Chewy Oatmeal Cookies
There’s something altogether comforting and soothing about chewy oatmeal cookies. It seems to be baked right into it and held together by brown sugar, old fashioned oats, and just a touch of cinnamon.
For several years, I have been tinkering with an oatmeal cookie recipe. Some were too dry, others were too delicate to hold together. Yet I was convinced that eventually, I would create a cookie with just the sort of flavor and texture I was hoping for.
A few weeks ago, I decided to spend a day in the Farmhouse Kitchen with a simple goal: to perfect the oatmeal cookie recipe in time for the holidays. I mixed up small test batches to see if any of them would hit the mark.
The first batch was close, but not quite right. The cookies spread too much on the baking pan and while they were delicious, they wouldn’t stay together no matter how long I allowed them to cool. The second batch was much too firm. You could have mistaken it for a granola bar. Penny Lane found them to be delicious.
I tested different flours, slightly different oven temperatures, and the difference made by using two leavening agents in the batter instead of just one. I learned something from each batch, and from each failure.
As I watched the last batch of dough bake up in the oven, I was hopeful. They smelled delicious and looked just as I had hoped. They held their shape, rising enough to look like they might be soft and chewy like I was aiming for. Now I just had to find the willpower to wait until they were cool enough to sample
I knew as soon as I picked them up from the baking tray that they were exactly what I had been trying so hard to make. They were full of flavor and had the soft texture I wanted with the chewiness of the oats as a counterbalance. They were delicious.
My family stepped up to the challenge of taste testing them and all agreed that this was the best version I had made. It was an easy decision that this was the oatmeal cookie recipe that would be on our holiday cookie platter this year.
I hope that you’ll enjoy these delicious cookies as much as we did. While we prefer to add butterscotch and white chocolate chips to ours, you could certainly use your favorite baking chips or raisins if you prefer. No matter how you choose to flavor them, I hope that you’ll bake up a batch and share them with someone you love this holiday season.
Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 ½ cups All-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- 1 cup quick oats
- ½ cup butterscotch chips
- ½ cup white chocolate chips
Instructions
- Place the butter, sugars, and vanilla extract in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle or dough beaters. Mix on medium speed until the mixture is completely smooth, approximately 3-4 minutes.
- Add the eggs to the bowl and beat on low for 30 seconds, just until combined. The batter may break up a bit, but don’t worry. It will come together when the dry ingredients are worked into the mix. Scrape down the bowl and beaters if necessary to gather the batter together before continuing.
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and ground cinnamon. Use a dry whisk to mix the dry ingredients and break up any small lumps. You can sift the dry ingredients if you prefer.
- Add the dry ingredients in one addition to the mixer bowl. Mix on low speed until the dry ingredients have completely integrated into the dough. This should only take 30-60 seconds depending on the strength of your mixer. Take great care not to overmix the dough as it will encourage the dough to strengthen the gluten in the flour and become tough.
- Add the oats, butterscotch chips, and white chocolate chips to the dough and mix on low speed just until combined and well distributed.
- At this point, the batter can be baked, chilled in the refrigerator for baking in a few hours, or portioned and frozen for baking at a later date. I often make a batch of dough and keep it in the refrigerator, baking a single evening’s cookies each night. Portioned balls of dough can also be frozen on a small tray and then transferred to a freezer bag for long term storage. Frozen dough can be baked straight from the freezer by simply adding about two minutes to the baking time.
- When you are ready to bake cookies, preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and position the oven racks to the top and bottom third of your oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment or a Silpat style reusable baking liner.
- Create balls of dough by using two Tablespoons of the chilled dough and rolling into a ball. Flatten the ball slightly to help encourage even baking and place six balls on each baking sheet, spacing evenly to prevent the cookies from merging as they bake.
- Bake for 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through the baking time to help to ensure that the cookies are evenly baked. The cookies should bake up to an even thickness and dry ever so slightly on top. They may appear to be under baked, but they will firm up upon cooling to room temperature.
- Remove the cookies from the oven, allowing them to cool for 5-10 minutes to set up. As with any cookie, these are even more delicious when eaten while still warm with a cup of coffee or cold glass of milk.
Notes
