"Everything" Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Yield: About 3-1/2 dozen cookies

Tips: These seem like they have almost everything in them--oats, raisins, coconut, wheat germ, and cinnamon, for starters. Don't be put off by the number of ingredients, though; these are easy-to-make, large drop cookies that would be just the thing for a picnic lunch or after a bike ride or just for hanging out down by the creek. I prefer to chill the dough before baking it, as I think it gives a more even shape. I also prefer to form cookies by packing the dough into a 1-1/2 inch diameter cookie scoop. If you don't have one, you can use two tablespoons for shaping them.

Chocolate chunks, which I cut from a larger bar by hand, really seem to add chocolate impact to these cookies. I've tried them with chocolate chips, and they're good, but I think the chunks give more of a chocolate "hit" when you bite into them, so that's what I use. As you cut the chocolate into chunks, you'll get some smaller pieces--throw them into the dough, too. Both the coconut and the raisins should be pliable and moist. Once baked, these will keep for a day or so at room temperature if stored airtight, but cookies are usually best when very fresh, and these are no exception. Freeze any leftovers; these freeze perfectly.

Ingredients:

In medium bowl, combine raisins, coconut, oats, wheat germ. With spoon, blend well. Add chocolate chunks. Set aside.

In large bowl, cream butter, brown sugar, and vanilla with large spoon until fluffy and well-blended. Beat in egg. Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and milk; stir until combined. Scrape down sides and bottom of bowl with rubber spatula.

Add raisin-coconut-chocolate mixture. Stir in thoroughly (this will take a few minutes). If desired, chill dough, tightly covered, for at least 1-1/2 hours before baking (dough can be chilled overnight, if it's more convenient; allow to stand at room temperature about 30 minutes the next day before shaping and baking).

To bake, adjust rack to center of oven; preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with aluminum foil, shiny side up. Do not grease the foil. With 1-1/2 inch diameter cookie scoop, form cookies on lined baking sheets (I bake two or three cookies as a timing test first, then I place 12 mounds of dough on a 15-1/2 by 10-1/2 inch sheet). Alternatively, use a very well-rounded tablespoon (not a measuring tablespoon) of dough for each cookie, keeping the mounds as round as possible. It is not necessary to flatten the mounds of dough, which should spread by themselves during baking.

Bake cookies, one sheet at a time, in center of preheated oven for 10 to 13 minutes. Turn baking sheet back-to-front about halfway during baking time. Cookies will spread somewhat as they bake, and tops will brown slightly. Cookies are done when edges are a light golden brown. Do not overbake, or they'll lose their delightful chewiness.

Allow baked cookies to stand on sheets for 2 to 3 minutes before removing to cooling rack with broad-bladed spatula (nonstick cooling racks and a nonstick spatula are helpful but not necessary). Bottoms will be a deeper golden brown. Cool completely before storing airtight or freezing.

Variation: Add about 3/4 cup raw sunflower seeds. Do not chill the dough before shaping/baking. About 3-1/2 to 4 dozen cookies.

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