I haven’t been consistently happy with my oatmeal cookie recipe for a while. Sometimes they turn out perfectly — fairly flat, chewy and moist in the middle, with crinkly, caramelized edges (not cakey or rounded) and a butterscotch-esque flavor. Other times, they don’t follow orders, staying too puffed, or becoming a little dry and less damply dense than I crave.
So I took the recipe, reduced the amount of flour and oats slightly, upped the butter considerably (even in an oatmeal cookie, I am not looking for healthy; it’s still a cookie), took out one egg, increased the salt and the vanilla, changed the sugar ratio a bit to favor the brown variety, and tried it again.
I also baked bigger cookies. Only when your cookies are at least 3 inches wide can you approach the nirvana that comes with a cookie that has different textures throughout: a ring of crispness around the edge, firm but with some give as you head in for the next bite, and, finally, soft but chewy in the middle.
I also took a page from my favorite chocolate chip (or chunk) cookie recipe, and let the dough rest for two days. You could skip this step, or you could leave the dough for as long as four days before baking. The resting time allows the dough to absorb all extra liquid and develop a deeper, richer, more caramel-y flavor. That’s the difference between a merely great cookie and a truly memorable one (she said opinionatedly).
I am happier now.
BIG BUTTERSCOTCHY OATMEAL COOKIES
Start to finish: 40 minutes, not including optional refrigeration time
Makes 16 to 18 cookies
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup raisins
(Note: If cookie dough is at room temperature, start checking cookies at 11 minutes. They tend to go from almost done to definitely done very quickly. The longer baking time is for dough that’s straight from the fridge. I’m still playing around with this, but baking them from room temperature does seem the most successful in terms of texture and consistency. Having said that, the few that got a bit crispier were UN-believable crumbled over a bowl of vanilla ice cream.)
Nutrition information per serving: 253 calories; 99 calories from fat; 11 g fat (7 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 39 mg cholesterol; 188 mg sodium; 36 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 22 g sugar; 3 g protein.
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