Photo by T. Mike Fletcher
Makes approximately 50 3-inch cookies.
1¼ cup packed brown sugar 1 cup sugar ½ cup unsalted butter ½ cup shortening (like Crisco) 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 3 cups Old Fashioned Quaker Oats (do not use Quick Oats) 1 cup + 2 tablespoons flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 tablespoon cinnamon ¾ teaspoon nutmeg ½ teaspoon cloves ½ teaspoon salt 1 pound (total) chocolate chips, raisins, dried fruit, or nuts in any combination
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Whisk together the oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt. Set aside.
Cream the sugars, butter and shortening until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until combined. Add the vanilla. If the mixture curdles, don’t worry about it.
Add the flour mixture half at a time, beating on low until completely combined. Lastly, add the nuts, chips or whatever you are adding in.
Chef’s Notes
I love oatmeal cookies and recently had an oatmeal attack. It seemed like every time I passed the oatmeal canister, it would reach out and beckon me. Well, it didn’t long for me to succumb to temptation. These gems have a chewy crispness and a texture not found in a lot of other cookies —and they stay that way. Some cookies are great coming from the oven or the first day, but change upon sitting. Not these; they retain their crispy chewiness for days
Several items in them help prevent the cookies from spreading. All butter in a cookie encourages them to spread out when baked. A little shortening, as in Crisco, helps retain their shape. The other thing that helps is loading them up with chips, nuts, raisins, or other dried fruit of your choice. The less add-ins you use, the more they will spread. These cookies call for a full pound of whatever you want. I used a half-pound each of milk chocolate chips and baker’s raisins. Baker’s Raisins can be found with the regular raisins. They are moist and there is no need to plump them in hot water as there is if using regular raisins.
There is a technique used in the recipe that yields a perfectly browned cookie, top and bottom. I double pan these. It slows down the baking somewhat, but the bottoms aren’t overly browned. Simply put the cookie pan in another pan of the same size so you are baking on two pans instead of one.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Drop the cookies using a #40 disher or 2 tablespoons spacing them apart. DOUBLE PAN and bake for 9 minutes, turn and bake 8 to 9 more. They should still be puffy when you pull them out. They will drop and finish baking on the baking sheet as they cool. Cool for about 8 to 10 minutes and remove to a cooling rack with a spatula. Cool completely. Store in a canister.
By Helen Fletcher, The Ardent Cook
