First of all, if you're visiting from the link in Donna Downey's newsletter: Helllloooo!! and thanks for stopping by : )
Today I decided to post a recipe because it's rainy and miserable outside and these cookies have sort of a warm, autumn goodness to them. And yes, it's another tinkered with recipe by yours truly.
Here's how it came about...
A couple of weeks ago I had a hankering for some oatmeal raisin cookies. I got out my Mrs. Field's cookie cookbook and checked for ingredients. I was stopped in my tracks when I found that I had neither raisins nor quick cooking oats. Raisins I could live without, not having oats for an oatmeal cookie recipe seemed a bigger problem. But then I discovered I had steel cut oats. If you've never had steel cut oats (also known as Irish oats), they're much firmer than instant or quick cooking oats and have a lower glycemic index. They also take a while to cook, about 20 minutes on the stove top or a few hours in the slow cooker. Eh, no matter, I decided to try them in a recipe. I did a bit of searching around online to see what kinds of recipes were out there for cookies using steel cut oats. I got some info about the proportion of oats and cooking time. Then I went back to Mrs. Fields, pulled out the Kitchen Aid stand mixer and began.
Steel Cut Oat Nut Cookies
(makes about 1 1/2 dozen)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 t. vanilla
1/4 c. Egg Starts or other egg substitute
1 1/4 c. flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/8 t. salt
1/2 c. steel cut oats (uncooked)
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
- Cream together sugar, brown sugar and butter
- Add vanilla and egg substitute, beat until fluffy
- Add all dry ingredients except walnuts and mix well until combined
- Stir in walnuts
- Drop by slightly rounded tablespoons onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet
- Bake for 12-14 minutes or until edges start to brown
The first time I made these I had no idea how they would turn out--though the raw batter was tasty ; )
My verdict: thumbs up. The steel cut oats do give an extra crunch as they don't totally soften during baking. Personally I like the extra nuttiness. You could certainly add raisin or dried cranberries for some
softness and extra sweetness. Overall it was a fun variation to try and it didn't require a trip to the grocery store. Which in my book is always a good thing!
