I’ve shared before that I’m not much of a baker. I like the immediacy of the cast iron skillet and the smell of frying garlic and onions, the excitement of modifying recipes as you go, and the mincing and dicing of fresh ingredients. Kneading dough and mixing flour and sugar . . . hasn’t been my thing. So it’s been up to my husband to supply the cookie needs of our little household. They used to just be his own cookie needs, but slowly he’s gotten me a little addicted. Cookies are pretty great for breakfast–they go so well with coffee!
Lately when we agree that it’s time for some baking to happen, I’ve been putting my oar in. I prod and plead and whine and beg my husband to let me try a new recipe. Pleeeeease? I just came across this recipe on Tasty Kitchen, see, and I think it could really be awesome . . .
See, my baby likes the old favorites. He’s faithful, loyal, and true–to his friends, but also to his cookies. Here he is feeling skeptical about this uncharted baking territory.
He’s like Just call me Mr. Skeptical.
I’m like Hey Mr. Skeptical. I really like you. But we can’t cling to the old ways! What about the sweet smell of culinary progress??
By the way, you’re hot.
My addiction to the smell of progress is the reason that sometimes dinner ends up in the trash . . . yep. I like living on the edge.
So back to cookies: this recipe is great. I’m not going to go around shouting through a bullhorn that it’s the best cookie recipe in the world. It might be, it might not be–I just don’t have that much experience with cookies. All I can say is that I have trouble when it’s time to stop eating them. That I had them religiously for breakfast until the cookie jar was empty. They are hearty and chewy, which is exactly what I want at 9am in the morning. My husband (so faithful to his regular recipe) says the jury is still out for him, because the quick oats give them a kind of grainy texture. But I love them that way! So I’ll share with you. And if any of you have to-die-for cookie recipes that this here cookie novice needs to try, please send me a link or give me instructions in the comments! I have so much to learn.
To flex the muscles of this new baking impulse, there will be more recipes for sweet treats coming up Monday and Tuesday. I hope you don’t mind. We’ll break things up with a delicious savory recipe soon enough, don’t worry.
Ingredients
2 sticks butter, softened
1 c brown sugar, packed firmly
1/2 c sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 ½ c flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
3 c quick oats
1 c chocolate or butterscotch chips
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Then, enlist some man-hands to unwrap the softened butter so that your camera doesn’t get greasy.
Thanks, man-hands.
Put the butter in a mixer bowl, and add in the white sugar . . .
. . . and the firmly packed brown sugar.
Beat together the butter and sugars until they’re creamy. Sorry for the butt-ugly picture.
Add the eggs–looks like I had just enough!
Add the vanilla, too–I was plumb out of extract, but had this cool vanilla paste thingy that I got from a trade show last year. It’s thick like a syrup, and smells like paradise.
Hello, batter! I hope you’re not teeming with salmonella, because my finger is about to make the journey from bowl to mouth.
Now beat that good stuff until it’s nice and mixed.
Now if you’re a good boy or girl, you will mix together your dry ingredients in a separate bowl, and then add them to the wet batter all at once.
That avoids clumps of salt or baking soda and the like. However, I couldn’t be bothered with getting another bowl dirty, so I dumped it all in and then did a little mixy-mixy-mixeroo among the dry ingredients with a spoon before turning the mixer back on.
Here goes the flour:
Followed by the salt . . .
. . . and the baking soda.
I skipped the cinnamon–I didn’t feel like it for some reason. But you’re welcome to add it!
Mix it for a couple minutes. It will come together pretty quickly.
Time for the quick oats!
Mix them in, too.
It will get very, very thick at this point, and start sticking to the stirry thingamadging on your mixer.
Pause briefly for a taste, if that’s your thang . . .
. . . and pour in the chocolate chips.
Oh yes.
At this point the dough was so thick that I abandoned the mixer and grabbed a trusty old wooden spoon to finish the job. Much cookie dough was eaten along the way.
Shape the dough into rounds and place them on an ungreased cookie sheet. You can make smaller cookies (heaping tablespoonfuls of batter) and bake 10-12 minutes:
Or you can go with larger ice-cream scoop sized cookies and bake them for about 15 minutes.
We chose both options. Note: these cookies will not flatten out very much during baking, so I like to press the balls of dough flat with the palm of my hand before baking, to get a wider cookie as opposed to a taller one.
Let them rest for 1 minute when they come out of the oven before moving them to a wire rack to cool.
As a non-baker, I was surprised at how mushy and gooey they were right out of the oven, and I wondered if they were really done or if they needed more time in the oven. So if you are inexperienced as I am, don’t be alarmed! They will solidify as they cool.
The bottoms: perfect.
If only my bottom were that perfect.
But that’s not what we’re talking about here!
We’re talking about these cookies. And how great they are, tops, bottoms, and middles.
Have a great weekend, and see you Monday for another sugar-laden experience.
Click here for printer-friendly version: Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Jenna, there is no such thing as the wrong cookie. Ever.
Haha, great point! You are so right.
It’s so beautifully arranged on the plate – you know someone’s fingers have been all over it. ~Julia Child
Oh man those look delish. I was looking for a good recipe to. Thanks!
I definitely could use a few of those. Yum.
ps: your man is hawt. 🙂
Thanks. Don’t I know it! =)
Mmmm..those cookies look great! There is nothing like a big oatmeal cookie! Yum! 🙂
The picture of the chocolate chips perfectly falling into place is wonderful!!! If only they knew their demise was at hand, maybe they wouldn’t look so cheerful and delicious.
Demise!?!? More like their ultimate triumph. They are fulfilling their true nature and becoming what the creator intended all along . . . =)
beautiful! you always say you’re not a baker…but what does this prove? 🙂 hehe
You’re right . . . though it pains me to admit it, I think I have to let go of my “I’m not a baker” line and move on to “I’m a novice baker.” After the cookies I’ve been involved in making for the past few weeks, I am at least initiated.
Jenna this is a beautiful blog! Thanks for stopping by today and for the sweet comment. My husband’s favorite cookies are oatmeal, so I’m going to try your recipe. Those are beautiful photographs of the process!
Thanks Jennifer! My color balance was a little whacky in these pics (very blue . . .), but I do love posting step by steps to illustrate the whole process. I hope you enjoy the cookies–they truly are delicious! Let me know how they turn out, and have a fabulous weekend. =)
Ms. Jenna- do you happen to have a good sangria recipe? 🙂
Believe it or not, I don’t. I love drinking the stuff, but I haven’t made it. If you find something good, please do share!
I love oatmeal cookies! They are probably my second favorite cookie with chocolate chip coming in first. I am going to have to try these. Thanks for stopping by my blog. I love finding other bloggers through the comments.
Lovin’ these :-).
Jenna! These look (and sound!) delicious! Can’t wait to try them!
Also, I thought you might want to know that I’ve given you an award on my blog. 🙂
Click here to check it out: http://fathomlessmystery.wordpress.com/2011/03/05/id-like-to-thank-the-academy/
xo,
melisssa
Holy smokes, these look so good. I want to bake a batch NOW!!! Have a great weekend Jenna!!!
Those are PERFECT!!! 😉
xoxo
Kathleen
Mmm, those do look really chewy and chock full of yummy chocolate too. I have a sweet treat linky party going on at my blog and I’d like to invite you to stop by and link your cookies up. http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com/2011/03/sweets-for-saturday-7.html
Thanks Lisa! I just linked up at your blog–lots of delicious treats going on there, whoa!
Oh it looks chewy alright! Love that half-bitten cookie picture 🙂 Got a tiny bit distracted by your oh-so-cool KitchenAid mixer! 😀
I love baking but cookies and I actually really truly don’t get along. Not sure why. I’ve had SOME hits but I’ve also had some SERIOUS misses. I do like the smell of culinary progress though. So I think I’m going to HAVE to try these! They sound delicious!
What a great shot you got of the chocolate chips falling the bowl! I had to just sit and stare at it for a minute or two. :)~ These cookies look perfect for breakfast, lunch AND dinner! Yum!
Nice photos! These cookies look DELICIOUS. I’m going to have to try my hand at the recipe next weekend 🙂
You’re a closet baker- love it! I made your bacon Brussels Sprouts tonight and they were a major hit!! I will blog about them soon, I’m just back logged with recipes to blog about… tough problem to have, eh?? 🙂
Saw these on Sweets for a Saturday – these look awesome! It’s National Oatmeal Cookie Day later this month so I may have to try these just for that :).
Awesome! Well I hope you enjoy them. I had no idea there even was a national oatmeal cookie day! I’ll have to make them again for that glorious occasion. =)
HOW DID I MISS THIS POST? ARG! These are some gorgeous cookies, Jenna!! I’m drooling over here. You keep saying you’re not a baker but you’re going to have to stop b/c you’ve got way too much yummy sweetness coming out of your oven to say that. Cookies are my favorite food group, which is why I rarely make them. I always end up eating too many. Since you’re a cookie novice, I’ll direct you to my a really easy and delicious recipe: http://reciperhapsody.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/easy-lemon-cookies/