Ella ate an oatmeal raisin cookie from a bakery in our neighborhood that she thought was really good except for the raisins. My father has never liked raisins in desserts either. He would tell us that when he was a little boy he thought they were bed bugs. Ella decided to make a similar oatmeal cookie but she substituted dark chocolate chunks for raisins.

makes 3-4 dozen cookies, ready in 25 minutes

1 ¼ cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt, more for sprinkling
1 tsp ground cinnamon
14 tbsp butter, softened (1 ¾ sticks)
½ cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup pecans, roughly chopped
1 cup dark chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl. In a standing mixer, beat together the butter and sugars until light and creamy using the paddle attachment (this can also be done by hand with wooden spoon). Beat in eggs one at a time and the vanilla. Add dry mixture and beat until combined, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl. Add oats, chocolate and pecans.

Drop rounded tablespoons onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle each cookie with a little sea salt. Bake for 10-11 minutes. The edges of the cookies will be golden when they are ready. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.