Tag: oatmeal

Recipe: Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Ashley Bischoff8 Comments

I recently ran across this recipe for Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies on AllRecipes. The reviews were positive, so I decided to try the recipe.

It worked out great—soft and rich, but with a delicious chocolate and pecan accent. I’ve added just a few comments as well:

Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1 roll parchment paper [You aren’t going to eat this, but you’ll need to have some on hand—you can find parchment paper in the same aisle as the wax paper and aluminum foil.]
  • 1 cup (110 grams) of chopped pecans (or chopped walnuts)
  • 2 sticks (227 grams) of butter, softened (Or for a vegan version, I’ve had success with Miyoko’s Vegan Butter, which I found at Target.)
  • 1 cup (198 grams) packed light brown sugar
  • ½ cup (99 grams) white sugar
  • 2 eggs (Or for a vegan version, I’ve had success with Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer, which I found at Target.)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 ¼ cups (178 grams) all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons Diamond Kosher salt (or 1 teaspoon table salt)
  • 3 cups (295 grams) quick-cooking oats [These may be labeled as “quick-cooking” oats or 1-minute “instant” oats.]
  • 6 oz (170 g) dark chocolate from 70%+ bars (alternately: 6 oz / 170 g of chocolate chips)
  • Optional: Maldon sea salt, for sprinkling atop the cookies after they come out of the oven (You can find Maldon sea salt at Kroger and Safeway, among other stores.)

Directions—Toasting the Nuts:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375° F (190° C).

  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the chopped nuts in a single layer. Place the baking sheet in the oven for 5–6 minutes.

  3. Take out the nuts and set them aside to cool. (You can pick up the parchment paper by the sides to form a U-shape to make it easier to transfer the nuts to a small bowl.)

Directions—Baking the Cookies:

  1. Lower the oven temperature to 325° F (162° C).

  2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla.

  3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended.

  4. Roughly chop the dark chocolate bars. It’s fine (and even preferable) if not all the chopped pieces are the same size—aim to have most of the pieces no larger than around ½ to ¾ inch (1 to 2 cm) on any given side.

  5. Mix in the quick oats, pecans, and chocolate chips.

  6. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper and bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven.

    (They should puff up ever so slightly when they bake; if you take them out of the oven and they’re completely flat, they haven’t baked quite long enough.)

  7. Optional but recommended: Immediately after taking the cookie sheets out of the oven, sprinkle the tops of the cookies with sea salt.

  8. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Oatmeal

Ashley Bischoff16 Comments

I had read good things about oatmeal and health, so I bought some (apparently, the effects are present primarily in slow-cook oatmeal, so I bought that type).

About two weeks back, I made some according to the directions on the package (boil the water and oatmeal mixture, easy). It didn’t actually turn out very well, as it ended up rather soggy. I’m not sure if I made the oatmeal correctly and I’m just not an oatmeal-person, or if I overcooked the oatmeal leading to its sogginess. I did add some cinnamon and Splenda, of course, but the sogginess remained.

Just today, I decided to give oatmeal another chance. But, to eliminate the possibility of sogginess, I just poured some dry oatmeal into a bowl (along with a sprinkling of cinnamon and Splenda). It was a bit on the mouth-drying side ;), but a glass of water close-at-hand took care of that.

It was actually pretty tasty. And, with Splenda having no Calories, I could add as much as I wanted without feeling guilty (other than the inherent guilt of using up all my Splenda and having to go buy some more).

I am curious whether the cooking process is linked to the healthiness of oatmeal; after all, I didn’t cook it at all this time, and I wouldn’t want to lessen its health benefits on that account. All the same, if you don’t like cooked oatmeal (but don’t mind oats in general), you may want to try this technique.

Oatmeal?

Ashley Bischoff11 Comments

Over the years, I’ve read some good things about oatmeal and health, so I figured that I’d look into it. As it turns out, I’m not sure if I’ve ever actually had oatmeal, so I’m not sure if it tastes any good :-/. How is it?

On the other hand, I try to eat relatively healthily and exercise anyway; so, if the verdict is that oatmeal is gross, then I won’t feel bad about not eating it ;).