Tag: Oatmeal

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies Round 2

Sadie1 Comment

A couple weeks ago I posted a recipe for chewy oatmeal cookies.  Well as we know, I am an oatmeal cookie addict, so I decided to try yet another chewy oatmeal cookie.  This one is from the blog How Sweet It Is, which is a fabulously beautiful food blog, which a great combination of interesting yet do-able recipes.

Her original recipe only calls for chocolate chips, but I decided to add a little more je ne sais quoi.  Which means, instead of chocolate chips, I went with butterscotch chips, M&M’s (autumn colors of course), and chopped pecans.  Basically I look for any excuse to make monster cookies with as many add-ins as possible.

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies with M&M’s, butterscotch, and pecans

Yields about 30-40 cookies, adapted from How Sweet It Is

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 Tbs cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 cups butterscotch chips
  • 1 1/2 cups M&M’s
  • 3/4 cup chopped pecans

Method

  1. Cream together butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
  2. Mix together dry ingredients (flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt), set aside.
  3. Beat eggs and vanilla into butter and sugar mixture.
  4. Add dry to wet and beat to combine.  Add oats and other add-ins.  Mix to combine, do not over mix.
  5. Allow dough to chill for 30 minutes and preheat oven to 375.
  6. Bake cookies 9-11 minutes until golden brown.  Allow to cool completely and enjoy!

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

Sadie2 Comments

When it comes to cookie recipes, one thing I have yet to fully master is the aspect of a recipe that makes the cookies chewy or crispy, cakey or crunchy.  I realize that it is likely a combination of ingredients that determines these factors, but it perplexes me.  I often have attempted recipes that claim “chewy” but come out crunchy.  Is it my fault, or the recipe’s fault?

I think it’s a combination of the two.  From my limited experience I would assume that a combination of the fat choice (butter, oil, shortening) along with the number of eggs, has a large effect on the texture of a cookie.  More eggs would be more cakey, and the softer the fat, the softer the cookie.  I’ve even heard that using melted butter rather than typical room temperature butter, will make cookies softer.  Also over-mixing the batter leads to developing too much gluten, which leads to harder cookies.

All this being said I tried a “chewy” oatmeal cookie recipe from Martha, because if there’s one type of cookie that I love to be “chewy,” it’s an oatmeal cookie.  Her original recipe only called for dried cherries, but I swapped those out for chocolate chunks, walnuts, and craisons.  While not quite as chewy as one of those classic large oatmeal cookies at a local bakery, I think this recipe lives up to the chewy title.

Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Yields about 40 cookies depending on size, adapted from a Martha Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cup AP Flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup craisons
  • 3/4 cup chocolate chunks
  • 3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Combine flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt.  Set aside.
  3. Use an electric mixer to beat together butter, brown sugar, and honey until fluffy.
  4. Beat in eggs and vanilla.  Add flour mixture in gradually.
  5. Add in oats, chocolate, craisons, and walnuts.  Mix until just combined, try not to over mix.
  6. Use an ice cream scoop to portion out equal cookie dough balls about 2 tablespoons each.  Bake 10-15 minutes until golden brown.  Allow to cool completely.

Ode to Oatmeal

SadieLeave a comment

One of the only things I crave on a regular basis is oatmeal.  I apreciate it in the traditional format, in granola, cookies, and even raw oats with some almond milk.  I’m not sure why, it just hits the spot for me.

This summer while I’m living in Connecticut I have very limited kitchen resources, so my go-to breakfast has been Quaker’s Weight Control Instant Oatmeal.  I don’t have a microwave, so I just heat up some water in my tea kettle on the stove, and pour it into my bowl with the packet of instant oatmeal.  Breakfast perfection.  The reason I pick the “weight control” option, is more so for the specific nutritional facts rather than the name.  It has 7 grams of protien and only 1 gram of sugar, which is much improved from many of the other instant oatmeal options.  I’m always looking for extra protien and less sugar.

But I digress.  One of my favorite ways to enjoy oatmeal is of course in the form of a cookie.  I saw this recipe on a great food blog that I read regularly and I knew I needed to give them a try.  In addition to the oats, I love a cookie with butterscotch, and I’m always interested in non-chocolate options, because sometimes you a break from the chocolate route.

Oatmeal Butterscotch Caramel Cookies

From Picky Palate

Yields about 3 dozen

Ingredients

  • 2 sticks (1 cup) softened unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup prepared caramel sauce
  • 2 cups AP Flour
  • 1 cup quick cooking oats
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 bag (10 or 12oz) butterscotch chips

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 350.
  2. Cream together butter and sugars with electric mixer.  Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla, and caramel sauce.
  3. Mix together dry ingredients in separate bowl” flour, salt, baking soda, oats.
  4. Slowly combine dry and wet, try not to over mix.  Fold in butterscotch chips.
  5. Scoop dough with ice cream scoop onto parchment lined cookie sheets and bake for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. (mine spread a little further than the pictures with the recipe on Picky Palate, but I would like to be a poor cratsman and blame my tools.  I’m suspicious about my oven).  Moral of the story: do not put the cookie dough too close together on the pan.

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