Actually good coffee oatmeal cookies

While I love oatmeal more than most and eat it almost daily, I have never loved oatmeal cookies. They are often too sweet, incredibly chewy, and kind of dense or cardboard-tasting. When raisins are included, they are even sweeter and chewier. Rarely am I disappointed by the idea of a cookie, but I must admit that when I hear that a cookie is an oatmeal cookie, it immediately quashes my excitement. So this September, I have embarked on a journey to turn my beloved oatmeal into a cookie that is excitement-worthy.

This coffee oatmeal cookie recipe amps up the oat flavor without overdoing the chewy texture through a mix of whole rolled oats and oats that are ground into a flour. Browned butter and instant coffee are added to the dough to create a warm caramel/butterscotch undertone and balance out the sweetness. Even with these adjustments, I found that the cookie felt too texturally similar with each bite and a tad too sweet. To remedy that, chopped toasted walnuts are mixed into the dough, providing a nice crunch to balance the chew, adding more toasty warmth to the cookie, and a subtle savory flavor that breaks up the rich sweetness of the cookie.

The end result is a cookie that is relatively thin but still has some substance and chew, and immediately conjures up feelings of warmth and comfort through those caramel and coffee notes. If you’d like to chop up some bittersweet chocolate to add in too, I can’t imagine that would hurt.

Actually good oatmeal cookies

Recipe by MoniqueCourse: Cookies and barsDifficulty: Quick bake

Yields

24

cookies

Prep time

25

minutes

Bake time

12

minutes

If oatmeal cookies have disappointed you in the past, look no further! These cookies exude warmth and comfort with butterscotchy notes from the browned butter and instant coffee. They have a nice chew, but maintain a crisp exterior and a satisfying textural crunch from the toasted walnuts.

Ingredients

• 12 tbsp unsalted butter

• 1 1/2 tbsp ice water

• 1 3/4 cup (156g) old fashioned rolled oats, divided

• 1 1/4 cup (157g) all-purpose flour

• 1 1/2 tsp diamond crystal kosher salt (3/4 tsp table salt)

• 3/4 tsp baking soda

• 1 Tbsp instant coffee

• 1/2 cup (106g) packed brown sugar

• 2/3 cup (133g) granulated sugar

• 1 large egg, cold

• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped and toasted

Instructions

• Brown the butter in a small skillet or saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter has melted, stir occasionally, until the mixture smells nutty and is a deep golden color. Immediately remove from the heat and pour into a small bowl to cool. Stir in the 1 1/2 tbsp of ice water and set aside.
• In a food processor, combine the flour, 1 cup of the oats, salt, baking soda, and coffee powder. Pulse and then grind in the food processor until the oats have mainly turned into flour and there are only small visible specks of oat. Set aside.
• Once the browned butter is no longer hot to the touch, add to a large mixing bowl. Add in both sugars and whisk vigorously until the butter is no longer separated from the sugars and the mixture has slightly lightened in color. Then whisk in the egg, followed by the vanilla, until well combined.
• Pour in the dry ingredients from the food processor and stir until mostly combined. Add the remaining whole rolled oats and the toasted walnuts and stir gently until fully combined. Cover the dough and refrigerate for one hour or up to overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 325F. Form tablespoon-sized balls of cookie dough and place them on the cookie sheet, allowing a couple of inches for them to spread. Bake for 12-14 minutes until golden on the bottom and set around the sides. Remove from the oven when they still look just slightly underdone, as they will continue to firm up afterwards.

Notes

• Feel free to add in some chopped bittersweet chocolate as well, which would go well with the coffee notes in the cookies.

WordPress Recipe Plugin by WPZOOM