Welcome Cookies with Lots of Oats & Chocolate

 

Nothing takes me home like chocolate chip cookies (C3s). Not because my mom baked lots of cookies or because I’ve got some secret family recipe passed down for generations. There is just something about the smell of C3s baking in the oven that makes me want to be having a sleepover with my g-friends at my parents’ house in upstate New York. I can’t pinpoint why, though I have a sneaking suspicion it is in large part due to the 1980s Nestle Toll House ad campaign (I fancy myself as the cute one with the pigtails, but really I was the girl with the giant glasses and bad haircut). Anyhow, that’s what this blog about. Home, family, friends and sharing (and sweets and sleepovers and vintage commercials). 

I realize now, several posts in, that I haven’t taken the time to properly welcome everyone to Shared Bites. No time like the present! And it seems only fitting to welcome readers with this recipe. These oatmeal C3s were born during a phase where I only wanted to make vegan cookies. (Rewind: lots of duds during that phase. Not because it’s hard to make a tasty vegan treat, I was just using the wrong avenues. But that’s a story for another day.) Admittedly, they aren't always vegan anymore, but both versions taste almost identical and are equally quick and delicious. Both options provided below; vegan ingredients in parentheses. These cookies are chewy and flavorful and amazingly decadent for a cookie with no butter.

And with that, I welcome you to Shared Bites. Share on.

*A quick note about oatmeal. Sometimes you'll read recipes that specify whether to use old fashioned oats or quick cooking oats. As a general rule, I purchase quick cooking oats because I have found them to be better for cooking and baking (pancakes, bread, cookies). But there have definitely been times when I've found myself with only old fashioned oats (like when I put "oats" on the grocery list and my sous chef was doing the grocery shopping - lesson learned). Not a problem.

The photo above shows old fashioned oats on the left and quick cook oats on the right. The difference goes beyond just oat size (quick cook oats are processed further than old fashioned oats), but for my purposes, tossing old fashioned oats into a food processor or mini chopper does the job. So use whichever oats you have/like. (Disclaimer: some people who are not me feel very strongly about using old fashioned, unprocessed oats. Please don't share this with those oat nazis.)

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1.5 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2.5 cups oats

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 cup canola or vegetable oil

1-1/3 cups sugar (I like turbinado here A LOT. Big sugar crystals and oatmeal come together for an awesome consistency.)

2 tbs. skim milk (I usually use plain rice milk; soy is also fine)

1 egg (or 1/2 thoroughly mushed banana or 1/4 cup applesauce)

1.5 tsp. vanilla 

1 cup chocolate chips (I use Whole Foods 365 Vegan Chocolate Chips)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix flour, oats, salt and baking soda. Add chocolate chips (recipe calls for 1 cup, which makes for a very high chip-to-cookie ratio; feel free to reduce).

Mix sugar and oil. Add milk, egg and vanilla to sugar and oil. Combine wet and dry ingredients. You won't get a typical cookie "dough," which is normal. As pictured above, the dough remains pretty wet. Because of the wetness of the dough, a structured scooping tool is supremely helpful. I use a medium cookie scoop (which works just like an old fashioned ice cream scoop). Before I had the cookie scoop, I used a tablespoon to get uniform cookies (though a bit small). Scoop dough onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 13-14 minutes at 325 degrees if using a medium cookie scoop; 10-12 minutes if scoops are tablespoon-sized.

Makes 40 2" cookies (I usually make a half batch. Yes, this requires half an egg - whisk one egg in a separate bowl and do your best to eyeball half the egg into the mix.)