From my kitchen: Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, Pecan, Orange Zest Cookies

Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, Pecan, Orange Zest Cookies.... that is a mouthful.  Both literally and figuratively.

In honor of our first Dinner at Eight date night, David and I made cookies together.  It seemed fitting in that David is our resident cookie monster... so I knew he would be up for it. And our marriage does have a strong foundation built up on our mutual love of cookies.

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We decided to try out this recipe that we came across over on Smitten Kitchen.  David and I both have a culinary crush on Deb from Smitten Kitchen... so again, it seemed like good date night material.  After eating a dozen cookies in that one night and more cookie dough than it is social acceptable to talk about on a blog, I can without a shadow of doubt say that these are wonderful cookies.

In fact, these are such good cookies, that you should stop what you are doing and make them right now.  And then of course, invite me over for a sample or two (it would be really rude not to considering that I just shared the recipe with you).

So without further delay, I give you...

Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, Pecan, Orange Zest Cookies

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground clove
1 cup quick-cooking oats
2 cups chopped pecans
2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment or a Silpat (nonstick baking mat). Using an electric mixer, beat the butter in a bowl until light and fluffy. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla, and beat until well mixed, about three minutes. Stir in eggs, one at a time. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove in a separate bowl. Add half of the flour mixture to the butter with the mixer on low speed. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the second half. Stir in the oats, pecans, orange zest, and chocolate chips. Drop the dough, by the tablespoon, onto the cookie sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and cool the cookies on a rack. Store at room temperature in a cookie jar or other airtight container.