Viking Chippers, the BESTEST Cookie on the Planet

 

I have a dear and beautiful girlfriend I've known since I was 17.  She and many of her girlfriends were involved in a secret sorority we knew only as P.E.O. and whenever there were things they didn't want my busy body to know they'd say, oh, it's a P.E.O. secret.  "What does P.E.O. stand for?" "Phone Each Other," she'd say and she'd leave it at that.  Fast forward three decades and the ladies have come out in the open and have their own website!  The Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O.) Sisterhood is a wonderful international women's organization of about 250,000 members with a primary focus on providing educational opportunities for female students worldwide.

I tell that story because the recipe for Viking Chippers has been a sworn secret among my family for all these decades and it comes from this long line of fine and wonderful women...I've recently been given permission to share the recipe with you, so here goes.  I also just found out that love for milk chocolate and baking inspired my girlfriend's mom to enter this classic recipe in the Glenmont United Methodist Church Cook Book! All I can tell you is, this is THEE BEST cookie on THE PLANET.  It has the perfect crunch, it has the perfect combination of ingredients, it's COMPLETELY fool-proof, it doubles beautifully ... it's just a great all-around cookie.  It's kinda a spiced sugar cookie that happens to have chocolate chips but it also has oatmeal to give it some heft and then it has WHEATIES (!) to give it a crunch.  YUMMERS ! !

PS, when anything calls for "cinnamon" I just always use this blend because it gives everything a nice deep body and my girlfriend tells me this is pretty consistent with the recipe, although it didn't appear on the recipe card I stole from her, I mean, she gave me so many decades ago:

• 1/4 teaspoon cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

PPS, when I double the recipe I double EVERYTHING EXCEPT the cloves ... a little of that goes a long way.

Okay, here goes, The Perfect Cookie:

VIKING CHIPPERS

350 degree oven

1 cup butter (softened)
1 cup white sugar (I sift it)
1 cup brown sugar (I shove it through the sifter ... this gives the cookie a more silken texture)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
BLEND THOSE TOGETHER.  ADD:
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking SODA
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
MIX THAT TOGETHER
stir in 1 small package (6 oz.) of semi-sweet chocolate chips
stir in 1 cup of oatmeal
stir in 1 cup of Wheaties

I also just found out, many decades later, my girlfriend puts the batter in the refridgerator for about a half-hour before loading it on the cookie sheets.

Using two teaspoons, push 1-inch balls on to an ungreased cookie sheet. Try not to crowd them.
Bake 10 minutes.
Yields 40 cookies.
(doubles beautifully)
ENJOY !