Chinese Five Spice Oatmeal Cookies

This weekend I picked up some Chinese Five Spice blend at the local spice shop in downtown Boulder. I wasn't completely sure what I would do with it, but decided to give this recipe a shot, from a blog I just stumbled upon online. I modified it a little bit for altitude, and am pretty happy with how it turned out. The cookies have a great flavor, but aren't overpowering at all, and also aren't overly sweet. They are a nice alternative to some of the other overly gooey and decadent treats that are more common around here during the holidays.

½ cup butter
½ cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
[2 tsp canola oil for altitude correction/anti-drying]
Cream the butter and sugars together well. Add egg and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.

Sift together:
¾ cup + 2 Tbsp flour
1 & 1/2tsp Chinese five spice powder
½ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
Pinch salt
½ tsp baking soda [touch less for altitude]

Fold into the creamed mixture.
When the dry ingredients are almost incorporated, add:

1 ½ cups large rolled oats
2/3 cup raisins
2/3 cup chopped dried apricots

½ cup chopped pecans, cashews, macadamias, slivered almonds or walnuts (optional -- I omitted)

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet about 2 ½ inches apart.Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes [7min at 395 for altitude]. Do not over bake or your cookies will lose their chewy texture. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.