Perfect Oatmeal Cookies

It’s oatmeal cookie season, and I’ve been obsessed with making the perfect crunchy, yet chewy oatmeal cookie. I was chasing that buttery, crisp bite that perfect cookies have. I was inspired my daughter’s recent favorite book: How Do Dinosaurs Eat Cookies?. Amongst a few different cookies, they make oatmeal cinnamon cookies. Since it’s pretty chilly in NY, I thought mastering oatmeal cookies would be a fun project to have my daughter help with. Since turning two, her attention span is long enough to involve her in baking, which I’m so excited about! Her favorite part of making these cookies is sprinkling the ground cinnamon and nutmeg in. Somehow, she knows exactly the right amount to put in. 

My secret to these cookies is at the end, folding in just a little bit of room temperature butter and brown sugar. It keeps things buttery, and makes for perfect crispy edges. You can add chocolate chips, nuts, or raisins as an amazing addition to these cookies. We’ve been eating them as pure oatmeal, though, and can’t get enough. 

Please let me know if you make these, and how it goes!

Ingredients:

Makes 18 cookies

1 ½ cups oatmeal (pulsed in food processor until you have chopped oats and a little oat flour)

1 ½ cups all purpose flour 

1 ¼ cups dark brown sugar +2 tbsp for later 

1 cup vegan butter +2 tbsp for later 

2 tsp flaxmeal + 2 tbsp water

½ tbsp vanilla extract 

2 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp nutmeg

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 

2. Mix together flaxmeal and water in a small bowl and set aside for ten minutes while you proceed with next steps. 

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

4. In a stand mix, using the paddle attachment, cream the 1 cup + 2 tbsp butter for one minute. Scoop 2 tbsp out and set aside. Add in 1 ¼ cups brown sugar and mix until creamy. Add in vanilla extract and flaxmeal water mixture and mix until combined. 

5. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the wet until combined. Then add in the 2 tbsp creamed butter and 2 tbsp dark brown sugar fold in, but do not mix in. You can either transfer the cookie dough into an airtight container and bake later, or bake now. Either way works great for this cookie recipe.

6. Scoop cookie dough onto trays into 1 ½ tbsp scoops. Make sure they have 3 inches apart.

7. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until outer rings of cookies look golden brown. It’s okay if they look at tad doughey in the center, they will continue to bake on the pan as they cool.

8. Allow cookies to cool on pan for four minutes, then transfer to cooling rack.