George Washington Cookies

Today is a special day - the day I share the recipe for George Washington cookies. These cookies kind of fall under the "secret family recipe" category just because they've been around for so long. I've been making these cookies since I was three or four, and I can prove it.



That's me making the cookies with Jeannette, at my grandfather's house in Dartmouth, Massachusetts in 1986. Jeannette was my grandfather's housekeeper way back when, and has been a dear family friend ever since. This is her cookie recipe. She used to transport the cookies stacked up in a Lazzaroni Amaretto tin.



1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups rolled oats
1 package chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, measure, and sift again with baking soda and salt. Cream butter with both sugars. Beat eggs into butter/sugar mixture. Add vanilla and mix well. Stir in dry ingredients. Add nuts, oats, and chocolate chips. Drop on a greased cookie sheet (about 1 tablespoon for each cookie) and bake 12-15 minutes until golden brown.

This recipe makes a lot of cookies - about four and a half or five dozen. The addition of the oats almost doubles the amount of batter.



I have no idea why they are called George Washington cookies. I tried looking around online to see if I could figure it out - no luck. These cookies aren't so much gooey and doughy, but crispy and chewy. I actually made them last Monday but couldn't write about them until now because I sent them to my sister for her birthday today (along with some granola bars), so I couldn't write anything until she received them. Happy birthday Bub!