Oatmeal Cookies for All!

Until very recently, I had never made oatmeal cookies. I tried out a recipe for them about a year ago at the request of a friend and, well... They sucked. The recipe called for too much liquid and I ended up with a very puddle-y dough, resulting in weird too-thin-some-spots-too-chunky-in-others cookies.

Blecch. 

So, I've been modifying and tweaking the recipe, and here's what I've got so far.

The original recipe called for just shortening, but I like a little buttery richness in my cookies, so I used half unsalted butter & half shortening.

I stuck with the recommended amounts of white and brown sugar, and mooshed them up together well.

And reduced the liquid. Above, I'm adding one egg and about 1/8th of a cup of water. This would be the time to throw the vanilla in, too.

In the eternal words of Rob Rainford, "Moosh moosh moosh." That is, mix it all up. Profound.

Add your dry ingredients - flour, cloves, cinnamon, salt, baking soda - and stir to combine. Now, I feel like we're missing something here...

Oh, yes, oats! Good ol' rolled oats.

Lots of oats.

And raisins! *PTOOEY* Oh, sorry, that's my natural reaction to raisins. (Ptooey.) I uh, I really hate raisins.

I know, right? How can I call myself a baker? Once I told someone I hated raisins, and she asked, "But... don't you like grapes?"

"Yes," I replied, "And they should never be defiled in such a manner."

That is how I speak of the vile fruits in polite company. What I could say about them behind closed doors may make the Cake Boss himself blush. But I digress.

My mom loves raisins. This is her half of the dough. That's how much I love my mom, people. I touched raisins.

(Ptooey.)

Use a teaspoon or your handy-dandy scoop to measure out your cookie dough. No flattening is necessary, they will spread a bit on their own.

Fresh out of the oven, these are chewy with just a touch of crunch from the oats. As they cool, they get a nice crunchy bite to the outside and stay soft and chewy on the inside. Not that I'd know from the batch above, because, well, you know. The-Fruit-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named and all that.

I mentioned, though, that this was only dear Mom's half of the batch. As for the other half of our dough, I had much sweeter plans.

Semi-sweet chocolate chips. Oh, come to mama. 

  

Measured out and baked just like those other cookies, these come out chewy, crunchy and oh-SO-chocolatey. I wish I hadn't waited so long to start baking oatmeal cookies. I'll share my recipe as it is now, I may still tweak the balance of the fats to get just the right consistency, but otherwise, I'm pretty happy with it!

Crunchy & Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

3/4 C   Shortening, half unsalted butter if desired
1 C      Brown sugar, packed
1/2 C   Granulated sugar
1          Large egg
1/8 C   Water, room temperature
1 tsp     Vanilla
1 C       All-purpose flour
1 tsp     Salt
1/2 tsp  Baking soda
1 tsp     Cinnamon
1/2 tsp  Cloves
2 C       Raisins OR Chocolate chips OR Whatever floats your boat
3 C       Rolled oats

Cream together fats and sugars. Add egg, water and vanilla and stir until smooth. Add dry ingredients and mix until dough forms.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls, or from a 1-inch scoop onto cookie pan. TIP: These do stick a bit, so either grease your pan, or line with parchment paper. I was out of parchment paper when I baked these so do as I say, not as I did.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool on pan for 1-2 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Devour Cookie Monster-style.

Enjoy!

You can have these ones.

Until next time!