What's The Best Way to Say Thank You?

This week I was able to reconnect with a good friend. He's the type of friend that's low key and low maintenance. You know that type of friend that doesn't require too much attention and that you go months without speaking to but once you do, you can easily spend 3 hours talking with them and you feel like no time has passed since the last time you spoke? It's such a comforting feeling and this is my favorite type of friendship. There is no judgment, no jumping to conclusions, no negativity; it's all about reconnecting, catching up, and truly enjoying the friendship. So in a week when bizarre things were happening left and right, his call was like a comforting hug. One that said "I won't judge you like I don't know you. I don't care what you have or what others say about you." It was a hug that said "I accept you for you because I know who you really are." Most importantly, it was like a hug that said "I love you, now can you pretty please bake me something?" And I did. I couldn't think of a better way to say "thank you for being a true friend" than baking something in honor of this friendship.

When Edgar came down for my wedding over 2 years ago he stayed at the DoubleTree Hotel. He raved on and on about their cookies and how great they were and how insane I was for not trying the cookies. In my defense, the last thing I wanted to eat the day before my wedding was a cookie. I'm sure a cookie would calm the nerves and excitement of getting married but I was afraid that if I opened my mouth to eat a cookie I'd throw it up and never eat another cookie again in my life. I couldn't bear the thought of a life without cookies so I passed on the DoubleTree cookie. So as a thank you to Edgar for being a great friend, I made these cookies with him in mind and am virtually sending them to him with a big hug.
Never having had the DoubleTree cookies I didn't know what to expect. I have no point of reference and no clue how these stack up against the ones given at the hotel. I will tell you this though (as I stuff my face with another cookie) these are some good cookies. I generally don't like any kind of nut in my cookie, but with this cookie, the walnuts work and give it such a great flavor and texture. Because of the discrepancy between the granulated and brown sugars this cookie doesn't have that same butterscotch-y flavor as other chocolate chip cookies. To me, the cookie had more of a vanilla flavor.

Doubletree Hotel Chocolate Chip Cookies
Source: Lick the Spatula (here)

1 1/2 C. butter — softened
1 1/2 C. granulated sugar
3/4 C. firmly packed brown sugar
4 eggs
2 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1 tsp. lemon juice
3 C. all-purpose flour
3/4 C. old-fashioned oatmeal — uncooked
3/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
3 C. Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips — Ghirardelli!
1 1/2 C. chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place the butter in a large bowl and cream lightly with an electric mixer. Add the sugars and beat on medium speed for about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and lemon juice and mix well. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, oatmeal, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add to the creamed butter mixture and stir well to blend. Add chocolate chips and walnuts and stir to combine.

Using a 1/4 cup measure or a 2-oz ice cream scoop, drop the batter on the parchment-lined pans, leaving 2 -3 inches between each cookie. Bake for 13 - 15 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Remove from parchment and cool on wire racks.