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Who wouldn’t love a cookie that’s chocked full of two kinds of chocolate chips, pecans and oats? Rumor has it that these I Want to Marry You Cookies are so delicious that they’ve been known to elicit marriage proposals!
I’m not sure I believe that these I Want to Marry You Cookies will bring proposals but I know for certain that they’re some of the very best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made!
Do you have any traditions in your family that are almost “institutional”? You know, certain established practices that you wouldn’t DREAM of missing? That, in a nutshell, is what our “Middle-of-the-Night” parties have become. If you’ve been a longstanding follower of The Café, you might remember these crazy events, if not, you can read all about them here or here.
With our daughter, her husband and four children living in London, we can hardly wait to make fun, special family memories whenever we have the privilege of visiting each other on either side of “the pond”. One of our traditions is these delightful wee hours of the morning rendezvous’ that have become almost legendary. We make sure to include one of these celebrations, at an unannounced time, during their visit (and believe me, we are repeatedly reminded about them!). Our girlies love them, but they are also quite magical times for Grammy and Papa Scott.
We ran into a bit of a snag this time, however. It was the last night before their return flight to London, so the girlies had rightly surmised this would indeed be, “the” night for the special celebration. Grammy had mixed up the dough for these yummy, I Want to Marry You Cookies, and had planned to serve them warm, with china plates, candlelight and fancy glasses of cold milk. Papa was all set to document the party with his camera.
Mum (as British children call their mothers) and Daddy have been wonderful about going along with this silly tradition of ours and we’ve been careful to make the parties quite short (but sweet). As the girls were put to bed this time, they were admonished, in the usual tradition, “Go right to sleep without a lot of chatting.” in order to have the “privilege” of a Middle-of-the-Night-Party.
For some reason, sleep did not come easy, but shenanigans did! Mum warned them once and on the second visit when she found the lights on and the girls playing merrily, she informed them that the “party” would “most likely” be canceled. With Daddy being out of town, Mum discussed it with us and made the wise decision to cancel the party. It was important for the girls to understand the importance of obedience. We were disappointed but supported the decision wholeheartedly.
Disappointment was not even close to describing how the girls felt in the morning when they realized that the WHOLE night had passed without the special party. They came down to breakfast with very gloomy faces and said they both cried when they woke up. That made Grammy teary-eyed, and Mum too, but you know what?
This sad situation resulted in an extremely important life-lesson for our girls. One of the most difficult aspects of parenting (and grandparenting) is setting boundaries and then following through when those boundaries have been breached. Universally, kids will test, test, test to see if “the rules” still apply in every situation.
Contradictory to common thought, when children have secure boundaries and know there will be consequences for disobedient behavior, they feel loved and safe. On the other hand, when the borders are inconsistent and consequences are wishy-washy, insecurity and unhappiness abound. For us “softies” (and that’s just about all of us parents and grands, at one time or another) the “easy” path is to capitulate, to give in, to not make waves, allowing children to succeed in getting their way. The result is what here at The Café we call a “child-ruled home” in which both the children and the parents are often quite miserable.
There’s a wonderful ending to this tale of woe. When we bid the girlies farewell at the airport today, you’ll NEVER believe what they whispered as we hugged them goodbye their last words were; “We’ll NEVER miss a Middle-of-the-Night-Party again, EVER! When mum says that it’s time to go to sleep, well that’s what we’ll do”.
Mission accomplished!
Parents and grandparents, take heart! Love your kids and your grandkids with every bit of energy you have, but don’t be afraid to set limits, to be kind yet firm and to let your word stand on it’s own. Your children (and grandchildren) will not only respect you but will turn out to be much happier, more secure and confident individuals.
Oh yeah, and the I Want to Marry You Cookies – the girls helped me bake them before they left. I was intrigued by the recipe as there were a few unusual steps. Instead of the traditional method of creaming the softened butter and sugar together, the butter is melted on the stovetop instead. I used my stand mixer to combine the melted butter with the remaining ingredients, but you could also opt to mix it all together right on the stovetop.
The other somewhat unconventional element in the directions is to chill the cookies for 30 minutes before baking. I was a bit dubious (and forever in a hurry) so I tried baking one pan without the stint in the fridge. There was clearly a difference, the unchilled batch having a flatter and less attractive appearance.
Do you like the name? I Want to Marry You Cookies – I thought it was fun, though a bit crazy. After taking the first bite though, I “got” it. The melted butter combined with a generous measure of brown sugar creates crisp, caramelized outer edges while the centers remain soft and chewy. Toasted pecans add a lovely crunch and a pinch of cinnamon gives the cookies a unique, mysterious flavor. You’ll “get” it too – make a batch, they’re phenomenally delicious and you might just find your neighbors, friends, family, co-workers, actually everyone who tries them, offering to marry you!
Super delicious cookies, so good, it's reported that they've been known to elicit marriage proposals...
- 1 cup butter
- 1 ¼ cups light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup uncooked rolled or old fashioned oats - not quick oats.
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup white chocolate chips extra for garnishing, if desired*
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips extra for garnishing, if desired*
- 1 cup roughly chopped toasted pecans, extra for garnishing, if desired*
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In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat until melted. Remove from the heat.
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Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar and stir until sugars are incorporated and smooth. Chill the mixture for 10 minutes.
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Remove from the refrigerator and stir in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.
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Add the flour, oats, baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cinnamon and mix together.
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Stir in the white chocolate chips, chocolate chips and pecans.
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Roll by hand into medium-size balls or use a scoop, and place on sheet pans. If desired, tuck extra chips and pecans over tops of dough mounds for a lovely appearance.
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Chill, on sheet pan for 30 minutes.
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Preheat the oven to 325˚F. Remove the cookies from the refrigerator and bake for 14-18 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool for several minutes on pan, then transfer to cooling rack.
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Watch the proposals coming pouring in!!! 🙂
I can't verify this but they say that these cookies are known to inspire marriage proposals. I can verify that they're crazy-good!
Suaan says
All I have is quick cook steel cut oatmeal ? Will that work? Thanks
Chris Scheuer says
I’m sorry but that won’t work for this recipe.
Allie M. says
Does the sheet pan need to be greased or ungreased?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Allie, I like to use parchment paper for easy cleanup, but, no you don’t need to grease the pan.
Dottie Archibald says
These are my husband’s all time favorite cookies. I customize them to his taste and he says they are just like the ones he gets in Hawaii. I use white choc chips and unchopped macadamia nuts. Other than that follow the recipe exactly. They are magnificent! Thanks for the recipe!
Chris Scheuer says
You’re welcome, Dottie! I love your adaptations!
Sofía Benitez says
Hi! Should I use all purpose flour for this?
Chris Scheuer says
Yes, that’s perfect!
April says
Looks delicious!!! Any suggestions with the recipe if I want to make half the quantity? I was planning to try and halve the recipe exactly but don’t know if I need to account for anything in doing so. I don’t want to mess up given the number of ingredients and fail when putting so much into these! 36 cookies is just too many cookies for my household.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi April, this recipe is a little hard to cut in half since it calls for 1 egg and 1 egg yolk. I think your better bet, would be to make the full recipe and freeze whatever amount you don’t want to have around right now. Freeze it in scoops. That way you can pull out as many as you want to bake and keep the rest from being a temptation.
Lillie says
I have made these dozens of times,turn out great every time.All my family love them.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Lillie 💕
Lillian Bennett says
I followed the recipe exactly as posted, but my cookies did not turn out as expected. It says to scoop or roll the dough into balls, but my dough was too runny to do that. It was more like brownie dough. There has to be something missing in the recipe. I won”t be making this again. Too much expense for a failed recipe.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Lillian, I’m sorry your cookies didn’t turn out. I’m wondering if somewhere along the way you might have, inadvertently, mis-measured or perhaps not used the right ingredients. I do that every now and then. I have never had anyone report a problem with this dough being runny and thousands of people have made these cookies.
April Campbell says
I have made these a few times now, and every time they came out perfect EXCEPT this last time, this last time they came out runny. I dumped it into a 9×13 and baked it off, more like a cookie bar, tastes fine. I just don’t know why they turned out differently this time, the only thing I did different this time was using country crock for the butter instead of normal stick butter because that was what I had on hand, but i wouldn’t think that would have caused the problem. Any ideas on what the problem might have been would be appriciated.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi April, it’s hard to say without having been there in the kitchen with you but if I had to guess, I would say it’s the country crock as it’s made with oil, is non-dairy and won’t act the same as butter in a baking recipe. I would stick with butter for this recipe.
Zory says
I only used the brown sugar and skipped the additional granulated sugar (we don’t like our cookies too sweet) and added salt flakes on top before baking and they turned out great!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks for sharing your review and adaptations, Zory!
Ally says
These cookies are absolutely AMAZING! I work at a lumber yard, and love to bake cookies to take in to our guys at work. They are always asking for me to bring in “those one cookies with the oats in them”. They are always a big hit! The flavors go so well together, and the touch of cinnamon really sets it off! Thanks for sharing the recipe!! 🙂
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Ally. I know those guys love having you as a workmate!
Jess says
These turned out just DELICIOUS!! Funny enough, I made them a few days after my boyfriend had proposed☺️🍪💍!! He loved them and thought they were just yummy!!
Chris Scheuer says
Haha! I love that! Congratulations, Jess! Thanks for sharing your results!
Redell says
Hi love, good recipes are hard to find especially cookies once you make them behind someone else this recipe is a winner so delicious thank you didn’t have to change a thing and wouldn’t.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much, Redell! So happy you enjoyed them!
chrissy says
Do I use unsalted butter? I’m excited to test these out this weekend on my boyfriend 😉
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Chrissy, I use salted butter. If you use unsalted, just add an extra pinch of salt.
Gina says
Can you use milk chocolate chips instead of semi sweet?
Chris Scheuer says
Yes, that will work fine!
Jennifer Flint says
If I only have quick oats, can i use those?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Jennifer, you can although the texture will be slightly different.
Georgina Slusher says
Can i make this dough ahead and freeze or store in fridge for the next day? Also is it 1 whole egg and an egg yolk or just 1 egg overall? Sorry silly question.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Georgina, yes you could make this a day in advance and store it in the fridge OR you could make it and scoop it into balls and freezze those.
Yes, there’s one whole egg and one egg yolk. Enjoy!
Debbie says
Should the flour be self rising or plain?
Chris Scheuer says
Plain which is similar to our all-purpose flour.
Enjoy!
Donna says
Can I omit the nuts? I was measuring ingredients and unfortunately let the nuts burn 😬
Chris Scheuer says
Yes, you definitely could!
LadyRhoda says
So you’re saying I can make these cookies for my crush and he will ‘want to marry me’? In that case i’ll try it and i’ll be back!
Chris Scheuer says
Haha, I can’t promise but… it could definitely help 🙂