Seriously The Best Cookie Recipe Ever

It is not often I can say without a shadow of a doubt I know something to be completely true. I blame that on being an overthinker and Catholic school. Without a shadow of a doubt, the following is seriously the best cookie recipe ever. I've baked and ate my fair share of cookies, so I can tell you this is easy-peasy and totally delicious—complete crowd favorite at my house.

I got this recipe via my darling and fantastic baker-mentor, my mother, when I was in college. She's been making these cookies since the 1980s. I have no idea how it crossed her path, but my god, I am so glad it did.

Typically, she used to make them at Christmas, and so we called them Santa's Cookies. Now though, we both make them at any/all times of year so I call them Momma's Cookies. Who cares what you call them, they are DELICIOUS. #trust

Previous to this post, the recipe is a print out from my college email address, that she sent me in 2008. I wanted to make them to impress a boy, go figure.

Momma's Cookies

Ingredients

• ¼ cup coconut 
• ½ cup chocolate chips 
• ½ plus 1/3 cup oatmeal 
• ½ cup cornflakes 
• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup brown sugar 
• ½ cup white sugar 
• ¼ tsp baking powder 
• ½ tsp baking soda 
• ¼ tsp salt 
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, melted 
• 1 egg 
• ¼ tsp vanilla 

Directions
Combine melted butter, egg and vanilla, beating well. Add all dry ingredients, mixing well. Once mixed, flatten dough onto piece of plastic wrap and place in the fridge for a few hours to let butter set. Once butter has set, I usually leave mine in for about an hour and a half, form into quarter-sized/small balls. Bake at 350° for approximately 10 minutes, longer if balls are larger or you like a crisper cookie.  

Looking Back On Motherhood

Motherhood has been an incredible, insane and just plain tiring adventure. The entire time I was pregnant I was too busy trying to make it through the day, to really reflect on the magnitude of change that was about to occur. I didn’t realize the full scope of how I would change. Most may not know, my husband Mark has two children from his first marriage, so when we married, I instantly became a mom of sorts.

My wonderful stepdaughter Virginia is about to turn 13 and is a mix of sass and sports, which I fear isn’t going to change anytime soon. We instantly bonded over nail polish and making fun of her dad, so "stepmoming" her is "easy." Remind me of that when she’s 16 and trying to play me off her dad to get a curfew extension.

My stepson Charles, he's eight, and was a little tougher of a sell. He liked me fine once I started buying him fireworks, of course, because what little boy doesn't like to play with sparklers?, but gradually over the last year, he's shown me that I've got a long road ahead. Boys are a completely different world to me. I don't inherently love bugs and getting dirty. Baseball isn't exactly my sport. But thankfully, I've got "like the coolest job" when I show him machinery videos and let him wear my hard hat when he wants to go on an adventure in the backyard. Never mind this latest adventure was during his little brothers' Baptism party when 40 people were in our front yard...

Because of Virginia and Charles, I had a taste of what motherhood would be like, but these past seven months have shown me I really have no idea what I'm in for. Every other weekend we've got a full house, and while it used to stress me, I now often join in on the trash talking during Mario Kart racing.

I still feel defeated on a weekly basis by two 15 lb. people, but when little hands grab on to me those feelings usually go away. These past seven months have taught me more than I ever thought they would, and made me miss my mom more than I ever imagined. Atlanta isn't that far from Montgomery, but at 2 a.m. when one of my boys won't stop crying and I am so completely lost as to what could be wrong with him, well, Atlanta might as well be Africa.

All it takes is one look at Charles to realize that the nights may be long, but the years are going to be short. One day, not to far from now, I will have to get two hard hats, so Fitz and Alex can don safety vests and hard hats while they adventure in the backyard—just like their big brother did.

The things you do for love...

It's no secret that my Momma and I have a very interesting relationship. I love her to death but homegirl drives me crazy sometimes. That's the reality of grown up mothers and daughters though right? Right.

Anyway, I've become one of those people I make fun of. I've become a "Share it to Win it" person. Sorta. I'm not going to share this link more than once. I'm not going to beg for y'all's votes. I'm not going to remind you that every day you can click vote and hopefully help momma and me bank $5,000 to World Market. I promise we will share the wealth when if we win. No. Instead, I'm throwing our/my entry into the world just once via each of my social outlets and then seeing what happens.

My Momma is amazing, but hey, so is everyone else's. It's just pretty cool I got to share it with the world in this unconventional way. (Also, 150 words is SO not enough to discuss all of Linda's high points. Marrying a former bartender? GENIUS MOVE.) Plus, I mean, this picture.

I love you Momma. Hope we win. Yet, one of the most important lessons you taught me was that if it's meant to be, it will be. Maybe this is meant to be. Maybe not?