Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

These taste distinctly homemade: much smaller than giant, thick, bakerystyle disks and more delicate, with just enough buttery dough to bind the chocolate and oats. Mixing by hand turns out cookies that are crisp at the edges and tender in the centers. These can be mixed and baked in under an hour, but the dough balls also can be packed in an airtight container and refrigerated for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to a month. You can bake them from when they’re ice-cold, though they’ll need a few more minutes to turn golden brown.

Makes: 2 to 3 dozen

Time: 40 minutes

¾ cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon fine sea salt 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

½ cup packed brown sugar ¼ cup sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

2 tablespoons heavy cream or milk

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 ¼ cups old-fashioned rolled oats 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Mix the butter and both sugars in a large bowl with a wooden spoon until creamy. Beat in the egg until incorporated, then stir in the cream and vanilla.

3. Add the flour mixture and gently stir until no traces of flour remain. Add the oats, chocolate chips and nuts (if using), and fold until evenly distributed. Loosely scoop a rounded ball of dough using a measuring tablespoon or small cookie scoop and drop onto a prepared sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough, spacing the balls 2 inches apart.

4. Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Cool on the sheet on a wire rack for 1 minute, then transfer the cookies to the rack to cool completely. The cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.