Sunday, June 24, 2007

The Ultimate Oatmeal Cookies


These are the ultimate oatmeal cookies, I kid you not. And I'm happy that I've found at least one ultimate cookie recipe. (Now I need to find the ultimate chocolate chip, ultimate ginger molasses, and ultimate peanut butter ones. There are a few contenders for chocolate chip so far.) I didn't even used to like oatmeal cookies before I tried this recipe. I found it in an online vegan cooking community, and the person touted them as the best ever, and said that she was famous for them. After making them a few times I can definitely understand why. They're slightly crispy on the outside, soft on the inside - just perfect. They even taste good with raisins in them! I'd like to try making them with butter instead of margarine, though I imagine this would change the texture of the cookie. The recipe that was originally posted is vegan, but I used one egg instead of the Ener-G egg replacer.


I was discussing oats the other day with my friend. Rolled oats versus quick oats? I never thought too much about the kind I was buying for cookies, but then I don't know that much about oatmeal since I don't like it. I just went and checked and the kind I've always used have been quick cooking oats and I've never had any problems. I found this post about the difference that the type of oats makes in baking.


Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
(Adapted from a post in the vegan cooking community by superlemon)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 to 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon (depending on how much you love it, I put about 2)
1 cup (2 sticks) softened margarine or butter-flavored shortening
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg OR about 2 1/2 tsp. Ener-G egg replacer mixed with 3 Tbsp. warm water*
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

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

Beat together margarine, and sugars in a second bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in egg replacer and vanilla.

Beat flour mixture into margarine mixture until blended. Fold in oats and chocolate chips, then put in the fridge to chill for a bit while the oven heats up. Put the bowl back into the fridge while each batch of cookies bakes, to keep the dough chilled.

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare 2 baking sheets.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place cookies 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, flattening each cookie slightly.

Bake until lightly browned around the edges, about 10 to 12 minutes. Let cookies cool on baking sheets for a minute or two before transfer to racks to cool completely.

Makes 2 to 3 dozen, depending on size.

29 comments:

kickpleat said...

good to know! my experience with vegan oatmeal cookies were too cake-like but that was maybe because there was applesauce in them. i'm going to try this for sure cuz i love oatmeal cookies!

Rebuke said...

Wow, they looks great :) I love cookies so much. I've just been looking around your blog and it's really amazing :) I'm a new food blogger too and just want to say how impressed I am by your site. Would you mind if I link to it from my blog? It's at www.heavenwithstrawberries.blogspot.com

eatme_delicious said...

kickpleat: these definitely aren't cake-like, but i didn't try making them with ener-g egg replacer so cannot be completely positive. hope they turn out well for you. :)

rebecca: aw thanks for the kind words. :) i would love it if you linked me from your blog! i'll link you too. :)

Jenni Shortt said...

I will try and make these lovely cookies but without the egg and without the egg replacer, we don't have this fancy stuff in old Italy, I'll tell you what happens... ciao
ps: this is a literally delicious blog!

eatme_delicious said...

tippitappi: i'm definitely curious as to how the cookies will turn out with whatever egg replacement you use. please do tell me how they turn out. :) and it makes me happy to know that you think my blog is delicious!

Anonymous said...

These are so crispy, chewy, and delicious, I just finished making a batch. I used Smart Balance margarine, dark brown sugar, an egg, and divided the 1 1/4 cup chocolate chips into 1/2 cup chocolate chips, 1/2 craisins, and 1/4 pecans. The result is tasty. They're so cinnamony, I love them.

Anonymous said...

These are AMAZING. I used all whole wheat flour, and a good 2.5 tsps of cinnamon, and they came out perfect and delicious! Chewy, crispy around the edges, and bursting with chocolate and cinnamon flavour. Thanks so much for this recipe!

eatme_delicious said...

Tara: Glad you loved them as much as I do!

Anonymous said...

By the way, I'm a grad student in Vancouver too :)
And also love vegetarian recipes. Thanks for such a great blog!

Anonymous said...

I substituded 1 cup spelt flour for the white flour and they were still yummy. Also added coconut flakes. My son said that these were the best cookies we've ever made.

Thank you

eatme_delicious said...

Tara: Hello nice to meet a fellow Vancouverite! =)

Cathy M: Glad you guys liked them! I should try the spelt flour variation. And the addition of coconut sounds perfect. I love coconut.

Fat Beoytch said...

AMAZING! I substituted 1/2 a banana instead of 1 egg. and they turned out INCREDIBLE! Thank you thank you thank you! Next time i want to try them with butterscotch chips.. mmmmm.

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to try this recipe! In the meantime, here is my family's favorite ginger-molasses cookie recipe. It won first place in the Chicago Tribune's annual Christmas cookie recipe contest in 1995. Enjoy!
http://fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/recipet.cgi?r=275&y=60

eatme_delicious said...

Anonymous: Thanks so much for the link to the ginger molasses cookie! =) I'll check that out.

Anonymous said...

Hey~I made your oatmeal cookies last night - killer! The whole oatmeal/chocolate chip/cinnamon combo is terrific. Brought them to work and everyone raved, too. Thanks again!

eatme_delicious said...

Anonymous: So glad you liked them!

Foodie4life said...

These were fantastic, I used butter instead of margarine and subbed in dried cranberries and almonds instead of chocolate chips and it was brilliant! The batch was demolished in one sitting by a group of hungry friends, thanks a bunch:)

eatme_delicious said...

Foodie4life: Glad you and your friends enjoyed them! :)

cookiesgalore.17 said...

WOW. These cookies were simply amazing when we made them!!! They looked like they were fresh out of a bakery and tasted just like it too! great :]

eatme_delicious said...

cookiesgalore.17: Yaey I'm so happy you loved them. :)

Anonymous said...

Hi! I have found a similar cookie sold at a small coffee shop in Michigan except they use Spelt flour and just call them "spelt chocolate chip cookies". I fell in love with them! So I found your recipe and seen the picture and they look identical to the kind I tried. Well..bad news is I have tried this recipe twice now and my cookies keep coming out flat! I haven't been able to salvage any, it's so upsetting! Any tips?

eatme_delicious said...

Anonymous: I'm not sure... maybe the margarine was too soft? Maybe you need to use more flour? I've made these cookies with butter before and found them to be flat.

Deb said...

These were perhaps the best cookies I've ever made. Substituted whole wheat organic flour, all brown sugar but a little less than called for, and as a vegan I used 1 Tbsp ground flax mixed with 1/4 c filtered water instead of an Egg. Fantastic!!

eatme_delicious said...

Deb: Yaey I'm so happy you loved these!!

Unknown said...

I made these yesterday and LOVE LOVE LOVE them. My daughter said they were the best cookies I've made and... oops - when I copied the recipe down I left out the ENTIRE cup of white sugar. They still turned out great. Go figure.

Paula said...

I also added coconut, dried cranberries, and Heath toffee bits - dough tasted great, very cinnamony! However, my cookies flattened completely; softened margarine for 11 seconds in micro, perhaps that was the cause. Will definitely try these again.

Lotus Out Loud ॐ said...

THE best cookies I have ever made! Great recipe! :) The first time I made them I was out of vanilla and cinnamon, so I left out cinnamon entirely and used almond extract instead of vanilla. SO GOOD! Thanks for sharing! :)

eatme_delicious said...

SilentLotus Creations: Hurray so glad you enjoyed them!

Anonymous said...

This recipe looks great, I'll have to try it. I also wanted to see Anonymous' Chicago Tribune award winning cookie recipe, but I guess the link expired. Does anyone have that recipe? Thanks! selenaserval@aol.com