oatmeal – TasteFood

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

March 1, 2014December 29, 2020by Lynda Balslev14 Comments

This recipe is the closest I have come to my idea of a perfect oatmeal raisin cookie. It’s packed with oats and raisins with just a little flour to bind it all together, along with a blast of wheat germ for nutty crunch. The result is a crisp and chewy cookie that’s wholesome and rich at once. There is no white sugar in this recipe – only brown sugar which creates a deep caramel sweetness which dissolves in the mouth with every bite.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Refrigerating the cookies before baking will ensure a thicker, chewier cookie. Makes about 30 (2-inch) cookies.

1 3/4 cups light brown sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 1/2 cups raisins

Whisk the sugar, butter, egg and vanilla together in a large bowl until smooth. Mix the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt together in a small bowl. Stir the flour into the butter and sugar and thoroughly combine. Stir in the oats and wheat germ. Add the raisins. Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Drop rounded tablespoons of the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment, leaving 2 inches between each cookie. Bake until the cookies are set in the middle and golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a rack.

Baking, Cookies, Desserts

Home Baking: White Chocolate and Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

April 24, 2012August 16, 2014by Lynda Balslev13 Comments

~ White Chocolate and Coconut Oatmeal Cookies ~

Wherever we move, there is a kitchen ritual to settling in. A new home is exciting and unsettling. There are new smells, a different light and the need to relearn a dance in our daily routine. Things are lost, then found and lost again. We hurry to get our groove, a new groove, which will eventually transform into normal, while the urge is never stronger to wrap ourselves in the comfort of the familiar. So one of the first things I do is bake cookies. As the cookies bake, their fragrance wafts through the house marking its territory and reminding us of our family life. The smell coaxes us from our various rooms, technologies and activities, and we sit together, again, at our kitchen table, sharing a plate of home baked cookies with milk and tea.

White Chocolate and Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen; Deb at Smitten Kitchen has a way with sea salt, and this recipe immediately caught my attention. I’ve adapted it slightly and added a shower of coconut to the dough.

Makes approximately 30 2-inch cookies

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, plus extra for sprinkling
6 ounces high quality white chocolate, chopped, about 1 cup
Sea salt flakes, such as Maldon or Fleur de Sel, for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 F. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a bowl; set aside. Beat butter and sugars together in a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy, 3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and mix well. Add flour and mix to thoroughly combine. Add oats, coconut and chocolate and mix to blend. Shape in 1 1/2 inch balls and place on baking sheet lined with parchment. Flatten slightly. Sprinkle with a pinch of coconut and a few grains of sea salt, gently pressing into the dough. Bake in oven until light golden, about 14 minutes.

Cookies, Desserts

Easy Weekend Baking: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

April 18, 2011August 10, 2014by Lynda Balslev19 Comments

I am very picky about my oatmeal raisin cookies. I like them crunchy, I like them chewy, and I like them rich, with a dissolving sweetness in the mouth. I want it all.
This recipe is the closest I have come to the perfect cookie. It’s packed with oats and raisins with just a little flour to bind it all together, along with a blast of wheat germ for nutty crunch. There is no white sugar in this recipe – only brown sugar, which gives the rich, deep sweetness I crave. Let me know what you think.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Refrigerating the cookies before baking will ensure a thicker, chewier cookie. Makes about 30 – 2 inch cookies.

1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 3/4 cups light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 1/2 cups raisins

Whisk butter, sugar, egg and vanilla together in a large bowl until smooth. Mix flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt together in a small bowl. Stir the flour into the butter and sugar and thoroughly combine. Stir in the oats and wheat germ; then add the raisins. Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 F. (190 C.) Drop rounded tablespoons of the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment, leaving 2 inches between each cookie. Bake until cookies are set in the middle and golden brown, 12 – 14 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a rack.

Cookies, Desserts

Bake Sale #4: Cranberry Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

February 9, 2010August 1, 2014by Lynda Balslev1 Comment

It’s time for bake sale #4, or is it #5? If you have school-age children, you know what I am talking about. Every year a rite of school-year passage involves a bake sale, or two, or ten. I find myself baking throughout the school year to raise money for field trips, dances, class parties and charities. Over the years I have learned a few lessons. For instance, 5 year-olds are not as fond of rich dark chocolate as adults. Or that the term “healthy” really isn’t appropriate or welcome at a bake sale, despite maternal instict. Or that there is an alarming number of peanut allergies in the U.S. (interestingly, far more so than in Europe), with these allergies resulting in schoolwide nut-free policies as locked down as a demilitarized zone. And, finally, if not most importantly: Size does matter. So, after my earlier laughable attempts at flourless-triple-dark-chocolate-truffles, carrot cakes packed with dried fruit, grains, flax and wheat bran, or (even worse) anything containing peanut-butter, I am now a seasoned, if not broken, bake sale contributor.

My latest contribution is a batch of these cookies. Catering to the discerning audience of my children’s primary and middle school, I took a basic chcolate chip cookie and ramped it up a bit, adding white chocolate chips and dried cranberries. After all, as the bake sale motto goes, less is not more – and if you inadvertently dump an entire container of psychedelic candy sprinkles over your creation, all the better.

Cranberry Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
Makes 16 if size matters

1/2 lb. (225 g.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (170 g.) granulated sugar
3/4 cup (150 g.) dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/4 cup (140 g.) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (60 g.) oats
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (6 oz./180 g.) dark chocolate chips
1 cup (6 oz./180 g.) white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F. (180 C.)
Cream butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl until pale in color, light and fluffy, 3 minutes. Add egg; mix well. Stir in vanilla and cinnamon. Sift flour, salt and baking soda together in a mixing bowl. Add to batter and stir to combine well. Mix in oats. Stir in chocolate chips and dried cranberries. Drop spoonfuls of dough on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake in oven until golden brown, 12-15 minutes. Remove and cool on rack.