The Cookie Is Mighty!

Today is a quick post and it does have a little something to do with the baking season. I often get asked what my favorite dessert is, and usually the answer is the same, I don’t really have a favorite, I like them all! Actually, it is very hard for me to decide. I think a lot depends on the day or the occasion or the food you ate before dessert. However, there is one little sweet treat that I think gets over looked by many, it’s the cookie. Maybe it’s because the cookie is associated with children and it’s not as fancy as a soufflé or a Napoleon. In recent years I have grown fond of the cookie for many reasons. It can be made in various ways and can mimic larger high calorie sweets like cinnamon rolls or cakes. The cookie can be taken on the go. They’re great on a road trip or while hiking and camping. The cookie can also help to satisfy your sweet tooth while on a diet so you don’t feel deprived and devour half the apple pie on the counter. I have used cookies many times this way and I think it comes down to our perception of portions and feeling one cookie is a complete dessert. You can have one or two cookies and feel satisfied, compared to having a bite or two of a piece of cake. I don’t know anyone who can have a piece of cake and only eat a little of it and walk away. The cookie however, is complete and you’ll be finished in a few bites, having had the whole thing. The cookie is also easy to experiment with. Once you find a basic recipe you like, try adding mix-ins that you think will go well with the rest of the ingredients. I woke up the other day and had a hankering for the old school apple cookie recipe I posted last year, you can find it here. These cookies are delicious, but I wanted to try something a little different and make a cookie with apples oatmeal and raisins that one could also add nuts too if desired. Below is the recipe I came up with. I was trying to get a crunchy chewy cookie but I found the fresh apple in this cookie kept it moist for a few days and it wasn’t until about day five that the cookies got to the place I wanted them to be. You can try cooking them a little longer but you have to be careful not to burn them, I had a little luck drying them out in a 170 degree oven for 5 minutes after they had already cooled. These cookies have a lot of healthy ingredients so you might feel better eating more than one!

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• Apple Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (nuts optional)
• 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats ( not instant oatmeal or steel cut!)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (gives it that holiday smell)
• 3/4 cup softened butter ( I like using salted butter)
• 1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg beaten
• 1/3 cup of whole milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tart apple (granny smith, wine sap) peeled cored and diced
• 1 1/2 cups raisins
• 1/2 cup of chopped nuts (your favorite, I like pecans) optional
• In a large bowl combine the oats, flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
• In another bowl cream together the butter and sugar. Add the beaten egg, the milk and vanilla extract.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix throughly
• Add the apple, raisins and nuts (if using )and stir just enough to mix it all together.
• Place the bowl in the fridge for about an hour
• When ready to cook, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. You can line a cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper or use non stick spray but I find the sprays often make the cookies taste differently.
• Make rounded balls of cookie dough on the baking sheet using a tablespoon and keep the cookies about 2 inches apart as they will spread out as they cook.
• Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until the bottoms are brown and the tops are golden, you might need a couple more minutes depending on your oven.
• Remove cookie sheet and allow cookies to cool a few minutes before removing them to a cooling rack or just a large platter, use what you have around.
• At first these cookies will be more cake like but in a few days they will start to become crunchy and chewy and they smell amazing.

I hope you give these cookies a try and let us know how they turned out. I’m on a cookie making binge right now so I will probably post a couple more recipes soon. For some reason I’m not really big on the Christmas cookie but maybe that’ll change this year. I’d really love to get a few recipes of your family favorite cookies, so please send them in. You can post them in the box below or send them via email. As usual any questions will be answered as soon as I can. Enjoy the cookies, until next time, Boone Appétit!