Oatmeal Cookies

Mom's Refrigerator Oatmeal Cookies

This is the recipe I got from Mom when I first set up house. Her recipe book, The Lore of Cooking, doesn't mention this recipe, but instead the recipe from the Quaker Oatmeal box.

This is a refrigerator cookie dough, popular in the 1930s and 1940s. The cookie dough can be kept in the refrigerator and sliced whenever you want fresh baked cookies.

FMM: Interestingly, I found an exact recipe to this for Oatmeal Cookies from Ina Garten, except she uses baking powder instead of baking soda and she adds 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon. She uses 1 cup pecans as well as 1 cup raisins. This recipe is not treated as a refrigerator cookie dough, instead she just drops the dough on baking sheets right after mixing, flattens them slightly with a damp hand, and bakes them for 12 - 15 minutes. The ones I baked this way took 10 minutes. Let the cookies sit on the sheet for a few minutes after taking them out of the oven to let the cookies set up a bit.

I also refrigerated a roll of the cookie dough per the recipe and these came out a little more lacy than the ones I dropped on the sheet, as Ina Garten does. Perhaps the cookies I sliced were thinner than the ones I flattened following Ina’s recipe. I always think of oatmeal cookies as being lacy. I liked these cookies better than those I dropped following Ina’s recipe and would make them this way again. They are fairly crispy and have great flavor, but a little sweet. I would try to lessen the amount of sugar in them so the oatmeal flavor comes through more.

1 cup shortening [or butter]
1 cup brown sugar [cut back to 3/4 cup?]
1 cup sugar [cut back to 1/2 cup?]
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
3 cups quick oatmeal
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts
[1 cup raisins, not in original recipe]

Cream the shortening and sugars together. Beat in the eggs and add the dry ingredients. Stir in the vanilla and chopped nuts [and raisins, if using]. Form into 2 rolls, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

[If you add the raisins with the flour, the creases in the raisins will pick up the flour and it is hard to get this mixed in. I have a bad habit of adding the nuts and raisins along with the dry ingredients.]

[The dough should rest at least 1 hour after mixing (but before forming) so the dry ingredients have time to hydrate fully.]

Preheat oven to 375° F. [350° F.]

Cut rolls into 1/4 inch slices and place on greased sheets. Bake for 8 - 10 minutes until brown around the edges. Cool on a wire rack; store in a covered container.

Yield: I got over 2 dozen, some dropped, some sliced from frig

The Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
from Elise Bauer, https://www.simplyrecipes.com/

Straight from Grandma, these oatmeal raisin cookies are soft, chewy and just the best. They're a little chewy in the center and a little crispy at the edges. Each bite is loaded with oats and sweet bursts of raisins. My grandmother used shortening, not butter, when making her cookies. These days I almost always use butter. Either will do; the shortening cookies I think tend to be a bit chewier.

FMM: 1/2 recipe made exactly 2 dozen cookies using my cookie scoop. I added 1/2 cup nuts and used the lower amount of sugar (1/4 cup) for 1/2 recipe. The cookies did not spread much and were quite thick and shaped like a dome. They were very good, especially out of the oven when I ate two. Then I ate more during the day! They were a bit on the sweet side.

Interestingly, this recipe must have come from Quaker Oats' original "Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies" recipe (see to the right). Not surprising as many grandmas used Quaker Oats recipe for this cookie. The only differences are this recipes adds 2 extra Tbsp, of sugar, 2 extra tsp. vanilla, adds nutmeg, more raisins and adds walnuts.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, OR 1 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar (light or dark), packed
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (10 tablespoons) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon [skip]
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg [skip]
1 1/2 cups raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional
3 cups rolled oats (old-fashioned or quick; do NOT use instant)

Preheat the oven and prep the cookie sheets:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease 2 large cookie sheets or line with Silpat or parchment paper.

Combine the butter, sugar, and eggs:
In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter until creamy. Add the brown sugar and white sugar and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla extract.

Add the dry ingredients:
Mix the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in medium bowl. Stir the dry ingredients into the butter-sugar mixture. Stir in the raisins and nuts. Stir in the oats.

Scoop out the dough:
Spoon out the dough by large tablespoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets, leaving at least 2 inches between each cookie.

Bake the cookies:
Bake until the edges of the cookies turn golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes. If baking 2 cookie sheets at once, swap their positions on the racks mid-bake.

Note that the cookies will seem underdone and lightly colored everywhere but the edges. That's okay, they will firm up as they cool. Do not overbake these cookies! The edges should be brown, but the rest of the cookie should be very light in color.

Repeat with the remaining cookie dough.

Cool, transfer, and store:
Cool 1 minute on the cookie sheets. Then carefully remove them, using a metal spatula, to a wire rack. Cool completely. They will be quite soft until completely cooled. Store tightly covered at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Yield 4 dozen

BA’s Best Oatmeal Cookies
from https://www.bonappetit.com/

Don’t try to make these with quick-cooking oats. Quick oats are rolled thinner than old-fashioned oats (sometimes called rolled oats). The two absorb liquids at different rates; swap the quick-cooking version into this recipe, and you’ll end up with dry, cakey cookies instead of buttery ones. For extra nutty flavor, we toast the oats (and pecans) before stirring them into the cookie dough, resulting in the best oatmeal cookies of your life.

Of course, there are a few other contributing factors. We use a high proportion of brown sugar, plus a glug of maple syrup, to boost the cookies’ classic butterscotch notes.

The dough should rest at least 1 hour after mixing (but before forming) so the dry ingredients have time to hydrate fully—you can also make the dough a day ahead, cover it well, and stick it in the fridge overnight. For the chewiest oatmeal cookies, reduce the baking time by 2 minutes—if you prefer crisper ones, flatten the dough balls slightly before baking.

2 cups (178 g) old-fashioned oats
1 cup (100 g) pecans, chopped
1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp. Diamond Crystal of ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
3/4 cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup (packed; 156 g) light brown sugar
1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
2 tsp. vanilla extract or paste
1 cup raisins, dried sour cherries, and/or dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 375° [use 350° - reviewers found some burned]. Spread old-fashioned oats on a rimmed baking sheet and toast until lightly golden, about 6 minutes. Add chopped pecans, toss to combine, and continue toasting until pecans are fragrant and oats are deep golden brown, about 6 minutes more. Let cool sightly.

Whisk all-purpose flour, salt, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl; stir in cooled oats and pecans.

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a large bowl, scraping down sides of bowl, until light and fluffy, 3–4 minutes. Add egg, maple syrup, and vanilla and beat until incorporated, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture and raisins, dried sour cherries, and/or dried cranberries and continue to beat, scraping down sides and bottom of bowl, until just combined. Let sit at room temperature at least 1 hour to hydrate oatmeal.

Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a 2-oz. ice cream scoop (or 1/4-cup measuring cup), portion cookies and place on prepared baking sheets, spacing 3" apart (cookies will spread as they bake).

Bake cookies, rotating cookie sheets halfway through, until edges are golden brown and firm but centers are soft, 15–17 minutes [reviewers found this to be too long]. Let sit on sheets 10 minutes, then transfer to wire racks; let cool.

Do ahead: Cookie dough can be made 3 days ahead; store chilled in an airtight container. Let dough come to room temperature before baking.

Makes 24 cookies