Do you happen to have a sweet tooth? Do you catch yourself daydreaming about oatmeal cookies, the ones that grandma used to make? With their soft and chewy centers, filled with flavor, oatmeal cookies are a delicious and nutritious dessert which is surprisingly easy to bake to perfection. Follow my oatmeal cookies recipe in order to make oatmeal cookies that will be the pinnacle of dessert cuisine.
Prefabricated oatmeal cookies - a sad excuse for the real deal
Store-bought oatmeal cookies are often filled with preservatives, artificial food coloring, and similar nasty chemicals which do not belong in food. They are usually overloaded with sugar or high fructose corn syrup to hide the awful taste of their low-quality ingredients. Next time, instead of buying the parody of oatmeal cookies available at your grocery store, get the raw ingredients and bake them yourself. These are surprisingly easy oatmeal cookies, I promise!
Oatmeal cookie recipe - rich in flavor and texture
At first, I used several classic cookie recipes but was always left unsatisfied. This led me to a journey of discovery and experimentation, spending years developing and improving the following oatmeal cookie recipe in order to achieve absolute perfection. You will certainly enjoy the contrast between their soft centers and delightfully crisp edges. These chewy cookies have the most amazingly rich buttery flavor. The brown sugar used in this recipe infuses these chewy oatmeal cookies with a tempting aroma reminiscent of butterscotch. Not to mention the dash of nutmeg and cinnamon which gives them a slightly spicy finish. You can further modify the recipe to your liking and end up with oatmeal chocolate chip cookies or oatmeal raisin cookies.
Ingredients
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1 cup of unsalted butter (room temperature)
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3 cups of rolled oats
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1 cup of dark brown sugar (light brown sugar will do in a pinch)
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⅓ cup of granulated sugar
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2 large eggs
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1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract
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1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
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¾ teaspoon of salt
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1 teaspoon of baking soda
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1 teaspoon of baking powder
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1 teaspoon of cinnamon (ground)
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¼ teaspoon of nutmeg (grated)
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¼ teaspoon of cardamom (ground)
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¼ teaspoon of cinnamon (ground)
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Optional: ½ cup of chocolate or white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips; dried fruits: dried cranberries, dried cherries, chopped dried apricots, golden raisins; chopped nuts, chopped walnuts; peanut butter; dark chocolate
Preparation
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Heat your oven to 350 (180) degrees. Butter up two baking sheets. You can also use silicone liners or parchment paper.
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Using an electric mixer, beat the room temperature unsalted butter in a large bowl until it turns smooth and creamy. Add both types of sugar, then continue beating for approximately 2-3 minutes until the mixture becomes fluffy. Continue mixing while adding eggs one at a time until completely incorporated. Then put in the vanilla extract.
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Mix the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices (nutmeg, cardamom, cinnamon) in a separate medium bowl using a spatula or a spoon.
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Set your electric mixer to a low setting and combine the flour mixture with the butter mixture in order to make a cookie dough that is uniform throughout.
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Stir in the oats and any additional ingredients (chocolate chips, nuts, raisins, etc.).
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Using a large spoon, place the dough onto the prepared baking sheet in lumps. Remember to leave plenty of space (2-3 inches) between each cookie.
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Place the sheets in the oven, bake them for 10-15 minutes. The cookies are ready when their edges turn golden brown.
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Let the cookies cool completely on a wire rack
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Store the baked cookies at room temperature in an airtight container.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use a hand mixer?
If you don't have an electric stand mixer, you can use your hand mixer or blender instead. However, you want to make sure to gently fold the rolled oats into the dough before mixing it as the heavy batter might cause your device to overheat.
What type of oats should I use?
Make sure to use old fashioned oats (also called rolled oats), quick oats absorb moisture differently and will mess up your oatmeal cookies by making them dry. Rolled oats provide a chewy texture with a nutty flavor, you can't go wrong with them.
What if I use too much flour?
If you add too much flour to your cookie mixture, you will end up with cookie dough that is hard, dry, and unworkable. Luckily, you can just add a bit of water to achieve the correct consistency.
Can I use coconut oil instead of butter?
It's certainly possible, but I do not recommend replacing unsalted butter with coconut oil. It can add a wildly different flavor and texture. If you're keen on using coconut oil, substitute the unsalted butter at a 1:1 ratio.
Can I use salted butter?
Using salted butter in your oatmeal cookies can lead to your cookies having a too salty flavor. I recommend you do not use salted butter, instead add the correct amount of fine sea salt to the dough. Flaky salt is slightly harder to incorporate and you may end up with lumps of salt inside your oatmeal cookies. Make sure to use room temperature butter to make the mixing process easier.
Should I use whole eggs or just the egg yolk?
I've found that using whole eggs is the way to go when making oatmeal cookies. However, you may want to add an extra egg yolk. You will end up with more soft and chewy oatmeal cookies. One yolk is usually enough, any more and the oatmeal cookies will have a soggy texture.
What are the best chocolate chips to use?
You may be tempted to add milk chocolate chips to your oatmeal cookies, but it may lead to your cookies being too sweet. If you want to make chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, I recommend semi sweet chocolate chips in order to not overpower the flavor.
How to cool oatmeal cookies?
Although the smell makes it hard to resist them, make sure to let your cookies rest after baking. The best way to do that is to rack to cool completely. Do not leave them out for too long or they will dry up and harden. We are looking for a chewy cookie after all.
How to store oatmeal cookies?
In order to keep your oatmeal cookies soft and chewy, make sure to keep them in an airtight container at room temperature. You may consider adding a slice of unsalted butter to the container. Don't place it on top of your oatmeal cookies or they will turn soggy and fall apart.
For more classic cookie recipes, make sure to check out our site!
