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Thursday, November 11, 2004

the very very very best oatmeal cookies ever

i was watching America's Test Kitchen on PBS one rainy saturday a year or two ago. they were making cookies.
before i go any further, let me just say that i am a cookie whore. need your house painted? a plate of white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, i'm there. need your oil changed? a nice plate of ginger snaps, or thumbprint, or springerle, or ....

got it?

so they made these oatmeal cookies. they were about twice the size of normal cookies, and they did it for a reason...to keep the cookie from drying out too much. it works!

so here's to chris kimball and the chefs at America's Test Kitchen. the very best oatmeal cookie in the world, with the recipe lifted directly from Cooks Illustrated online. oh yeah.

BIG CHEWY OATMEAL-RAISIN COOKIES

Makes 16 to 20 large cookies

If you prefer a less sweet cookie, you can reduce the white sugar by one-quarter cup, but you will lose some crispness. Do not overbake these cookies. The edges should be brown but the rest of the cookie should still be very light in color. Parchment makes for easy cookie removal and cleanup, but it’s not a necessity. If you don’t use parchment, let the cookies cool directly on the baking sheet for two minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, softened but still firm
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups raisins (optional)

1. Adjust oven racks to low and middle positions; heat oven to 350 degrees. In bowl of electric mixer or by hand, beat butter until creamy. Add sugars; beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time. ed.note: don't skimp on the time mixing the sugar and butter together. longer is better for these cookies. and make sure each egg is incorporated completely before adding the next

2. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg together, then stir them into butter-sugar mixture with wooden spoon or large rubber spatula. Stir in oats and optional raisins.

3. Form dough into sixteen to twenty 2-inch balls, placing each dough round onto one of two parchment paper–covered, large cookie sheets. Bake until cookie edges turn golden brown, 22 to 25 minutes. (Halfway during baking, turn cookie sheets from front to back and also switch them from top to bottom.) Slide cookies on parchment onto cooling rack. Let cool at least 30 minutes before serving.


ok, don't forget the cold milk!! mmm, i think i'll go make some right now. c-ya

3 Comments:

Blogger bhd said...

Have you tried the thin & crispy chocolate chip cookies?

Criminy, it's a sport at druid labs. Very dangerous and most delicious. Thanks for this!

11/11/04, 11:27 PM  
Blogger bothenook said...

sounds killer. my wife and i embark on a 3 week baking spree during december. chocolate crinkles, fingerprint, chocolate chip, mexican wedding cookies (her favorites, but we don't do them very often), and one of my favorites springerle. those take a couple of days to make, and if done properly, are hard as dog bisquits when finished. but dunked in a cup of coffee...heaven.
the oatmeal cookies are so good that i've had bonified cookie addicts tell me they are the best cookie they have ever eaten. they are damned good. the trick is to make them BIG, and not to overbake them.

11/12/04, 1:46 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

awesome! i tried out the recipe and posted on it here: http://tomatointribeca.wordpress.com/2011/10/18/oatmeal-cookies-redux/

thanks so much for the rec!

10/18/11, 7:25 AM  

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