• Oatmeal- quick oats work best for this recipe. 
• Shortening- vegetable shortening is preferable. I used Crisco, but you can also use this culinary version from Amazon.
• Brown sugar- It doesn't matter if you use light or dark brown sugar. 
• sugar– Definitely use granulated sugar for this recipe! 
• Eggs- Large eggs are perfect for chocolate chip cake, but if you have medium, that is ok too. 
• Flour- all-purpose flour is what I used in this recipe and it created a soft, yet dense crumb. 
• Cocoa- Hershey's cocoa is always in my pantry, but if you have another brand that you like, use it! 
• Baking soda- Helps to give your cake and other baked goods the rise needed. 
• Salt- I've been using Kosher salt and it has been really great in all my recipes. 
• Chocolate chips- You can use your favorite brand of chocolate chips, but I've been using Enjoy Life Brand for a while now. They bake really nicely and taste wonderful! 
• Vanilla- I love adding vanilla to all my baking recipes because it just adds extra flavor! 

To start, you will want to preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

Prepare an 8×8 baking pan (I like using this pan) by greasing it with butter. 

Pour boiling water over the oatmeal. Let the oatmeal mixture stand for 10 minutes. 

In a large bowl, cream sugars and shortening together. 

Add your vanilla and eggs and mix until smooth. 

Now your oatmeal mixture should be ready, so add this to your bowl with creamed sugar and shortening and mix well. 

In a separate bowl, add together your flour, baking soda, salt & cocoa, and mix until combined. 

Add flour mixture and beat for 1 minute. 

Stir in 1/2 cup chocolate chips to batter and combine completely. 

Pour batter into the prepared greased pan.

You can now sprinkle on top an additional 1/4 cup of chocolate chips if desired.  

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until toothpick tests done.