Chewy Oatmeal Cookies for Ayelet Waldman
When I was a kid I thought oatmeal cookies were the last choice. Mostly because they were the first choice of well-meaning parents who thought oatmeal cookies were the healthy choice cookie. (Luckily for me, my parents believed cookies brought joy and if something brought you joy, ipso facto, it was good for you.)
Like I said. I was lucky.
I wised up too and have since embraced oatmeal cookies with open mouth. I make peanut butter oatmeal cookies, a cowboy cookie that is chocka with coconut and M and Ms and have fallen head-over-heels for oat flour, which adds tenderness and a hint of nutty sweetness to cookie doughs. My chocolate chip oat- and almond-flour cookies prove that gluten-free can be delicious.
On my latest Secret Life of Cookies podcast, New York Times bestselling author Ayelet Waldman and I bake chewy oatmeal cookies at her request. After many years of tweaking oatmeal cookie recipes to find one that stayed chewy days after baking, I have succeeded. Substituting honey for white sugar was key. And cookie it low and slow at 325 degrees F.
I also can’t leave well enough alone and add orange zest, dried cranberries and chocolate chips, plus cinnamon and nutmeg. Ayelet didn’t have nutmeg, dislikes cinnamon, doesn’t groove with chocolate chips or dried fruit, so she doubled the vanilla and packed hers with chopped pecans. Both versions were delightful.
You do you. Add and subtract to bring yourself your own cookie joy.
Chewy Oatmeal Cookies for Ayelet Waldman
Makes approx 4 dozen.
What You’ll Need:
8 ounces (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 to 2 tablespoons orange zest (acc to your taste)
1/2 cup honey
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (you may sub all-purpose white flour if you wish!)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries
What You’ll Do:
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and cinnamon.
With a stand or hand mixer (or wooden spoon and strong forearm), cream the butter, sugar and orange zest together until light, about 2 minutes.
Add the honey and mix until blended. (Remember to scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition.)
Add the eggs and vanilla and blend until the mixture looks uniform and no longer is sloshy.
Add the flour in two additions, mixing until just blended. Add in the oats, chocolate chips, dried cranberries and anything else you have in mind and mix.
Refrigerate the mixture for two hours or longer. Overnight is best. If you bake one immediately after making the dough, you’ll find the oats are still sort of crunchy and intrusive.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Roll the dough into 1-inch balls for one-bite cookies, 2 1/2-inch balls for big cookies. Bake 14 to 18 minutes, until just light golden.
Let cool on pan and transfer to cooling rack. Store in a tightly lidded container. You can roll these into balls and store in the fridge or freezer until you want to bake them. Bake them straight from the freezer.
