Big Oatmeal Cookies With Dates And Nuts

3/4 c Butter

3/4 c Brown sugar

1/2 c Granulated sugar

2 Eggs

1/4 c Milk

1 ts Almond extract

2 c Flour

1 ts Cinnamon

1 ts Allspice

1/2 ts Baking powder

1/2 ts Baking soda

1/2 ts Salt

2 1/2 c Rolled oats; not instant

1 c Dates; cut in 1/4" dice

1 c Walnuts; coarsely broken

1/4 c Sweetened shredded coconut

1/4 c Sesame seeds

Cover a flat baking sheet w/parchment if possible; tinfoil if necessary. If you use tinfoil, butter it generously. Preheat oven to 375. Cream the butter with the sugars until light and fluffy; the sugar needn't be completely dissolved but it should be very well mixed in. Beat the eggs w/milk and almond extract until the mixture is foamy. Sift the flour w/spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make sure all the embellishments are ready. Using a wooden spoon, work about half the flour mixture into the butter and sugar. Add the milk and egg mixture and combine well. Then add the rest of the flour mixture and, as soon as the dough is smooth, the oats, dates, nuts, coconut, and sesame seeds. Give each addition about 2 stirs before adding the next, but don't wait until each is well mixed. Stir only enough to ensure proper distribution of the goodies at the end. Put golf ball-sized dollops of the dough on the lined baking sheet, spacing them about 8" apart. Use a knife blade to flatten and spread the dough into 3.1/2" circles (which will spread a bit in the oven). Be sure they aren't more than 1/4" thick. Bake the cookies 8 mins., then reverse the sheet so they brown evenly and lower the heat to 350~. Bake another 5 to 8 mins. or until the cookies are nicely browned and a broken one is dry in the center. They will be soft when they come out of the oven, but will become chewy, w/crisp edges, as they cool. Cool on a wire rack. Source: Yankee New England Cookbook by Leslie Land
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