First post! Oat n' Walnut Chip Cookies
I’m going straight to the food. No fancy introductions, no poetry.
After all, that’s why you’re reading right?
These are no ordinary chocolate chip cookies. They’re crisp on the edges yet soft and chewy in the middle. Made with two forms of butter, fragrant toasted oats, walnuts, and dark chocolate, the flavor is best described as nutty, buttery, and balanced with bittersweet notes.
The secret to perfect cookies is giving the dough a rest in the refrigerator and removing them from the oven slightly under baked. Chilling the dough allows the gluten in the flour to relax and prevents a flat cookie. Removing the cookies from the oven while they still look a little under baked prevents what I like to call hockey-puck syndrome.
Watch your cookies closely as near the end of the baking time as oven temperatures often fluctuate. The material of your baking sheet and size of your cookies will also affect the cooking time. I used aluminum baking sheets lined with parchment paper and baked one sheet at a time in the middle-lower rack of my oven. The cookies will look puffy and still gooey in the center but will finish cooking on the hot cookie sheet after being removed from the oven. Be sure to remove them from the sheet as soon as they’re cool enough to touch to preserve that elusive soft chewy center.
The cookie dough lasts for up to a week in the fridge and at least a few months in the freezer. Bake as many as you desire and save the rest of the dough for fresh-out-of-the-oven goodness anytime of the week. Who needs Insomnia Cookies?
Oat n’ Walnut Chip Cookies
Adapted from The Joy the Baker Cookbook
Makes about 2 ½ dozen cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, divided
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. fine grain sea salt
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
¾ cup dark brown sugar, packed
2 tsps. pure vanilla extract
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, room temperature
½ cup old fashioned oats, toasted*
½ cup walnuts, toasted, roughly chopped**
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
To make the cookie dough:
Place ½ cup (1 stick) of butter in a small saucepan and melt over medium heat. Continue to cook, swirling occasionally, until browned bits form at the bottom of the pan, the butter smells nutty, and turns amber colored. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside to cool to room temperature.
Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
Cream together the remaining ½ cup butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. (You can either use your stand mixer, a hand mixer, or a wooden spoon if you want to get in a workout before devouring cookies.) Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the granulated sugar and cooled browned butter. Mix until light and fluffy. Add the egg and egg yolk. Beat until smooth.
Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix with a wooden spoon or a spatula until no streaks of flour remain. Fold in the oats, walnuts, and chocolate chips. Press plastic wrap tightly, and directly on the dough. Refrigerate for at least an hour. At this point, you can store the cookie dough for up to a week in the fridge and bake them at your convenience.
When ready to bake:
Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a cookie sheet or baking pan with parchment paper.
Form the cookie dough into golf-ball sized spheres and place on the prepared baking sheet spaced at least 2-inches apart. Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, or until edges are golden but center still looks gooey and slightly under baked.
Remove from the oven and let cookies cool on the baking sheets for about 2 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.
If baking multiple batches, allow cookie sheet to cool to room temperature before adding more cookie dough. The parchment paper can definitely be reused.
Baked cookies can be stored at room temperature in an air-tight container for up to 3 days but I’d be amazed if they last that long. Share with your family, your friends, your neighbors, your co-workers, but be sure to keep a stash just for yourself. ;) Happy munching!
*Toasted old fashioned oats can be purchased from Trader Joe’s or you can make your own by baking raw oats in a single layer in a 350°F oven for 8-10 minutes or until fragrant.
**To toast walnuts, spread raw nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake at 350°F for 8-10 minutes or until fragrant. Let cool completely before chopping.
