Mrs. Roy's Famous Oatmeal Cookies

When Mrs. Roy was a little girl, Mom would make oatmeal cookies and I would burn my fingers trying to get them off the hot pan before they had cooled enough.  When my own children were young, they would stand in the kitchen and wait for the cookies to come out of the oven and I always had to make a double batch so we would have some for later.  Even Mr. Roy has been known to hover when oatmeal cookies are in the oven.  Friends of my children would request them.  I recently took a bag to my grown son and his friends promptly lost their manners.  These cookies are really that good.

I think Mom got the recipe off the back of an oatmeal box somewhere along the way.  All I know is I've never fed these cookies to anyone that they didn't love them.  They are easy to make, cheap and you will usually have the ingredients on hand to whip up a batch whenever the mood hits.

These aren't fancy gourmet oatmeal cookies.  They don't have any raisins or wheatgerm or any secret healthy ingredients.  In fact, the first ingredient is butter-flavored Crisco.  That's right; people are surprised to find these cookies are made from Crisco instead of butter. 

Mrs. Roy will again stress that these cookies are NOT diet food or health food, even if they are made of oatmeal.  So enjoy but Mrs. Roy hereby disclaims any liability for any extra pounds associated with following this recipe. 

Mrs. Roy's Oatmeal Cookies

3/4 cup butter-flavored Crisco

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups oatmeal, uncooked

1 cup self-rising flour

Preheat oven to 350.  

Beat together the Crisco, sugars, egg, water and vanilla until creamy.  Add the oatmeal and flour and mix well.  

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls of dough onto a cookie sheet or baking stone.  I have a scoop that is a little larger than a teaspoon; I usually flatten the cookie dough a little with my hands before putting them in the oven. 

Bake for 12-15 minutes until the top and edges start to brown.  Do not overcook!

Let them cool on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes before moving them to a cooling rack; they will want to tear apart while they are warm but will firm up as they cool.  However, a warm oatmeal cookie (or 2 or 3) with a big glass of milk is worth a little mess of broken cookies!

Makes three dozen.