These oatmeal cookies are truly versatile besides being soft and chewy. If you’re looking for a crisp oatmeal cookie, this isn’t the recipe for you.
Why do I call them versatile? Well, this was once my basic oatmeal cookie recipe, sometimes with raisins…sometimes not. One day I went to make them and I was down to a snack box of raisins in the pantry. Damn…I really didn’t want just plain cookies! Oh wait…here’s half a bag of chocolate chips! Mixed together they came to 1½ cups! I can truly say this was my best batch of oatmeal cookies ever.
After that, I started adding different things to the cookie dough like assorted nuts (macadamias were really good!), different dried fruits (cut into raisin size), and besides chocolate chips, different chip flavors. So far I’ve tried white chocolate and butterscotch…at a friend’s urging. You can also combine add-ins as long the mix comes to 1½ cups. I think next time I’ll try a combination of chocolate and peanut butter chips…I bet you can guess my favorite candy now. I hope you try these cookies. Your friends will think they came from a bakery. Enjoy.
VERSATILE OATMEAL COOKIES
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup UNSALTED BUTTER, softened- 1 cup LIGHT BROWN SUGAR, firmly packed
- ½ cup GRANULATED SUGAR
- 2 LARGE EGGS, at room temperature
- 1½ teaspoon VANILLA EXTRACT
- 1¾ cup ALL PURPOSE FLOUR
- 2 teaspoons CORNSTARCH
- 1 teaspoon BAKING SODA
- ¾ teaspoon TABLE SALT
- 1 teaspoon GROUND CINNAMON
- 3 cups OLD-FASHIONED ROLLED OATS
- 1½ cups ADD-INS such as raisins, nuts, chocolate chips, etc. (optional)
DIRECTIONS:
Beat the softened BUTTER either with a stand mixer or hand mixer) for about 30 seconds.- Add both SUGARS and beat until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add EGGS, one at a time, beating until combined.
- Stir in the VANILLA EXTRACT.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the FLOUR, CORNSTARCH, BAKING SODA, SALT and CINNAMON.
- Gradually add the FLOUR MIXTURE to the BUTTER MIXTURE until completely combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Gradually stir in the OATS until completely combined. If using any ADD-INS, stir them in.
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 days.
- Take the dough out of the refrigerator and leave on the counter for about a half hour to let the dough become easier to work with. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 375° with your rack in the center. Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Roll 2 tablespoon measures into balls and place at least 2” apart on your cookie sheets. (I have a 2 tablespoon scoop for this. If you don’t, just measure out 2 tablespoons, make your first ball, and eyeball the rest to make them about the same size)- Back, one sheet at a time, in your preheated 375° oven for 12-14 minutes, depending on your oven. The edges should be slightly browned. The centers will seem slightly underbaked, but the next step takes care of that.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely on the baking sheets. The residual heat of the baking sheets will fully bake the centers of the cookies, while not making the edges and darker.
