Que Sera Sara?

Today was the first morning of winter.

I know this because it’s the first time this season I’ve felt the overwhelming need to lean out of bed, grab my clothes and shove them down under the duvet.

It’s like warm socks from the drier, but a full-body experience.

In a word, awesome.

It also gave me an excuse to stay in bed an extra five minutes.

I spent those precious minutes thinking about two things: high school and cookies [not necessarily in that order].

I was a super-nerd in high school.

And not in that trendy post-modern hipster geek-chic way.

An old school nerd.

The kind that gets picked on by pretty girls and isn’t asked to dance.

Yeah, I totally own it. Because even un-trendy nerds are totally awesome. It’s like a secret power.

Anyway, laying in bed, looking out at a pitch black sky, I remembered those high school years.

I’d jump up at 5:45am for my optional extra class before school.

[See? I wasn’t kidding. I voluntarily went to school early. An extra class every year for 4 years. I even took a correspondence course one term [before online courses were invented]. I liked school that much.]

Being eager to leap out of bed at that hour is hard to imagine now.  I am such a lazy slough.

Now I like lying in bed until waaaay after I am supposed to be up. That, and cookies.

Especially these holiday nubbins of loveliness.

Chewy, soft, wholesome [in an oatmeal and brown sugar way], with some seasonal cheer thrown into the mix.

Love it. Own it. Live it.

~~~~~~~~~

Cranberry & Whites Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients

1              egg, beaten

150g        butter, softened

3/4c         brown sugar

3/4c         castor sugar

1 tsp         vanilla

3.5 c         four

1 c           oatmeal

1 tsp        baking soda

1/2 tsp    salt

1 c           dried cranberries [on fancy days I get ones dusted in cinnamon for an extra special kick]

1 c           white chocolate, chopped [or chips]

Directions

Cream together the soft butter and both sugars. Add the beaten egg. Fold in the vanilla.

separately, mix the flour, oats, baking soda & salt.

Add the dry to the wet, bit by bit. This is a super stiff dough, to give you tall, fat cookies, so use that elbow grease! Fold in the berries and chocolate.

Cover with clingfilm and leave in the fridge for a couple of hours [if you can bear to].

Preheat the oven to 200C and roll the dough into smallish balls. Leave room between them on the tray, they may spread a bit.

Bake for 12-16 minutes until golden brown. Let cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then move to a cooling rack.

Makes 12 -20, depending on your mood.

PS – The official cookie of Christmas has been mentioned previously. It’s goodness should not be discounted.