Making Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

The cookies my mother used to make, bless her, were so crunchy that they’re borderline annoying. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good crunch here and there but I don’t know what it is, but old-school Indonesian mothers think that chewy cookies = under-baked cookies. So when they make a batch they make sure those little mounds of chocolatey goodness stay in the oven until they’re so deprived of any and all moisture that when you bite into one, it practically disintegrates into sawdust in your mouth. It wasn’t until someone brought me along a Mrs.Fields cookie that I realized there has to be more dimensions in a cookie than chocolate flavour and crunch.

Making a good chocolate chip cookie makes you a hero but a great one makes you a legend. Think about it. How many homemade chocolate chip cookies have you eaten in your lifetime? Now how many do you actually remember?

My point exactly.

Which is why I’m going to leave you with a recipe for a cookie that’s crispy at the edges, chewy in the centre, and full of chocolate. These are — as my sister wisely observed — less an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, and more a chocolate chip cookie with oatmeal added in for a bit of texture. I don’t really have a problem with that, to be honest.

OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES (makes 24-30 cookies):

[ ½ cup butter, softened + ½ cup white sugar + ½ cup brown sugar, packed + 1 egg + ½ tsp pure vanilla extract + 1 cup all-purpose flour + ½ tsp baking soda + ¼ tsp baking powder + ¼ tsp salt + 1 cup old-fashioned oats + 1 cup chocolate chips or bits ]

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla extract.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Add to butter mixture and stir until almost combined.

Add oats and chocolate chips and stir until everything is fully combined.

Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. You can also roll them into balls if you want them to spread out more evenly. Leave two inches between cookies, as they’ll spread when baked.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden and tops are lightly browned.

Cool on the cookie sheet for 2-3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely (but make sure you sample a few while they’re still warm!).

OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES (makes 24-30 cookies)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugars. Beat in egg and vanilla extract.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Add to butter mixture and stir until almost combined.

Add oats and chocolate chips and stir until everything is fully combined.

Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. You can also roll them into balls if you want them to spread out more evenly. Leave two inches between cookies, as they’ll spread when baked.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are golden and tops are lightly browned.

Cool on the cookie sheet for 2-3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely (but make sure you sample a few while they’re still warm!).