Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!

What would we do if people embraced the major holidays of every culture the way they do with St. Patty’s and Cinco de Mayo? I realize that both are somewhat drinking oriented which makes everyone decide that they must be partially of Irish/Mexican descent, but really.

For example, we could all celebrate the Day of Remembrance and Respect to Victims of the Communist Regime, a national holiday of Bulgaria.

It’s in February, but go ahead and mark your calendar for 2015.

I made bangers and mash for dinner last night and got all excited about it and then realized that that is, in fact, a British dish and not an Irish one. So close. Basically the green Jell-O shots on Saturday were more Irish than my attempted festive dinner. Still delicious though!

These cookies have been dessert basically every night for the last 3 weeks since I discovered the recipe. The ingredients aren’t revolutionary but there’s something about them that is just too good to not share with you.

Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Cookies

6 tbs MELTED butter

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup dark chocolate morsels

I know. I never bake cookies with melted butter but you have to do it here because you need the liquid. Allow it to cool slightly, then stir in the brown sugar, egg, and vanilla. Combine your dry ingredients, then fold in the liquid and the dark chocolate chips. The dough will be very sticky.

You MUST refrigerate it for at least 1-2 hours before baking. I’ve tried baking these right away and it just doesn’t work. The butter needs to firm up again I think.

The other key here is to slightly under bake. We’re looking at 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees until they’re barely golden brown around the edges. I think this is what keeps them chewy for days and days.

I’ve shared these with many friends and they have been declared one of the best cookies ever. And technically they’re healthier than normal cookies- less butter, no white sugar, more oatmeal than flour. Plus dark chocolate. ANTIOXIDANTS, people.

It’s just easier to justify eating four if you tell yourself this.