Oatmeal Cookies x3

In the little pockets of spare time I have or when I need a stress release at work, I browse recipes, and bookmark the ones I want to check out later. I was craving the (vegan) Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies from Laughing Planet when it occurred to me I had multiple cookie recipes involving oatmeal I wanted to check out.

I made 3 cookie doughs and shaped all into balls. I made a pan of each and now I have a lovely back stock of ready to bake cookies!

In no particular order are the three... and I'll leave you to your click through devices to obtain recipes to all but one.

#1 Hillary Clinton's Chocolate Chip Cookies: I read a couple articles reviewing various past and present presidential candidates' recipes. The McClain/Bush recipes were copied off commercial websites, but Hillary Clinton's hasn't been called out yet, so I thought I'd try it out. I am not taking sides here and I do not want to talk about politics.


#2 Double Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies: I didn't have pinhead oats, but I checked on foodsubs.com and used old fashioned rolled instead. Elsewhere I found a reference that these are traditional English cookies, which makes sense 'cause they remind me of chocolate shortbread.

#3 Chewy Oatmeal Coconut Cookies: My mum tells me this was my favorite when I was a little girl. It's a solid recipe when you're low on eggs, just make sure you don't overcook them. Recipe follows...

1 cup butter
1 cub brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup coconut

Cream butter, add sugars & egg. Add remaining ingredients. Roll into balls and flatten slightly.

Bake on greased cookie sheets (for no grease use parchment) at 350 til edges are slightly browned.

Good luck in all of your cookie adventures!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

In my quest for a reportore of solid recipes I can turn to when I want to make any requisite item, I stumbled across NY Times' version. And in anticipation of a camping/climbing trip this weekend, I opted to make them, and for once did not substitute anything. I let them refrigerate for about 30 hours. All in all they were pretty decent. The size of them enables you to get the spectrum of cookie crispness, which is probably the first thing we noticed. According to D, the extended refrigeration time lent itself to a "slight to moderate improvement in overall quality of taste and texture." So there you have it.

Chocolate Chip Cookies Adapted from Jacques Torres
2 cups minus 2 tablespoons(8 1/2 ounces) cake flour
1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)
Sea salt.

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

3. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

4. Scoop 6 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie.

Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes.

Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Yield: 1 1/2 dozen 5-inch cookies.



Note: Disks are sold at Jacques Torres Chocolate; Valrhona fèves, oval-shaped chocolate pieces, are at Whole Foods.