Spiced Oatmeal Berry
Walnut Cookies
Ah, oatmeal cookies, delicious nuggets of relatively
less-guilt-inducing numminess compared to other cookies. Are they dessert? Are they breakfast? Does it truly matter?
Some people say that you should put raisins in your oatmeal
cookies. Others say you should add
walnuts or pecans. Still other people
prefer chocolate chips, and those people are right. But they don’t have to be completely right;
why not add in all of those much-argued over ingredients? And why not change out those raisins to their
healthier cousins the dried cranberry and blueberry? I like walnuts better than pecans for their
earthier, oiler taste. Sorry
pecans. I’ll save you for my maple ice
cream and streusel muffins.
Obviously our cookie dough can only support so much oatmeal
and extra goodies to be studded throughout, so we must use a little common
sense when doling out these ingredients.
Originally I used the recipe for “Classic Oatmeal Cookies”
in my ancient copy of the Joy of Cooking. And by ancient I mean the 1975 version that
still has a specific recipe on how to cook muskrat (only the legs are worth
eating and only when you brown them in bacon fat, apparently – though I’m
pretty sure bacon fat will make just about anything edible).
And this recipe does yield tasty cookies. But I like cinnamon, and lots of vanilla
extract. I’m a vanilla girl in general –
I even wear it in my perfume. So I added
more cinnamon and vanilla at first. Then
I added ginger to the spices, for some warmth.
Then I discovered the sweetly sticky, gooey bitterness of molasses. And it was good. I would dip the resulting cookies in milk and
nom them down for breakfast with some yogurt and fruit. And it was very good.
Then I used chocolate chips instead of raisins. I have nothing against raisins. I like them in my trail mix. I like them in my bread pudding. I like to snack on them, but the combination
of spices and chocolate, the crunch of the oats paired with the silky bite of
the solidified chocolate… To. Damn.
Good.
But soon I wanted to have my chocolate, and berries, and
nuts, and eat them too!
Over the course of time this is the final recipe I ended up
with.
This recipe will make 3.5 dozen cookies. These cookies can be chewy or crunchy depending
on how long you bake them. They are
homey and comforting, with a nubby texture.
This was the first time I used this recipe, so I ended up
taking 2 hours to make the whole shebang, but if you’re not a perfectionist
like me, you can definitely get away with shaving at least half an hour off
your cooking time.
These are the ingredients you’ll need:
1
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¾ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground clove
¼ tsp ground ginger
1 ½ cups brown sugar
¼ cup white sugar
½
lb (2 sticks) unsalted margarine, softened
2 large eggs
1 tbl vanilla extract
1 tbl molasses
2/3
cups semisweet chocolate chips
¼ cup dried blueberries
¼ cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
3 ½ cup rolled oats
Got everything ready?
Let’s begin.
1.
Arrange
racks in oven to evenly hold two cookie trays.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2.
In a
large bowl, mix these dry ingredients together.
I like to use a whisk.
1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¾ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground clove
¼ tsp ground ginger
3.
In a mixing bowl, combine the brown and white
sugar.
1 ½ cups brown sugar
¼ cup white sugar
4.
Mix the margarine into the sugar until
incorporated and the mixture clumps together.
Add the eggs, the vanilla, and the molasses. Mix.
½
lb (2 sticks) unsalted margarine, softened
2 large eggs
1 tbl vanilla extract
1 tbl molasses
5.
Add the flour mix, stir to combine until it
makes a wet dough.
6.
In the separate bowl formerly used to hold the
flour mix, combine the dried berries, chocolate chips and chopped walnuts.
2/3 cups semisweet chocolate chips
¼ cup dried blueberries
¼ cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
7.
With the mixer on, add in the oatmeal, then the berry/chocolate/nut
mix. Mix into the dough until thoroughly
combined. At this point my mixer will be
starting to protest, rumbling on my counter.
3 ½ cup rolled
oats
8.
Line two
cookie sheets with parchment paper. The
great thing about using parchment paper is that it doesn’t add any extra
grease, is much cleaner than butter or oil spray, and when you’re done with it,
you can just roll it up and throw it away, leaving the actual metal pan itself
clean enough to put back in the cupboard once cool. The cookies never stick either, which is the
whole point of the thing.
9.
Using a spoon or cookie/melon baller, scoop full
rounds of dough onto the cookie sheet. I
typically get about 13 blobs onto each tray – mine are 14” by 15”.
10.
Using a
clean hand, use your closed fingers to press the tops of the dough balls flat,
about 2” across, and 1/2” thick. This
will ensure a thinner, flatter cookie that will cook evenly all the way
through.
11.
Bake in the oven for 12 minutes, switching the
bottom tray with the top halfway through.
The tray closest to the top of the oven will develop a texture that is
almost lace-like in appearance, which I find most attractive in oatmeal
cookies.
12.
Let the trays cool for about 5 minutes or until the
cookies are stiff enough that they don’t bend in two when you lift up the edge
of the parchment paper. You can then
peel them off by hand or using a flat spatula.
Store the cookies in an airtight container/s. They should keep for a week, but they won’t
last nearly that long! My prophecies have never failed to come true.
You will end up eating these for breakfast.
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