24 June 2007

The Best Oatmeal Cookies Yet

I'm not a big self-horn-tooter, but these are definitely the best oatmeal cookies I've ever had. Not that I wrote the original recipe, because I didn't. The lovely and talented Elise of Simply Recipes did. I've included a short film below describing my baking process for these fabulous cookies.

The recipe is really buttery -- 2 sticks, but the resulting cookies are heavenly. I almost hate to give them away, but I made them for my friend Thom's birthday party taking place later today -- and if I'm not as good as my word, then what am I?

The original recipe makes 18 large cookies, but since I'm making them for a large (or rather, potentially large) group, I made smaller cookies. My yield was pretty high: 60 cookies. However, by the time I got to the end of the batch, there seemed to be a few ugly ones to keep to myself. No worries though, the ugly ones taste just as good. So filled with buttery goodness!

Before we get to the movie, here are my alterations:

  1. Additional spices: 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon cloves -- really made a huge difference in flavor.
  2. 1 1/2 cups of agave nectar for the 2 cups of mixed sugars.
  3. 1/2 cup of chopped apricots for 1/2 cup raisins.
  4. Pecans for walnuts
  5. Baked at 325 degrees F for 11 minutes, then switched the positions of the pans in the oven and baked for another 11 minutes (but that's just my tricky oven, you may have different baking times).
And now for the show...



What are your favorite oatmeal cookies?

16 comments:

Elise said...

Oh my gosh, what a great video! I'm so glad you liked those cookies, and that it worked to substitute agave. The added spices sounded delicious too.

Deb Schiff said...

Thanks so much for the visit and the compliments, Elise! Nice to see you here. :)

I'll be baking a pie with your almond pie crust recipe very soon. The results will be posted here.

Traci Lyn said...

I'm going to try this making substitutions for eggs and butter and using a gluten free flour....Hope it works!

Deb Schiff said...

Good luck with it Traci. I'm sure they will work out for you.

Unknown said...

what are the measurements for the other ingredients?
The flour, oats, etc.
Thanks!

Deb Schiff said...

Hi Katie,

The link to Elise's original recipe is at the top of my post.

Anonymous said...

Thanks much Elise, this is exactly what I was looking for. YAY Agave!!

Deb Schiff said...

Thanks, but I'm Deb, not Elise. :D Elise wrote the original recipe and I reworked them for agave nectar. But thanks for leaving the comment!

Skiliq said...

Looks great, saw the link to here from SimplyRecipes and I had been meaning to try some recipes with agave since I am diabetic, and this looks like a great one to start with. Will try it tomorrow if I have the time.

Deb Schiff said...

Hi Chad,
Thanks for commenting. My site is dedicated to the use of agave nectar instead of other sweeteners. I've found that I don't need to use as much of it as I would sugar, and it gives everything I bake a lovely flavor. The ice creams are very creamy as well. Good luck!

~JmB~ said...

Thank you for this post about oatmeal and the link to the recipe.
I think I may now know the secret to my mother-in-law's cookies no one has been able to duplicate.

As an adult I prefer the taste of old fashioned oats or the steel cut, but apparently like many others have probably eaten mostly quick or instant oats or cream of wheat in my childhood.

:)

Deb Schiff said...

Thanks, JmB!
Hope yours turn out great.

K La said...

Delicious! I love the spice! Mine turned out perfect. Thanks so much!

Deb Schiff said...

Excellent! I'm so glad for you!

Paul Chauvet said...

My wife (who cannot have refined sugar) absolutely loves these since I started making them for her. I've altered the altered recipe by substituting carob chips & reducing the agave slightly.

Thanks much for this great recipe!

Deb Schiff said...

Wonderful to hear it, Paul!