Oatmeal Date Cookies

oatmeal date cookies, originally uploaded by mysterybridgers.

Most of you that know me personally know that I like to knit. I joined Ravelry a while back and it has been a great resource for thrifty people like me. Through one of the forums on Ravelry, I learned about Sort Floor Books. They have all types of books that are remainders, used, or have some minor damage that make them unsellable at full price. So, Sort Floor Books sells them at deep discounts (usually at least 50% off)--and the best thing is that there is free shipping if your order is over $15. Their selection of cookbooks varies depending on the day you look, but we have found a few real bargains. One such bargain was The Dessert Bible by Christopher Kimball for $6. I got it because we don't have a lot of dessert books and I wanted some resources for what to do with leftover summer fruit. I'll post later about the fantastic rhubarb compote I made out of this book, but first we wanted to show you these oatmeal date cookies from the book. They are the best oatmeal cookies I have ever tasted.

These cookies are pictured on the front cover of the book and as the cookbook sat on our dining table for a few days, we both developed a craving for the delicious looking cookies. I generally dislike raisins in cookies so I was happy to see dates used instead of raisins (of course the recipe also includes instructions on how to make them with raisins). These cookies are very easy (other than the chopping of the dates, which can be a messy job), but you really do need to follow the instructions in order for them to come out right. The recipe requires that the cookies come out of the oven after 15 minutes even though they will look underdone. They are not really underdone and when they cool they end up having crispy edges and a nice chewy middle. Yum! We only made half a batch the first time, which yields 12 cookies, but then we had to make the "rest" of the cookies and cooked another half batch. They were just as delicious both times. And hey, there are lots of oats in these cookies, so they can't be all bad for us right?