Oatmeal CookieBlog

Picture Pages

I made a half batch of my PB & J(onnie) cookies tonight and thought you'd like to see some pictures. As you can see, this is one of my famous stuffed cookies. So good they're dangerous. Must. Stop. Eating. Them. They're like PB & J sandwiches but without the crusts...and the bread.

Dorothy, Sophia, Blanche, and Rose Would Definitely Approve

Dawn, a really cool reader (and now a real-life cookie tester) from Charlotte, North Carolina, emailed me to say that she was going to make my Golden Girls cookies for the teachers at her son’s school. She made an ingenious twist on my original recipe and used chocolate graham crackers instead of the standard cinnamon grahams. (Seriously…how cool is that!?) She wrote back to let me know how they turned out:

"In big letters ‘THANK YOU!’ is what teachers had to say! Another girlfriend that I shared some with said it was her favorite of all time (and I bake for her a LOT!). Well, well, looks like I've got another induction into my ‘Winners’ notebook!  Thank you, Greg [Oatmeal Cookie Guy]!  Next up, I'm trying that German Chocolate yummy!"

Three cheers to you, Dawn. You did an awesome job, and the pic you sent (below) proves it!

The List...Updated

Here's the most up-to-date list.

S’mores Cherry-Vanilla Crispies Chocolate Malted Good Ol’ Peanut Butter White Chocolate Macaroon Dark Earl Grey  Caramel-Espresso Eleven Madison Hawaii Cookies Coffee Cake Fourth of July Grasshopper Elvis Dulce de Leche Chocolate-Caramel Shirley Temple

Golden Girls Juliana Skiffle PB & J(onnie) Mocha Mint Rosh Hashanah ChocAlmScotch Sweater Weather Peanut Butter Cup Hot(ter) Chocolate Almond Brickle Fluffernutter XXX Cranberry Almond Joy Mulled Apple Cider Yuletides Eggnog

Sin-a-Buns Lime in the Coconut Fake-Out-Eos Raspberry-Chocolate Fondue The Girlscouts Are...Jealous Heeeere's Johnnycake! Do You Like Pina Coladas? Va-Va-Vanilla Rocky Road Hazelnut Coffee Florida Cookies German Chocolate Cake California Cookies Raspberry Graham...Crunch Scarborough Fair

Is It Possible to Savor a Savory Cookie?

Or is a savory cookie really just a biscuit? Would a cookie--an herby one--by any other name taste sweet? Talk about questions for the ages.

I've had savory cookies on the brain for a while, and the flavors have always been the same: parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. Yes. You guessed it..."The Scarborough Fair" cookie.

I'd replace half of the butter with olive oil and all of the sugar with ground Parmesan. I'd cream together the butter, olive oil, and cheese. Then I'd add a beaten egg--no need for vanilla this time!--and mix. The herbs would be dried, and I'd go light on the rosemary because...well...I'm not a huge rosemary fan.

Here's a clip of Simon and Garfunkel (and some other dude) singing the song that inspired this cookie.

"Stomp It to the Death"

I was going to bake tonight, but I remembered that the America's Next Top Model finale was on. And American Idol and Top Chef.

I think I need to get out more...

Cocoa Query

Meredith, a reader from New Jersey, emailed me to ask:

"Oatmeal cookie guy--your blog is so cool! Just discovered it via link on cookie madness. Quick question for you: when you say "Baker's Chocolate," do you mean Baker's Unsweetened Chocolate?  And what brand of milk chocolate (and cocoa power, since I'm posing so many questions) do you use?"

Thanks for the blog-love and the question, Meredith. For baker’s chocolate, I mean Baker’s brand of unsweetened chocolate. I’ll go back and update my recipe grids to reflect this. I use Hershey’s milk chocolate. And for cocoa powder I use Droste. (I always think Grolsch in my head when I say Droste…but that’s something else entirely and definitely not a brand of cocoa.) I hope this helps, Meredith. Happy baking!

Good Stuff(ed)

There's been a lot of interest in my stuffed cookies, so I thought I'd collect them here in a thematic list. (I can't access YouTube right now, so you are temporarily spared from a link to the video for "Good Stuff" from the B52s. Update: You are no longer spared.) I don't have a pic of the PB & J(onnie) cookie--a peanut butter "shell" stuffed with grape jelly--but I do have the recipe posted. But rest assured: pic TK soon.

Visit my Quamut wiki to learn how to stuff a cookie. Once you get the process down, you'll be stuffing cookies...and your face.

• Golden Girls

• PB & J(onnie)

• Peanut Butter Cup

• Fake-Out-Eo

• German Chocolate Cake

Know When to Hold 'em, Know When Not to Bring 'em In

I’m no gambler when comes to my cookies, but I’m baker enough to admit when a recipe goes pffft. So, with great humility, I declare my chocolate malted cookies not bring-in-able.

My first go at this recipe produced a solidly OK cookie, but it wasn’t particularly special, and it didn’t really taste very malty. My second attempt sought to pump up the malt flavor, but the cookies came out as flat as my singing voice, and they were tooth-achingly sweet. My third and final attempt last Sunday night produced a cookie with a really nice crispy/chewy texture, but the flavor just wasn’t there.

Maybe a cookie isn’t the best platform for malt flavor. Old-fashioned malted drinks have texture and temperature components. No cookie can replicate the icy, velvety smoothness of a shake. And no cookie can replicate the crunch, rush of sweetness, and quick dissolve of a malted milk ball.

Oh well…back to the drawing board mixing bowl.

Hoping for a Good Thing

Make sure you watch Martha Stewart on Tuesday to see who wins "Martha’s Favorite Cookie Contest." I entered two of my cookies: Golden Girls and Sin-a-Buns. Keep your fingers crossed for Oatmeal Cookie Guy!

Update: No soup for me!

Chimichurri Isn’t That Song from Mary Poppins

(And it's not that green sauce/marinade for steak, either...)

Jon and I took a walk on Saturday—a really, really, really long walk—along the Hudson River from 14th street all the way up to 155th Street…and then back.

At 148th Street, just a little north of Riverbank State Park right on the Hudson, we took a break and had one of the best burgers we've ever eaten. Oh, chimichurri. How come you taste so good?

These Dominican burgers smell amazing and taste even better. We had our first chimichuris last summer when we did the north leg of this walk. (We didn't have the feet to make the return trip home.)

Lucky for us, the chimichurri cart was in the same spot at 148th street in the park today as it was last summer. And lucky for you too, so if you're in the neighborhood drop by. Or go for a walk to explore one of the least touristy strips of Manhattan and to have a burger you'll remember for years to come.

Fake-Out-Eos

As promised, I present to you the Fake-Out-Eo. These are my take on the classic Oreo cookie. My twist (pardon the pun) is that these are stuffed cookies, not sandwich cookies. I use a combination of cream cheese, vanilla, sugar, and ground-up sugar wafer cookies to make the filling. It's seriously good. To quote our doorman and real-life cookie taster Jason, "These are ridiculous they're so good."

As demonstrated by Jon, America's next top hand model, these chocolaty morsels are best when dunked in a glass of ice-cold milk. Just like you did with your Oreos when you were a kid...or still do today.

To achieve the rich, brownie-like texture and deep chocolate flavor, I use a quadruple shot of chocolate. Regular readers are familiar with my MO by now: cocoa powder, microplaned baker's chocolate, microplaned milk chocolate, and (drum roll please) ground-up Cocoa Pebbles cereal. Bake up a batch to share with mom this Sunday...but save a dozen--or two--for yourself. Makes about 4 dozen.

Filling	8 ounces room-temperature cream cheese 1 cup ground-up sugar wafer cookies 1 tablespoon vanilla 3 tablespoons white sugar
Creamables	2 sticks butter 2 cups dark brown sugar 1/4 cup cocoa powder
Wet Ingredients	2 eggs 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla 2 tablespoons milk
Dry Ingredients	3 1/2 cups roughly ground Cocoa Pebbles cereal 2 1/2 cups oatmeal 1 1/2 flour 1/4 cup cocoa powder 2 1/2 ounces milk chocolate, microplaned 1 ounce unsweetened chocolate, microplaned 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Add the filling ingredients to a medium bowl and mix well. Set the mixture aside until step 7.
2. Preheat oven to 350º.
3. In your Kitchen Aid or a large mixing bowl, cream together the creamables.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients and then add to the creamables. Mix together until smooth.
5. In another large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold together until evenly distributed. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the creamables and wet ingredients. Mix until evenly combined.
6. Shape dough into balls—about 2 tablespoons each.
7. Remove the filling mixture from the refrigerator and stuff each dough ball with 1/2 teaspoon of the mixture. Put the stuffed dough balls in the freezer for five minutes to firm up.
8. Place chilled dough balls about 2 inches apart on Silpat- or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.
9. Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes. Then place cookies on wire racks to cool.

Make Your Mother's Day

I forgot my mother's birthday this year. I didn't call, send a card, or even send an email. I know...I'm a bad son. But in my defense, mumma was away on vacation the week of her birthday. (Ok already...she had her cell phone. I have no defense.) I made up for my slip with belated flowers and a tin of my Lime in the Coconut cookies, which mumma absolutely loved (and hoarded like a cookie miser).

For Mother's Day, I emailed myself to remind myself to get a card and mail it so that it gets to mumma on time. (Since when are stamps $0.41 apiece, anyway!?) So if you've forgotten about Mother's Day, procrastinated too long, or just can't find the right gift, I've got the solution: Make your mother's day by making Mother's Day cookies. I suggest my Fake-Out-Eos, which are my take on everyone's favorite store-bought cookie: the Oreo. Stay tuned...recipe TK tonight!

With the help of FedEx, you can have a fresh batch of homemade cookies on your mother's doorstep just in time for her special day. The flipside, of course, is that because of FedEx you don't have an excuse not to send a batch of cookies to your mother--even if she is on vacation.

Reader Query: Which Butter Is Better?

Mike, a reader from Akron, Ohio, emailed me to ask:

"What kind of butter do you use to bake? Does the brand matter?"

Thanks for sending in this question, Mike. Oddly enough, butter can be a controversial subject among bakers, especially the whole unsalted vs. salted debate. (Just do a google on "unsalted vs. salted butter" to see where the battle lines fall.) I always use Land O'Lakes salted butter (shock, horror) in my cookies. No need for need for fancy-pants Belgian butter from alfalfa-fed cows. Good old Land O'Lakes is perfect for cookies. See my other butter entry here.

The List...Updated

Here's the most up-to-date list.

S’mores Cherry-Vanilla Crispies Chocolate Malted Good Ol’ Peanut Butter White Chocolate Macaroon Dark Earl Grey  Caramel-Espresso Eleven Madison Hawaii Cookies Coffee Cake Fourth of July Grasshopper Elvis Dulce de Leche Chocolate-Caramel Shirley Temple

Golden Girls Juliana Skiffle PB & J(onnie) Mocha Mint Rosh Hashanah ChocAlmScotch Sweater Weather Peanut Butter Cup Hot(ter) Chocolate Almond Brickle Fluffernutter XXX Cranberry Almond Joy Mulled Apple Cider Yuletides Eggnog

Sin-a-Buns Lime in the Coconut Fake-Out-Eos Raspberry-Chocolate Fondue The Girlscouts Are...Jealous Heeeere's Johnnycake! Do You Like Pina Coladas? Va-Va-Vanilla Rocky Road Hazelnut Coffee Florida Cookies German Chocolate Cake California Cookies Raspberry Graham...Crunch

Raspberry Crunch Roundup

Real-life cookie tasters 1) Kevin and 2) Christina had this to say about my Raspberry Graham Cracker Crunch cookies:

1) “Today’s cookie recipe gets the double thumbs up.”

2) “Thank you so much! They are, as always, delicious!”

Thanks, Kevin and Christina!

Demystifying Dehydrated Raspberries

It occurred to me that dehydrated raspberries might not be the most easily procurable ingredient around. I know my grocery store downstairs doesn’t have them (but that’s another story).

If you are lucky enough to live near a super-mega-gigantic mart, you’ll probably find a large selection of dried fruits, including raspberries.

I found the dehydrated raspberries I used in my Raspberry Graham Cracker Crunch and Raspberry-Chocolate Fondue cookies at Whole Foods. The brand I used is Just Tomatoes Etc., and--of course--you can buy all kinds of their tasty dehydrated delectables online.

Raspberry Graham Cracker Crunch

This cookie was inspired by an ice cream flavor I used to have at the Stewart’s off Church St. in Saratoga Springs, New York. When we lived in The Algonquin on North Broadway, Jon and I would walk to Stewart’s practically every night after dinner for $1 cones. We’d then sit on the bench in front of our building, eat our ice creams, and watch the sky turn from “Saratoga Blue” to “Saratoga Very Dark Blue.”

My favorite flavor was raspberry graham crunch. It was sooo good. And sooo cheap! Jon’s favorite flavor was “Star Gazer,” which included chopped-up Milky Ways. (Star Gazer = Milky Way…get it?)

The $1 cones have gone up in price since we were students at Skidmore, but Stewart’s ice cream is as good as always. This cookie, though, is even better!

I pump up the raspberry flavor by using my usual trick: a triple shot. Raspberry preserves, raspberry extract, and loads of dried raspberries make this cookie berry, berry flavorful. Ground-up graham crackers--another one of my tricks--round out the flavor profile.

To create the crunchiness, I include some Rice Crispies inside the cookie. A coating of turbinado sugar bakes up to give these guys a crunchy exterior that contrasts perfectly with the chewy interior. Makes about 4 dozen.

               

Creamables	2 sticks butter 2 cups dark brown sugar
Wet Ingredients	1 egg 1/3 cup seedless raspberry jam 1 tablespoon raspberry extract 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Dry Ingredients	4 cups dried raspberries 2 1/2 cups finely ground graham crackers 2 cups oatmeal 1 1/2 cups Rice Crispies cereal 1 1/4 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt
Topping	3/4 cup turbinado sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. In your Kitchen Aid or a large mixing bowl, cream together the creamables.
3. In a small bowl, combine the wet ingredients and whisk together until smooth.
4. Add the combined wet ingredients to the creamables. Mix together until well incorporated.
5. In a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold together until evenly distributed.
6. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the combined creamables and wet ingredients. Mix until evenly combined.
7. Shape dough into balls--about 2 tablespoons each.
8. Roll each dough ball evenly in turbinado sugar
9. Place dough balls about 2 inches apart on Silpat- or parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.
10. Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes. Then place cookies on wire racks to cool.

How to Sugar a Cookie

Here's a short demo of how to sugar a cookie. Coating a dough ball in sugar prior to baking gives the finished cookie a nice crunchy exterior.

Simply Golden

Amelia, a reader and (now) a real-life recipe tester and taster of my Golden Girls cookies, had this to say:

"Hi Greg [Oatmeal Cookie Guy], I made these babies today; so delicious! I ate 3 at one sitting, no kidding! My 16-month-old ate 1 jumbo at a go and still wanted more. Your blog's going on my fave list, so glad I saw your entry on Martha's site. Next up...your Florida Cookies!"

Thanks, Amelia! I’m so glad you and your son liked these guys. Once you get the stuffing technique down, it’s a breeze. I can’t wait to see how the Florida Cookies turn out. And thanks for the blog add!

Real-Life Cookie Tasters

Jon brought some of my Lime in the Coconut cookies to work yesterday, and his friend Ariele sent him three emails:

1. “These cookies are DELISH--how creative!”
2. “Tell Greg [Oatmeal Cookie Guy] I need to meet him. As a person who bakes and cooks a lot, I'm really impressed by these cookies--unexpected flavor combos.” 
3. “These cookies are evil. I can't stop eating them.”

Thanks, Ariele!

I made these so that I could share them with Susan (hi Susan!) and with my mom, who has been asking for these for a while now. (Mumma: I’m FedExing a tin of cookies to you later today.) I could have made these cookies for mumma when I was home last weekend, but her kitchen isn’t…quite exactly...baker ready. In other words, she has only “lite salt,” and her vintage Durkee and McCormick spices could net a fortune on eBay. No joke. (She may not be a baker, but she can make a mean American chop suey and an awesome baked mac 'n cheese.)

So instead of doing a huge grocery shopping up there, I decided to bake in my kitchen here in NYC and send my love through the mail.

Vote for Oatmeal Cookie Guy

I entered pics of a couple of my cookies in the "Martha's Favorite Cookie Contest." Take a look at the entries for my Sin-a-Bun and Golden Girls cookies. Vote early and often!

Apricotty-Keen

Kristin, a reader and real-life cookie taster, emailed me to say:

"So, I think I had said that the cinnabon cookies were my favorite, but I lied. This week's cookies are the best! I didn't even know I liked apricot! Haha! I am totally stealing this recipe (and I will of course credit you whenever I make them)."

Thanks, Kristin!

The Most Up-to-Date List

Here's the most up-to-date list.

S’mores Cherry-Vanilla Crispies Chocolate Malted Good Ol’ Peanut Butter White Chocolate Macaroon Dark Earl Grey  Caramel-Espresso Eleven Madison Hawaii Cookies Coffee Cake Fourth of July Grasshopper Elvis Dulce de Leche Chocolate-Caramel

Shirley Temple Golden Girls Juliana Skiffle PB & J(onnie) Mocha Mint Rosh Hashanah ChocAlmScotch Sweater Weather Peanut Butter Cup Hot(ter) Chocolate Almond Brickle Fluffernutter XXX Cranberry Almond Joy Mulled Apple Cider

Yuletides Eggnog Sin-a-Buns Lime in the Coconut Fake-Out-Eos Raspberry-Chocolate Fondue The Girlscouts Are...Jealous Heeeere's Johnnycake! Do You Like Pina Coladas? Va-Va-Vanilla Rocky Road Hazelnut Coffee Florida Cookies German Chocolate Cake California Cookies

California Cookies

Looks like I've got a state theme going. These guys include apricots and almonds, which are native to California...hence the name. There are also some white chocolate chips...just because.

When I was home over the weekend, I caught a show on the Food Network about a shake shop in California that used local nuts and dried fruits in its shakes. The apricot and almond combo got me thinking, and that's how this cookie was born.

(Oh, and if your interested, both pronunciations of apricot are acceptable: ape-ri-cot and ahp-ri-cot.)

I have a few secrets to infusing these cookies with flavor: apricot preserves, which I use as a dough flavoring and a glaze; toasted almonds and almond extract; and a loads of roughly chopped apricots, which are bright and yummy like little balls of sunshine. Makes about 4 dozen cookies.

               

Creamables	2 sticks butter 2 cups dark brown sugar
Wet Ingredients	1 egg + 1 yolk 1/3 cup apricot preserves 1 tablespoon vanilla 2 teaspoons almond extract
Dry Ingredients	3 cups oatmeal 1 1/3 cups flour 2 1/2 roughly chopped dried apricots 2 cups toasted sliced almonds 1 cup white chocolate chips 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt
Glaze	1/2 cup apricot preserves, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350º.
2. In your Kitchen Aid or a large mixing bowl, cream together the creamables.
3. In a small bowl, combine the wet ingredients and whisk together until smooth.
4. Add the combined wet ingredients to the creamables. Mix together until well incorporated.
5. In a large mixing bowl, add the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold together until evenly distributed.
6. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the combined creamables and wet      ingredients. Mix until evenly combined.
7. Shape dough into balls--about 2 tablespoons each.
8. Place dough balls about 2 inches apart on Silpat- or parchment paper-lined      cookie sheets.
9. Put 1/2 cup of apricot preserves in a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for about 30 seconds or until slightly liquefied.
10. Using a brush, baste each dough ball with the melted apricot preserves.
11. Bake at 350º for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let stand for 2 minutes. Then place cookies on wire racks to cool.

Blast from the Past

Jon and I spent the weekend with my family in Massachusetts. When we got back tonight, I was too tired to make cookies. Sorry folks! So I figured that I would instead post about the start of our cookie baking…and cookie dough eating.

We took this pic our senior year of college. (I’m on the left, Jon’s on the right.) While our classmates were out squeezing as much last hurrah as they could into their final semester, Jon and I were at home squeezing as much Body Shop Warming Mineral Mask onto our faces and pizza from Pope’s (which has since been turned into a Borders bookstore) into our faces as we could, along with eating raw cookie dough from the tube (and sometimes baking a few cookies) and watching HGTV. This was our typical Friday (and Saturday and Sunday) night. We were homebodies even back then.

All these years later, we still do the occasional face mask but have Rosa Mexicano instead of Pope’s Pizza, watch Britcoms instead of HGTV, and make our own cookie dough instead of buying that stuff from Price Chopper.