At the end of the day, I cannot claim to be a real baker. I can make a bake-off winning coffee cake here and there, and the occasional buttermilk pie. But if we are being brutally honest, deep down I am a cookie maker. Cookies are, and will always be, my favorite kind of baked good (not biscotti, or jam filled cookies, or oreos, but the kind that drips with butter and oozes chocolate chips).The recipe for cowboy cookies in Baked Explorations was one that jumped out after a few reads through the book. Any food item that evokes the Wild West is OK with me, and what is more wild and western than cowboys? Furthermore, the recipe contained oats, chocolate and pretzels. YUM.
When I finally got to making these cookies, I ended up leaving out the pretzels (I didn't have any, and it seemed like a good idea at the time). I had the thought of sprinkling the tops of each cookie with a pinch of the fancy salt flakes my mom buys in lieu of pretzels, but in the moment I forgot this step. Some extra salt, either pure or in pretzel form, would have made these cookies more exciting, but even without the added hypertensive they were not too shabby.
I also diverged from Matt and Renato's instructions in the dough refrigeration time. They recommended chilling the dough for at least 4 hours before baking. I left the dough in the fridge for about 30 minutes before I realized that it was disappearing at an alarming rate (into my mouth); if I wanted to have any left for actual baking, I had to act fast. As a result the cookies were extra thin and slightly crispy (this is what happens with not-too-cold butter in cookie dough). Again, not complaining.
In conclusion, the final product strongly resembled (physically and... orally) oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I can think of worse fates.
Cowgirl Cookies
adapted from Baked Explorations
* 1 3/4 cups flour
* 1 tsp baking soda
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 2 cups rolled oats
* 1 1/2 sticks butter
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 3/4 cup granulated sugar
* 2 eggs (the recipe called for 1 egg and 1 egg yolk, but I am lazy and opposed to wasting and/or storing parts of eggs, so the whole thing went in)
* 1 tsp vanilla
* 1 tsp instant espresso powder (a very nice touch, I might add)
* 1-2 cups chocolate chunks
* 1/2 cup hazelnuts, chopped (my compensation for no pretzels, and a completely futile attempt to make the cookies less appealing to myself)
Mix together the flour, b.s., b.p. and salt. Add the oats and combine.
In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar together (I used an electric mixer this time, but a wooden spoon will do the trick). Add the eggs and continue beating, then the vanilla. Mix until well combined. Pour 1/4 cup of water over the espresso powder and dissolve. Beat this into the wet mixture.
Add in the dry ingredients in two additions and stir until well combined. Mix in the chocolate chunks and nuts.
Cover the bowl and refrigerate for as long as possible without risking the loss of all the dough to swallowing.
Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Grease two cookie sheets (I initially ignored the recipe's instructions to line the sheets with parchment paper, much to my dismay as the cookies refused to part with the metal beneath them). Place balls of dough on the buttered/papered sheet and bake for 10-14 minutes. If you are using two sheets on two racks, be sure to switch the sheets halfway through to ensure even baking.
While these were not the most original cookies I have ever created, they were still a hit at Chez Dani, as well as at my place of occupation (I decided that if I can't be the tiara wearing champion baker, at least I can be the most prolific). I even managed to demolish one or ten myself.
No comments:
Post a Comment