Big, Chewy Oatmeal-raisin Cookies
Cook's Illustrated baked 86 batches of cookies before coming up with this recipe.
Why did it take six months to develop the right recipe for a chewy, thick, buttery oatmeal cookie? Well, it all started and ended with the back of the Quaker Oats box. But with some important tweaks. One is: You have to make the cookies big. Small cookies aren't going to have the right texture.
Ingredients
- 8 ¾ ounces unbleached all-purpose flour, (1 3/4 cups)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 2 ¼ pounds bananas, (6 large) very ripe
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 large eggs
- 5 ¼ ounces light brown sugar, (3/4 cup packed)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 50 grams walnuts, (1/2 cup) toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
Method
1. Adjust oven racks to low and middle positions; heat oven to 350 degrees. In bowl of electric mixer or by hand, beat butter until creamy. Add sugars; beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time.
2. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, and spice(s) together, then stir them into butter-sugar mixture with wooden spoon or large rubber spatula. Stir in oats and optional raisins.
3. Form dough into sixteen to twenty 2-inch balls, placing each dough round onto one of two parchment paper–covered, large cookie sheets. Bake until cookie edges turn golden brown, 22 to 25 minutes. (Halfway during baking, turn cookie sheets from front to back and also switch them from top to bottom.) Slide cookies on parchment onto cooling rack. Let cool at least 30 minutes before serving.
Use a #10 cookie scoop, packed level, to yield 14 cookies.
Variations: Substitute chopped dates for raisins. Hint: To keep chopped date bits from sticking together, spray a thin coat of canola oil inside a large, shallow mixing bowl. Toss the date pieces to coat.
Notes
If you prefer a less sweet cookie, you can reduce the white sugar by one-quarter cup, but you will lose some crispness. Do not overbake these cookies. The edges should be brown but the rest of the cookie should still be very light in color. Parchment makes for easy cookie removal and cleanup, but it’s not a necessity. If you don’t use parchment, let the cookies cool directly on the baking sheet for two minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
Servings: 14
Source: Cook's Illustrated
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