We have been overcast and rainy for a few days out here in good old Utah, and when it gets cloudy, all I want to do is bake. So today I baked, and I hope you will make these cookies the next time you are hankering for a treat. They are so delicious. Rich, textured oatmeal, a perfect balance of cinnamon and brown sugar, indulgent buttery flavor, and a sweet shot of chocolate in each bite. Perfection.
I first made these cookies about 10 years ago when I was in high school, and made them regularly for a long time. They were my "go-to" cookie recipe when I needed a large batch for my students. Then, in the midst of trying a million new recipes, I forgot about them. I haven't made these in at least four years. Last week I had to whip up some treats for kids at my church, and the memory of these fragrant cookies popped into my head. I made them immediately. They were every bit as good as I remembered.
Sigh. Again, these are not healthy, but in sticking with my "homemade is better" philosophy, they are for sure better than anything you can buy at the store. Simple ingredients of butter, flour, sugars, vanilla, cinnamon, chocolate and oatmeal are so much better than high-fructose corn syrup and Red Dye No. 5. Just make them and share them with a lot of people and you'll be fine.
The recipe originally comes from the Quaker Oats container. Yup. And that's a good recipe on it's own. I have tweaked a few of the measurements a bit and made some adjustments in method that I think yield a superior, no-fail cookie. Those are included in this recipe.
Here we go. First things first. Room temperature ingredients make all the difference in yielding soft, fluffy and tender baked goods. I swear on my life. It's that serious to me. Pull your butter and eggs out way in advance and let them sit out at room temperature. You will not die or get sick. You will be fine. And your cookies will be amazing. I usually take mine out first thing in the morning or even the night before I want to bake something. If your house is 90 degrees, wait until a few hours beforehand. If you live at a comfortable 70, the night before is fine.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Start by throwing 1/2 cup plus 6 tablespoons of butter into the bowl of a stand mixer, or alternately, into a large mixing bowl if you are using a handheld mixer. Add 3/4 of a cup of packed light brown sugar and 1/2 cup of white sugar to the butter.
Turn the mixer on medium, and then when the ingredients are blended, on high for 1-2 minutes and whip the heck out of the butter and sugar. You want it to be pale and fluffy.
Add two large room temperature eggs to the butter and sugar. Also add 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract to the mixture. Turn the mixer on to medium, then to high again, and whip for an additional 1-2 minutes. You may need to scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula to insure all of the ingredients incorporate.
In a separate bowl, measure out 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour. If you are at high altitude, increase the flour to 1 3/4 cups. I used the high altitude measurement. I like to scoop the flour into the measuring cup with a spoon and then level the cup off. Densely packed flour yields heavy, dry baked goods. Measure accurately. Whisk the flour to aerate and break up any clumps.
Add 1 teaspoon of baking soda, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the flour. Whisk to combine the dry ingredients well.
Add all of the mixture into the bowl of wet ingredients.
Turn the mixer on low, and then to medium, to mix the dry ingredients in. Scraping the sides down with a rubber spatula may be necessary. Mix for 1-2 minutes until the batter is thick like cake frosting.
Measure out three cups of oatmeal. You can use old-fashioned oats or quick-cooking. I used old fashioned. Add the three cups of oats directly to the batter. Mix for 1 minute on low to incorporate, scraping the sides with a rubber spatula as needed.
Add two cups (approximately on bag) of chocolate chips to the batter. I used milk chocolate, but these are great with semi-sweet or dark chocolate as well. Mix 30 seconds to incorporate.
Use a rubber spatula to make sure the chocolate chips are well-distributed.
I like to use a tablespoon measuring spoon as my cookie batter scoop.
Using a tablespoon, scoop rounds of dough onto a non-stick or parchment-lined cookie sheet. Parchment is a great idea here. I was out, so I went without it, but parchment ensures even baking and browning and makes clean-up a cinch. You can fit 12 cookies on a sheet, 1 to 2 inches apart.
Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes. In my oven 8-9 minutes seems to be the magic number. You want the cookies to be slightly browned on the bottom edges with just a hint of brown on top. They should be stable when you remove them from the oven. Remove them to a cooling rack within 1 minute of coming out of the oven, or they will continue to bake on the hot sheet.
Break one in half. Sample it with some cold milk. Come on. You know you want to. Yummmmmmm.
(Makes approximately 3.5 dozen cookies)
Ingredients
-1/2 cup plus 6 tablespoons of butter (soft and at room temperature)
-3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
-1/2 cup white sugar
-2 large eggs at room temperature
-1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla
-1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour (1 3/4 cups at high altitude)
-1 teaspoon of baking soda
-1 teaspoon of cinnamon
-1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 3 cups of uncooked old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats
-2 cups of chocolate chips (1 bag)
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Cream room temperature butter and sugars together, starting on low and increasing the speed to high, beating 1-2 minutes until the butter and sugar is pale and fluffy.
3. Add room temperature eggs and vanilla. Beat first at low speed, then at medium and high for 1-2 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed.
4. In a separate whisk flour to aerate, ( be sure to spoon into measuring cup and level off to ensure accuracy), and add baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Whisk all ingredients together.
5. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Beat on medium speed until the batter is thick like frosting, scraping sides of bowl as needed.
6. Add oats to the batter. Mix on medium speed until well-incorporated, scraping bowl as needed.
7. Add chocolate chips to the batter. Mix on medium speed for 1 minute until combined. Mix briefly with rubber spatula to ensure even distribution.
8. Drop teaspoons of batter onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, 2-3 inches apart.
9. Bake 12 cookies per sheet at 350 degrees for 8-12 minutes (8-9 minutes seems to be best). Remove from baking sheet to wire rack within one minute of exit from oven.
10. Enjoy cookies with a glass of cold milk. Dance for joy.
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