Believe me, they taste a lot better than they look.

I started out this day with a simple plan: make some Ghirardelli White Chocolate and Macadamia Cookies for my Cookie-A-Day post. Three hours and one trip to the store later, I came out with Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies.

It's a long story.

When I started to make the Ghirardelli cookies, I realized I didn't have any baking powder. So I went to the store and must have looked in the baking powder section for at least 20 minutes and still couldn't find it. It was one of those "it has be here somewhere, I must be missing it somehow." So I ask an employee, and he asks me "is that the one you put in your fridge so it smells good?" No, that's the other one. He couldn't help me. I take my shopping cart and go down the aisle to ask someone above the age of 15 where the baking powder is when I see a special display on the endcap with this on the shelf.

Yeeeehah! (Note: do not add Metamucil to cookie recipe.)

I think the store must have been almost sold out of baking powder and just four or five cans of Rumford remained on the top shelf, and I bet a lot of shoppers (and employees) missed it. So I got back home ready to make the cookies and I realize...I'm out of macadamia nuts! No way I'm going back to the store, so I needed a change of plans.

I made Black and White Oatmeal Cookies, based on a recipe on the back of the Nestle Toll House Morsels bag, but with a twist. Since I had some white chocolate chips, I mixed milk chocolate chips and the white chips to create the following recipe. They taste fantastic, even if I did preheat my oven at 475 instead of 375 for the first few minutes for some reason. They're more brown and white cookies (milk chocolate chips and white chips), but try them with dark chocolate chips and the name will fit even more.

Black and White Oatmeal Cookies

1 14 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks butter (make sure they're softened)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
1 egg
1 cup milk (or dark) chocolate chips
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup quick cooking oats

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine baking powder, baking soda, flour, and salt on one bowl. In another larger bowl, combine sugar, brown sugar, butter, and vanilla. Beat until creamy (or close enough). Add egg and mix. Slowly add the flour mixture and the milk and mix well. Add oats and chocolate and white chocolate chips and mix well.

Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Cook for 10-14 mins until edges are brown and center is still soft. Let cool.

It's amazing how hidden the chips are until the cookies completely cool. On second thought, I think they look pretty damn good in the pic above.