Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

There's something to be said about oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Actually I have a few somethings to say.

1 cup of chocolate chips = 1 mug
of chocolate chips...

First of all - why yes you could make oatmeal raisin cookies - but then they wouldn't have any chocolate in them! I've heard the bold statement before that anything that can be made with raisins would taste better with chocolate chips instead... and although I'm not about to test this theory on everything, with oatmeal cookies, I may have to agree...

Secondly, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies have more texture than regular chocolate chip cookies. I'm not trying to knock on chocolate chip cookies - but there's just something a little bit extra special about oatmeal in a cookie.

Another advantage to baking oatmeal cookies that I discovered while growing up: my dad really likes to make oatmeal, or porridge, for breakfast every morning in the winter. And growing up, I wasn't the biggest fan of porridge... so by using oats in cookies, I was really trying to use up all the oats so there wouldn't be any left for breakfast... well that never really worked out for me since we just bought more... But on the plus side, I do like porridge now - and I've become a bit of an expert on oatmeal cookies over the years too!

Finally - I don't know if it's just me, but whenever I bake oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, everyone seems to tell me that this is their favourite type of cookie. This recipe comes from my friend Kaili (who also provided me with the recipe for Mac and Cheese - I love when friends share their recipes with me!) It is a classic oatmeal chocolate chip cookie - just the right amount of chewiness, oats, and of course, chocolate chips!

The Recipe:

1 cup of butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line cookie trays with parchment paper.
2. In large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir flour mixture into creamed mixture until just blended.
4. Stir in the oats and chocolate chips.
5. Drop by heaping spoonful onto baking sheets.

The "Action" Shot

6. Bake for 12 minutes. Allow cookies to cool 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes 3 1/2 to 4 dozen cookies (depending on size).


The question that may be crossing your minds now, dear readers, is what is the difference between these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and Oh-So-Good cookies? Yes, oh-so-good cookies have Skor bits, which is undeniably delicious - but they have a much lower ratio of oats and therefore can't quite be called an oatmeal cookie. No questions about whether this recipe is in fact to make some very tasty oatmeal cookies.

One problem I've had time and time again with oatmeal cookies is that they will go flat. They may come out of the oven risen nicely - and within a few minutes of cooling, they've suddenly flattened to the tray. So how to avoid flat oatmeal cookies? Don't over-mix your dough once the eggs have been added in. As you'll see, some of our cookies turned out a bit flat - but I blame that on the mix master... and hey, at least flat cookies stack nicely!

These cookies are easy to make and such a classic... so what are you waiting for?

Happy Baking!

Caroline