This morning, I was making a bowl of Steel Cut Irish Oatmeal, sweetened with pure maple syrup, for breakfast. I noticed an unopened carton of Quick-Oats, and it triggered memories of an oatmeal cookie recipe that I’ve been making for years. I originally found it in a book “Best of Country Cookies”. I remember when my son was around 10 years old, I’d whip up a batch of these cookies, and his friends were so impressed. This is a cookie recipe that is about as perfect as you could ask for. While it’s still hot, it’s crispy on the outside, and chewy in the middle. They bake perfectly round, and they just make you look like a baking expert!
Now that my son is all grown up, I had forgotten about this recipe. My cooking styles have changed a lot, since then. For one, I try to avoid using shortening and I’ve permanently banished products like fake whipped cream, from the freezer section– whose Brand Name shall remain nameless). Living in California, where Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s are all over the place– it’s so convenient for me to buy better alternatives. When I re-read the recipe, I realized that it calls for all shortening, and I paused. I used to buy Crisco Butter-Flavored shortening– though I admit the product has improved and isn’t so bad anymore. Crisco does work really well for this recipe, so if you like it– then go for it! I pondered a bit, and then I decided to go half butter and half shortening. Using all butter doesn’t really work for this cookie recipe– unless you like rock cookies. If that’s your case, use all butter. As usual, let me show you:
This is my first time using this product. I bought it a while ago, with the intention of using it to make pie crusts.
I think the reason that cooks say they don’t like to bake, is that it’s precise. Eliminating or substituting dry ingredients is risky– and you need to measure! Here are a few tips that make baking more efficient for me. Mis en place, is essential! That is, organizing all of your ingredients in advance is key. There’s nothing worse than running out of an important ingredient! I like to measure all of my dry ingredients (flour, leaveners like baking powder or soda, salt, spices etc.) and then I whisk them all together. The dry ingredients, for this recipe, are all-purpose flour (I use unbleached), salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. TIP: This might seem like a hassle, but I’ve developed a habit of separating my eggs in a single bowl, and then adding them into one bowl. Why? Look closely at the bottom right photo. That’s an egg shell. It’s easier to fish out. It’s never happened to me, but it’s also a way of catching a “bad egg” before it contaminates the rest. You can smell a bad egg, right away. Ew.
Some people like to mix cookie batter by hand. My hat’s off to you! My stand mixer is my worker bee.
First step is to cream the butter/shortening (or all shortening, if you wish), with the sugar. This took about 3 minutes to become really creamy. The eggs are added, one at a time. Now, it’s time to add vanilla. I added one more ingredient– “Buttery Sweet Dough Emulsion” is a product that I used to make “Perfect Pound Cake”. I read that this extract/emulsion is great for cookies, so I added a scant teaspoon. (This later, proved to work beautifully. I love this stuff!)
There’s a lot of cookie batter, because I doubled the recipe. You’ll see why, in a moment. I have a “guard” for my stand mixer bowl, so that flour doesn’t fly everywhere. Ha! I recently learned a cool trick– when I dump all of the flour (as opposed to a little at a time) into the bowl, then I pulse the machine a few times. This does a nice pre-mix of flour and I don’t end up having to vacuum the mess from the floor. It so works! I transferred the batter (which is quite soft) and blended in the oatmeal.
I have Silpat mats, but lately I find that I prefer parchment paper. Either way, they make life a whole lot easier– especially with clean up. These go into 350F for about 11-13 minutes. You want them to look golden, but a little gooey in the very middle is fine– if you like chewy. Otherwise, add another minute or two, to the baking time.
Back to work tomorrow,
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