Oatmeal Scotchies

Barry’s #1 favorite cookie, from his Mom. The company that makes the butterscotch chips has changed the recipe printed on the bag, but this is the original version, featuring orange extract.

1 C flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 C butter, softened
3/4 C brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
1-1/2 t water
3/4 C quick oats
6 oz. pkg butterscotch morsels
1/4 t orange extract

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat together butter, brown
sugar, egg and water. Add flour mixture and stir in oats, morsels and orange
extract. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheets.

Bake at 375 about 10 12 min. Makes about 2 dozen.

I love looking back at the original version of this recipe, which Barry’s Mom sent to me in the late 1980’s using YABBS, the computer bulletin board system Barry ran in his parents’ dining room. In the original, she wrote:

“l c flour,” using the l key instead of the number 1. Hardly anyone under 40 remembers when typewriters didn’t bother with the number 1, and when we first learned to use computers, it was a hard habit to break.

A few lines later, she wrote:
6 oz. pky
(Dave sneezed and I panicked) (last is pkg. butterscotch morsels)
This is explained by the fact that it was very difficult to go back and edit a previous line. When you hit the Enter key, you were stuck with whatever you’d typed. In this case, Barry’s Dad sneezed, an event akin to a nuclear blast, causing Sharon to hit the Enter key and probably the ceiling at the same time.