1 Cup Shortening* 1 Cup Sugar 1 Cup Brown Sugar 2 Eggs 1 Teaspoon Vanilla 1 1/2 Cups White or Unbleached Flour 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda 1 Teaspoon Salt 3 Cups Oatmeal 1/2 Cup Chopped Walnuts
Combine shortening and sugars and mix together well. Add eggs and vanilla and continue mixing. Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together and add to mixture. Add oats and nuts and mix well.
Roll dough into small balls about the size of golf balls or slightly larger and place a couple inches apart on a cookie sheet. Do not squish the cookies flat. As the dough gets hot in the oven they will slump flat on their own. Bake for 15 minutes at 375° F.
* A note on using Shortening. In these days of modern health consciousness we are being encouraged to substitute liquid shortening or various oils for solid shortening. While these substitutions often work well in many recipes, it just doesn't work in cookies. The result is a thin, hard, and generally unpleasing cookie. To make a really good cookie you have to use solid shortening.