I’ve heard a rumor that crispy oatmeal cookies can match or even beat the soft, chewy, raisin-packed oatmeal cookies that I know and love. I was skeptical (very), but I decided to give them a shot a few weekends ago. The idea behind these cookies is that you use a bit more leavening powder to make the oatmeal cookies spread out during baking and therefore crisp up.
But are crispy oatmeal cookies really good?
YES! And they are stackable.
Stacks nicely.
In the cookie universe, I like to think of oatmeal cookies as healthy. Sure, they have some butter and sugar as all cookies do, but the oats lend a real heartiness and lots of fiber. So they’re kinda healthy cookies!
Crispy Oatmeal Cookies
Yield: 24 cookies
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
14 Tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
1 Cup granulated sugar
1/4 Cup brown sugar
Zest of one orange (optional)
1 large egg
1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Cup all-purpose flour
3/4 Teaspoon baking powder
1/2 Teaspoon baking soda
1/2 Teaspoon salt
2 1/2 Cups rolled oatsDirections:
1) Add butter, sugars, and orange zest to a large bowl.
2) Using a hand mixer or stand mixer (or I guess a fork/whisk combo attack), cream the butter into the sugar on medium speed.
3) Add a large egg and vanilla extract.
4) In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients except the rolled oats.
5) Slowly incorporate dry ingredients into butter mixture.
6) Mix in oats, 1/2 Cup at a time.
7) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a parchment-lined baking sheet place 2 Tablespoon balls of batter with a good amount of space in between each ball (8 per tray)
8) Using a spatula (fingers), mush the dough down until you have small disks that are about 1/2 inch high.
9) Bake for 14-16 minutes and if they appear to be cooking unevenly, rotate the sheet halfway through.
10) Once the cookies are lightly browned around the edges, take them out and let them cool on a wire rack. Let them cool on their baking sheet.
It might look like a lot of ingredients for cookies, but most of them are standard pantry ingredients.
A cookie is born.
This dough is really no different for from a standard dough. Start by adding your butter, sugars, and orange zest if your using it (I totally recommend it) to a large bowl. Using a hand mixer or stand mixer (or I guess a fork/whisk combo attack), cream the butter into the sugar on medium speed.
Ok. I added an orange also.
After a few minutes you should have a smooth, thick mixture that would be delicious if you were to eat it with a spoon.
Don’t eat it though!
Instead, add a large egg and your vanilla extract.
Just one.
In a separate bowl, combine your dry ingredients except the rolled oats.
Then slowly incorporate your dry ingredients into your batter.
After everything is mixed together well, mix in your oats, 1/2 Cup at a time. Don’t mix your oats into your dry ingredients first because it will make it hard to get your flour and leavening things equally distributed.
My measuring cups are color coded.
Once your batter is mixed well, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. On a parchment-lined baking sheet place 2 Tablespoon balls of batter with a good amount of space in between each ball.
You should get 24 balls out of the batter. I only got 23 because I’m crazy like that and I didn’t really measure them.
Seriously though, don’t put more than 8 of these on a sheet at a time. You’ll thank me later.
I arranged mine like this:
Nice and neat.
Then, using a spatula (fingers), mush the batter down until you have small disks that are about 1/2 inch high.
Squished.
Bake these for 14-16 minutes and if they appear to be cooking unevenly, rotate the sheet halfway through.
Once the cookies are lightly browned around the edges, take them out and let them cool on a wire rack. And here is the important trick to these cookies: Let them cool on their baking sheet. Don’t take them off.
This will mean they’ll continue to crisp up a bit while they cool, but they won’t burn. If you’re cookies are touching, feel free to cut them apart a bit.
Wow. These seriously spread out.
After they cool completely, you can eat them immediately or, if you’re like me, form a cookie structure of some sort.
Fantastic texture and flavor.
It’s very possible that these crispy cookies converted me from the oatmeal cookies I know and love. They were packed with flavor but still really light and had a perfect texture.
Plus they’re pretty straightforward to make. And they’re healthy!
Basically, there’s no reason to not make these cookies! And that rumor I was talking about at the beginning of this post… yea… I think I’m going to start spreading it.
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