Happy Valentine’s Day! Words that make me think chocolate. Words that make me salivate for chocolate if you must know. That said, I’m not one to be hung up on a fancy box-o-chocolates. A batch of simple homemade chocolaty goodness in the form of cookies or brownies can outshine the most glorious box of chocolates if delivered with the simple sentiment of, “I made these especially for you.”

Chocolate Oatmeal Drops
Chocolate Oatmeal Drops are the Tuesdays with Dorie recipe this week. Not the most enticing name, but I was motivated to whip them up one evening when a cookie craving hit and after glancing at the recipe I realized they would be a as quick to make as a batch of brownies. Turns out they are essentially brownies with rolled oats mixed in and baked as drop cookies. Clever!
The texture is soft with a rich chocolaty flavor from both cocoa powder and melted chocolate. Definately a recipe that will be exploited in the form of ice cream sandwiches once the weather warms. I preferred the cookies once completely cooled and found them to be even better the next day, so there’s no need to feel pressured to eat them all at once.
The darker the chocolate the better in my opinion; it’s a tragedy when sugar trounces all over the rich complex flavors of chocolate reducing it to the mundane of simply being sweet. To add an additional hit of flavor compelxity, I sprinkled a few flakes of Murray River Flake Salt on each cookie before they hit the oven. A move I use with nearly all cookies I bake.

Deep Chocolate Brownies
If you prefer a classic brownie, well classic with a little twist of spice, my brownie recipe is a snap to put together and would make any Valentine happy. I hope you realize that, “I made these especially for you,” works on yourself too! There is plenty of time left in the day to whip up a little treat to spoil yourself or someone you love on this Valentine’s Day. Happy Valentine’s Day.
Thank you to Caroline and Clair of Bake with Us for selecting such a chocolaty choice for this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.
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Over 350 baking bloggers are baking our way thorough Dorie Greenspan’s book, Baking: From My Home to Yours. 165 recipes completed 56 to go!
Oh, good idea to used these for ice cream sandwiches! I was craving cookies too, and these hit the spot.
Oh Im glad I didn’t think of the ice cream idea.I would have been going crazy eating them! 🙂 Your cookies and brownies look tatsy!
The convenience of whipping this recipe up quickly was great. Thanks for baking with us this week.