Best Cookie Recipe EVER

My friend Traci gave me this recipe many years ago.  You can customize the recipe to suit any favourite combinations.  You make a basic dough and then add up to five cups of anything.


FIVE CUPS OF ANYTHING COOKIES
1 cup margarine                     2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar                 1 tsp baking soda
1 cup white sugar                  1/2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs                                              1/2 tsp salt (omit if margarine has salt)
1 tsp vanilla                            5 cups of anything (oatmeal, chocolate chips,
                                                         toffee chips, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, etc.)
                                                                            
Cream margarine and sugars together.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Mix together flour, baking  soda, baking powder, salt.  Add to creamed mixture.  Stir in your 5 cups of anything.  Scoop dough by the tablespoonful and drop on prepared cookie sheets.
Bake at 350F for 10 minutes.  Cool cookies on sheet 5 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack.
Full recipe makes about 7 dozen cookies. Recipe cuts in half easily.

* To make a chocolate cookie dough, replace 3 tablespoons of the flour with 3 tablespoons of  sifted unsweetened cocoa *

Some combinations I’ve made:
Oatmeal, dried cranberries, chocolate chips, toffee chips, pecans
Toffee chips, slivered almonds, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds
Oatmeal,  2 cups white chocolate chips, slivered almonds, 1 or 2 tsp orange zest
Oatmeal, almond paste, 3 cups toasted slivered almonds (replace vanilla with almond extract)
Try adding spices, different extracts, citrus zests

GLUTEN FREE - change regular flour to 1-1/2 cups rice flour and 1/2 cup potato flour
(Note - be sure to use certified organic oatmeal in gluten free cookies)

*Reduce sugar by substituting the 1 cup white sugar with 1 cup mashed banana or apple sauce *