Father's Day Cookies Research

So I was on my honeymoon last week and before that my wedding. I haven't had much time to plan a thoughtful father's day gift. The last two years I have been sending my dad these hulking pecan and chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and he seemed to like them. My sister said he doesn't really like the cookies with nuts anymore so maybe he was just being polite. She keeps telling me to simplify my cookie recipe when I bake for him.

This year I tried to go with a more elegant version of the cookies as opposed to the lumberjack style that I made last year. A dainty, gentleman's version of the chocolate chip oatmeal cookie. I used a simple recipe that I found at The Repressed Pastry Chef and altered it a bit: I used tiny chips and ground the oats very fine. The only other thing that I would do differently would be to double the recipe. I only came out with about two dozen cookies!


Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoons vanilla extract (I always double this)
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (I always double or triple the salt in a chocolate chip cookie recipes--I think salt mixed into chocolate desserts makes them much more complex and I think that people like it much more than they think they do so I try to sneak it in)
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats (I also ground the oats in the food processor)
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used extra tiny chips)

Method

Preheat the oven to 325° F (165° C).
1. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth.

2. Beat in egg then stir in vanilla.

3. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended.

4. If you want to you can either toast the oats in the oven to give them a deeper flavor or, like I did today, pulse them in the food processor for a smoother cookie.


5. Mix in the quick oats and chocolate chips.

6. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 15 minutes then remove sheets from oven and cool cookies on sheets for 5 minutes then remove to rack and cool completely.



Yield: ~2 dozen


Look at these little gentlemen! They look so cute all lined up like a chorus line in front of my brand new toaster! I feel all busby berkeley now.