'Tis the season to bake cookies!

While I admire the patience and skill of those who make beautiful decorative cookies, I will never be one of them. I'll make cut-out cookies and use molds, but nothing fancier or more complicated than that. My favorites are simple, old-fashioned types — bar cookies, drop cookies... easy cookies.

And these Apple Oatmeal Cookies are ridiculously easy, which is a huge boon at this busy time. They're not glamorous, but they're really good. A cup of cocoa, a couple of cookies, and happiness can be yours.

I'm hosting a giveaway on my blog, Food Floozie: go check it out, and maybe you could win a $25 gift card from Whole Foods Market!

Apple Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 cup shortening
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 packets instant Apple Cinnamon oatmeal
1 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream together shortening and brown sugar. Stir in egg, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix in oatmeal and flour.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls; place at least 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Lightly smush the cookies, and then bake for 10 minutes until golden and just set. Remove to a rack and let cool completely, and then repeat with remaining dough.

Makes 36 cookies.

Mary Bilyeu writes for AnnArbor.com on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, telling about her adventures in the kitchen - making dinner, celebrating holidays, entering cooking contests, meeting new friends ... whatever strikes her fancy. She is also on a mission to find great deals for her Frugal Floozie Friday posts, seeking fabulous food at restaurants on the limited budget of only $5 per person. Feel free to email her with questions, comments, or suggestions: yentamary@gmail.com.

Go visit Mary's blog — Food Floozie — where she enthuses and effuses over all things food-related; and look for her monthly articles in the Washtenaw Jewish News. "Like" her on Facebook, or send a tweet on Twitter, too.

The phrase "You Should Only Be Happy" (written in Hebrew on the stone pictured in this post) comes from Deuteronomy 16:15 and is a wish for all her readers - when you come to visit here, may you always be happy.