Donnie and I love to go–just about anywhere. Jack has inherited that trait, but Brett hates to ride. Jack will ask, “You wanna go ‘wide’ for a ‘wittle’ bit?” (I will be so sad when his r’s and l’s sound like r’s and l’s instead of w’s!) Brett just screams the entire time. And I mean that hungry cry scream. His tongue vibrates in his mouth and you can see the back of his throat. You know the cry if you have a child. We don’t go as much as we used to for obvious reasons.

Eureka Springs, Arkansas is one of our favorite weekend getaways. We used to make the jaunt a few times a year. It’s about a 9-hour drive from here. Depending on our work schedules we would sometimes leave on Saturday morning or split the drive between Friday evening and Saturday morning.

One particular November weekend we decided to drive to Little Rock on Friday and spend the night. One of my favorite parts of traveling (besides eating) is planning the trip. I know…most people are appalled when I reveal this strange affinity. Our trip to Boston gave me the ultimate planning rush–navigating the subway system and ensuring we visited all the historic landmarks on the Freedom Trail. Europe was a blast, too, although a little more stressful due to the language barrier. On a required planning scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the most labor-intensive, Eureka Springs is a stretch at 2. There’s just not a lot to do there–which is the point for a relaxing weekend. I did go online to find a good deal for our Friday night stay. Doubletree Hotel happened to be the winner at just over $50 a night. (Don’t you love getting a steal?)

Knowing what  I know now, though, I would have paid big bucks to stay at a Doubletree Hotel just to get my hands on these warm and gooey crispy-edged cookies. It’s a marketing ploy, and we actually prefer staying in B&B’s. Oh, but these walnut-studded chewy AND crispy discs of heaven…

This recipe is a result of many trials and errors, combinations of recipes and many late chocolate chunk-laden nights.

Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Walnuts

1/2 c butter

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 t vanilla extract

1 c flour

1 1/4 c oatmeal, whirled in food processor until finely ground

1/4 t salt

1/4 t baking powder

1/4 t baking soda

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chunks

1 c chopped walnuts

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix together flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Add to butter mixture in half-cup increments, incorporating into wet mixture before each addition. Stir in chocolate chunks and walnuts. Roll into small balls and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.

These are the the best warm and gooey cookies…ever! It never hurts to hide a miniature Snickers inside! My mom has been making these cookies for a few years now. This year around Christmas she enlisted Jack, my two year-old, and me to help. My job was to unwrap the individually wrapped Snickers. Jack’s job appeared to be eating the individually unwrapped Snickers. Why we thought he would not want to eat “candy” I will never know.

I decided on this recipe to take to the annual Sweet Treat Exchange at Amanda’s I blogged about earlier this month. I briefly considered tearing open a package of Oreos and arranging them on a pretty platter, but I knew that just would not do. Plus, someone might think I bought a package of Oreos instead of actually baking a sweet to exchange!

2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3-1/2 cups all purpose sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 package Snickers miniatures

Combine the butter, peanut butter and sugars using a mixer on a medium to low speed until light and fluffy. Slowly add eggs and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Then mix in flour, salt and baking soda. Cover and chill dough 2-3 hours. Unwrap all the Snickers. Remove dough from refrigerator. Divide into 1 tablespoons press flat. Place a Snickers miniature in the center of each flat piece. Form the dough into a ball around each Snicker. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees 10-12 minutes. Let cookies cool on baking rack or wax paper.