The Baking Bible – Luxury Oatmeal Cookies

A feeling of dread came over me as I saw this weeks recipe.  Cookies again.  I won’t even say it as you all know my feelings about this subject.  Ah well, if you have to make cookies, then Oatmeal cookies are the way to go.  One of the few cookies I actually like.  As I read through this recipe the first step is making granola.  My interest was piqued.  I love granola.  I follow a high protein diet both to control my diabetes and to support my bodybuilding.  This means that my carbohydrate intake happens mostly in the morning and I am always looking for some interesting way to get my carbs and not spike my blood sugar.  I dove right in to make the granola.  I have to say it is great.  I was tempted to just stop at the granola and skip the cookies all together.  I made several batches of it and doctored it to my own taste.  I substituted golden syrup (since the stuff I ordered weeks ago finally arrived) and added raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries and flax seeds and packed it away for weekly breakfasts.  YUMMY

With all that being said, these cookies are fantastic.  They are big and chewy and loaded with flavor.  Best of all they are easy and even the tedious rolling part goes very quickly.  The only thing I would change here is leaving out the chocolate chips, only because I personally don’t like them in cookies.  Next time I’ll nix the chips and add more dried fruits.  Yes, I would actually make these again.  The highest compliment I could ever give to any cookie.

The granola is a simple matter of combining oatmeal, walnuts, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, maple syrup, a bit of canola oil and vanilla and baking the mixture on a cookie sheet for about 30 minutes.

To make the cookie dough, mix together the granola, raisins and chocolate chips.  Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Whisk together the eggs and vanilla.

In a mixer cream together brown and granulated sugar and butter until fluffy.  Add the egg mixture and mix to combine, then add the flour mixture and beat until combined.  Stir in the granola until well combined.  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.  Divide the dough into three equal parts and wrap in plastic wrap.  Chill the individual dough portions while working with one.  Roll the dough into 12 balls.  Place the balls on a cookie sheet and flatten.  Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes.  Cool.

The baked cookies are crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside.  Just the way a cookie should be and they stay chewy in an airtight container.  Luxury indeed.