Well after an extended absence from the blogosphere (I’ve been looking for a reason to use that word), I’m back. I wish I could say that I was out pursuing bigger and better things but truth be told I’ve been stuck in the rut of life and work, work and life. Plus my camera has been misbehaving which makes things here less exciting. But now I’m back and thinking of ways to revamp this site a bit. Perhaps that will be my summer goal. I also want to get a better camera… that may be a job for Uncle Sam (if the IRS hasn’t lost my tax return as I fear… but I digress…).
While I’ve been off line I’ve still been cooking, not as elaborately as I tend to but a girl has to eat. Last night I had a serious craving for some oatmeal cookies. Earlier last week I had a doctor’s appointment at 7:30AM (!) and decided to stop by Pusateri’s to get some breakfast. I bought a croissant and the most delicious breakfast cookie ever (I didn’t say healthy or balanced breakfast!). What I really wanted to make were breakfast cookies, but who am I kidding, my morning hunger cannot be satisfied by a measly cookie or two… unless it is accompanied by bacon,e ggs an toast. So I settled for some run of th email Oatmeal Cookies.
I’m always on the lookout for great cookie recipes… I always make OK cookies but not FAB ones. I came across this recipe from Cooking Light and figured that it had a enough positive reviews to make it worth my time. These cookies are amazing! I made some changes along the way. I didn’t have any brown sugar at home and when i went to my bulk store all their brown sugar was super hard. I thought about substituting some brown rice syrup that I have in my cupboard but I was feeling the need to go there so I used about 1 cup of white sugar total instead of between two sugars. I really like my oatmeal cookies with some dried fruit action so I added about 1/4 cup of dried cranberries (i don’t do raisins). I also swapped out the pecans for blanched, slivered almonds. Oh, and I added a 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon. yum.
The key to my success with the cookies was definitely the cooking time. The recipe says to bake the cookies for 12 minutes. In my oven 9 minutes was perfection. I ate entirely too many cookies warm out of the oven. I think this is the way nature intended for us to eat them so I don’t feel to bad about that. The cookies had a great crunch/firmness to the outside and they were soft and chewy on the inside. I’m on day two with these cookies and they are crunchier than they were but still delicious.
This cookie recipe may be my “go to” oatmeal cookie recipe.
Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, and Pecan Cookies
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 5 1/2 ounces)
1 cup regular oats
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate minichips
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt), stirring with a whisk; set aside.
Place sugars and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add vanilla and egg; beat until blended. Gradually add flour mixture, beating at low speed just until combined. Stir in pecans and minichips. Drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350° for 12 minutes or until edges of cookies are lightly browned. Cool on pans 2 minutes. Remove cookies from pans; cool on wire racks.
Yield
3 dozen (serving size: 1 cookie)
(recipe from Cooking Light via myrecipes.com)
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Yay! I’m so glad you’re posting again! I missed your wit and tasty descriptions.
This recipe sounds similar to one of my faves, but with remarkably less butter. I’ll have to give it a try. For my own purposes, I find that adding three tablespoons of milk and then letting the dough sit overnight guarantees prolonged chewiness, as the oats soak up the liquid and don’t bake up as crisp. Of course, that doesn’t help much when you want cookies ASAP!