Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Sacrilege or a really good cookie??

M and I have been craving cookies lately and he is working like a banshee between the house and a number of deadlines at work. So, I decided that as a "good wife" I would make some cookies, now did I make any of his favorites?

...no.

I'm not that good, but I did decide not to put any nuts, coconut, or stuff like that into the cookies, all things M usually frowns at. I did however decide that I needed a chocolate fix. After looking at what I had in the cupboard and what I was craving, I decided to modify my Mum's Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies.

Now, I'll give all of my WI friends a moment to get over their shock and horror.

Yes, I modified my mother's cookies. Don't worry, I didn't destroy the recipe or tear it up into tiny bits or anything and in fact if you ran over to my Mum's right now, I bet she has some stashed in the freezer. After all, Bud is at home for the summer.

So, here goes.... Zilla's triple-chip chocolate oatmeal cookies
(Of course these are wheat-free, but if you are worried about the gluten be sure to find specially sourced oatmeal)

First assemble the dry ingredients:
2 cups assorted chips, I used chocolate, butterscotch, and white chocolate
3 cups oatmeal
1 cup nearly normal flour
1 cup brown rice flour (see they are good for you!)
1/8 tsp xanthan gum (secret #1)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp cinnamon (secret #2, just enough to add richness not a strong cinnamon flavor)
Then mix them all together in a large mixing bowl.

Next start working on the wet ingredients:

1 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp vanilla (do not use "imitation")
1 tsp baking soda

Start by mixing the butter and all of the sugars together including the syrup.
Start off slow and once the butter is broken down turn the mixer on high and walk away. Yup, walk away let this beat for a good 5 minutes.

It should look like this when it is done:

Next add the eggs one at a time and beat well. It should look like the creamiest frosting ever when you are done beating in the eggs.

lastly, add the salt, vanilla, and baking soda to the party. Beat well one last time.

Now dump this all onto the dry ingredients.

You will be saying: "There isn't any way I can possibly make cookies out of this! I need more wet stuff!". Get out your wooden spoon and start mixing, this is where you work off all the calories so you can eat as many of these cookies as you want. If you beat the wet ingredients enough there will be plenty of liquid to go around.

See, I told you so.

Next turn on your oven (350F) and set the timer for 20 minutes and walk away again. This will give the flour some time to absorb the liquid. At this point, you can also put the mixture into the fridge and make a few cookies whenever you want for the next week or so.

Once the timer goes off, using a handy-dandy cookie scoop - one of the best inventions ever - put the cookies onto the cookie sheet and bake for 7 minutes or so.

They should be nice and puffy when they come out of the oven.

allow to cool for a few minutes until you can safely transfer them to a cooling rack. Makes a bunch.

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