe:
1 1/2 cups butter
 2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 3/4 cups flour
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup snipped gumdrops, red and green (+ extra)

In extra-large mixing bowl beat butter with electric mixer on medium to high speed about 30 seconds.  dd sugars, eggs, milk, baking powder, vanilla, and  baking soda.  Beat until combined.  Beat in as much flour as you can with mixer.  Stir in rest by hand with wooden spoon.  Stir in oats.  Stir in gumdrops.

(Diva Note: This recipe is so old that I think hand mixers were still considered a novelty...  The invention of the Kitchen Aid stand mixer makes this process incredibly easy.  This year we used my brand new mixer, who I like to call "Big Momma," and were able to mix in a lot of the flour - more than any other year.  We stirred in the oats and the gumdrops by hand.  If you have the 5 quart mixer, I recommend mixing two half batches of the dough.)

Drop dough onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake in 375 degree oven until edges are golden but centers are soft, 13-15 minutes for large cookies and 9-11 minutes for small cookies.

(Diva Note: The gum drops never mix in quite evenly, and I don't personally think that 1 cup would ever be enough.  I always cut up extra and add them to the dough right before baking.  Plus, this way I can control the ratio of red-to-green gumdrops in each cookie.)

Cool on cookie sheet about 1 minute then move to cooling rack and cool completely.  Makes about 36 large cookies or 96 small cookies.

The best part of these cookies?  They have oatmeal in them.

This makes them healthy.

And it means I can eat them for breakfast on December 26th almost guilt-free.