Oh how I've been wanting to make oatmeal cookies! Perhaps my memories of the Oatmeal Creme Pies I ate after school with my third grade friend are the reason they've actually become one of my favorite types of cookies. But I so rarely get to eat them nowadays unless my adulthood friends happen to buy and share an oversized box from Costco. But homemade are even better.
Now one question that always arises when making oatmeal cookies is that of add-ins. Do you put the classic raisins? Do you hate raisins? Do you need more chocolate in your life? Doesn't everyone? While I'm more of a fruit person, my boyfriend is all about the chocolate chips. What to choose? What to choose?
As my favorite "corny" tortilla commercial says:
Bam.
Thus I made my recipe twice, once with raisins and once with chocolate chips (dark chocolate chips, to be exact, since that's the type of chocolate I prefer to eat). Ah, but where did I get this recipe, and why? (More fun baking questions). The "why" was a request from coworkers to bring in delicious treats for some guests coming into the library the next day. The "where" was actually from two recipes I found online after searching for oatmeal cookie recipes that didn't require a mixer. I don't have a mixer. And I wanted oatmeal cookies. And I love to experiment with creating my own recipe, using other successful attempts as a basis. So I took those successful attempts and merged them.
The first was found on the Averie Cooks website. It's just a little overrun with cookie photos ("Where is the recipe??" you might ask as you scroll), but the photos were enticing enough to keep me scrolling until I finally found the ingredients and directions I was looking for.
The second recipe was found on a website called Bite This, containing fewer pictures but also fewer directions. I tried to take the best parts of both and add my own little twists (like the nutmeg and my inability to make decisions). It seemed to come together nicely, and I had all the ingredients on hand without doing any extra shopping. This might just become my classic go-to for Oatmeal Cookies.
Ingredients:
1 stick of butter, softened about 30 minutes in the microwave but not completely melted
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2 cups old fashioned oats (not quick cooking)
1/2 cup raisins or 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Directions:
1.) Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Soften your butter in the microwave for about 30 seconds or less in a glass or otherwise microwave safe container. Add in both sugars and stir.
2.) Let your mixture sit a moment to cool the butter (you can also try putting it in the fridge or freezer for just a few minutes), then add the egg and stir again. Next add the vanilla extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg, stirring one more time.
3.) Pour the flour, baking soda, and salt on top of the mixture and slowly fold the dry ingredients into the batter until no more flour is visible. Slowly fold in the oats next, and finally, fold in the raisins or chocolate chips until they are fully incorporated throughout the batter.
4.) Drop the batter into rounded tablespoons (or small golf balls) on a baking sheet lightly greased with nonstick cooking spray. Bake about 10-12 minutes (more if you have more cookies on the sheet, less if you have a small baking sheet), then rotate the cookies so the ones in the front are now in the back and bake another 2 minutes until they all still look light but firm. Allow the cookies to sit on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack or ceramic plate to cool completely.
If these cookies fall apart when you try to take them off the baking sheet--wait! I know it's hard, but let them sit and rest and harden a bit before moving (or eating) them. Unless you like to eat your cookies in pieces. Hey, they're still cookies. I wouldn't blame you.
So overall, I'd say the result of my experiment was definitely "success." I mentally patted myself on the back after my first bite of this treat--and I rarely mentally pat myself on the back. Now perhaps my next experiment will be to put some Lactose Free Vanilla ice cream in between two of these to recreate another childhood favorite: the ice cream sandwich.
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