Monday, January 20, 2014

The Most Buttery and Crispiest Oatmeal Cookies!

These are the most buttery and crispiest oatmeal cookies! I have been on the lookout for crispy cookies, by crispy, I meant, totally crispy, crunch in each bite. My family does not favour cookies which are crispy on the outside and chewy inside, thus I seldom bake any cookies as most recipes are just that, crispy on the outside and chewy inside. On those times when I've made some chewy cookies, we do not have problem finishing it all up, as the recipes usually make a small amount, but it always ends with a request, "crispy cookies next time"! 

I found this recipe months ago, and only made it recently, for the coming Chinese New Year. This recipe was adapted from a lovely blog, Baking Bites, which I have always enjoyed reading. Nicole Weston is the person behind this lovely blog, and she has even authored a baking cookbook, The Baking Bites Cookbook. She got this recipe from America's Test Kitchen and has adapted it slightly by reducing the amount of butter used. The original recipe uses almost double the amount of butter! Gasp!!!

I have adapted Baking Bite's version slightly by reducing the amount of sugar by half, and it turns out great, not too sweet, just right! The original recipe uses unsalted butter and some coarse sea flakes is sprinkled over the unbaked cookies before they go into the oven. I have instead used salted butter and omitted the sea salt, both in the batter and for sprinkling. And I have used big flakes rolled oats, process them in the food processor until they are finely coarse. I have adapted my way of "flattening the cookie batter" before baking, which works out easier for me.


These Oatmeal Cookies are really buttery with a light crispiness in each bite, almost melting in the mouth. So  good! 

Here's how I made these cookies :  **


  1. To make the cookies uniform in size, I have made a template by drawing 2-1/2" circles on a piece of large paper (the size of the baking tray). Place the template on the baking tray, and place a piece of baking parchment or silicone mat over it. 
  2. To make sure that the cookies have the same thickness, I have scaled the cookie batter at 10 grams each. Place them on the baking tray, in the centre of the circle which is visible.
  3. Have ready a spoon and a small bowl of water. Dip the spoon into the water, shake off excess water. 
  4. Use the back of the spoon to flatten the cookie batter, in circular motion until the batter fills up the circle. Neaten the sides all around with the back of the spoon. You will need to dip the spoon in the water two or three times for each batter as it will stick to the spoon. Always shake off excess water for each dip.
  5. Remove the template from under the baking parchment. The cookie batter are ready to be baked. 
  6. To get crispy cookies, the flattened cookie batter should be quite thin.


Bake them at 160C for 15-18 minutes. I have baked two trays at one time, rotating the two trays at half time, and back to front. Bake until the cookies are brown. Allow cookies to rest on baking tray for two minutes. To remove cookies, it is easier to lift up one corner of the baking parchment gently and the cookies will come off easily.


Transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Eat one (you will reach for the second one!) and store the rest in an airtight container. Makes about 60 cookies.


These are delightfully crispy! Great with a cup of hot black coffee or tea. I have already made this twice and would be making this again soon, the first batch (for testing!) are all gone. I'm keeping the second batch for the coming CNY and will be making another batch soon. I can see that I'll be trying this with some desiccated coconut in the future! Oh yes!


note : my changes in blue
Thin & Crispy Salted Oatmeal Cookies
(adapted from Baking Bites, who adapted it from America's Test Kitchen)
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (omit this)
3/4 cup butter, at room temperature (I use salted)
1 cup sugar (scant 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup brown sugar (1/8 cup)
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups oatmeal (pref. quick cooking) (I use rolled oats, processed in food processor until finely coarse)
approx 3/4 - 1 tsp coarse kosher or sea salt
  1. Preheat oven to 350F. (I baked mine at 160C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  3. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars until mixture is creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla, followed by the flour mixture. Stir in the oatmeal, mixing just until the oats are well-distributed and no streaks of dry ingredients remain in the batter.
  4. Shape dough into 1 inch balls and arrange on baking sheet, leaving about 2-inches between them to allow for spread. Gently flatten each ball (so it is about 1/2 as high) with your fingertips, then sprinkle cookies with coarse salt. (I find that the batter sticks to the fingers, so I have used a spoon, dip in water ; refer to my instructions as above **)
  5. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until cookies are golden brown and cooked through.
  6. Allow to cool for 2-3 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
OT8/12/14

******************

To join our blog hop, bake any Chinese New Year Cookies and link your post to our Bake-Along linky. The link will stay open for three weeks, from 6th January until 27th January.
Please visit my baking buddies, Lena from Frozen Wings and Zoe from Bake For Happy Kids, and all our friends who has baked along with us in the linky below :

Bake-Along shall take a break in February and we shall meet again in March for our Bake-Along #58 , with our bake, Cream Cheese Brownies from How To Be A Domestic Goddess, pg 194 by Nigella Lawson or you may get the recipe here. The linky will start from 6th to 15th March.


Photobucket


A friendly reminder when linking to our blog hop :
1. Please mention Bake-Along event in your own post linking direct to any of the hosts' post (JoyceLena or Zoe)
2. Please link only new and current post, related to the current bake or theme provided by us. Unrelated post will be deleted.
3. Feel free to display our Bake-Along badge in your post


To join our blog hop, click on the link to get the codes :
get the InLinkz code

18 comments:

  1. Hi Joyce! Unlike you... I love those that are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside! :p But I think I will still love your cookie crisps, oatmeal cookies are so yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Galletas crujientes y ricas muy bien preparadas me encanta,abrazos.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Joyce

    The oatmeal cookies make it a very healthy choice for this festive season.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Joyce , love crispy cookies , thanks for sharing :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Crunch crunch crunch... I think it's a good idea to reduce the sugar, a lot of Western cookie recipes are way too sweet.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your cookies looks so tidy :) love it!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Joyce,

    Are these the crispy cookies that you told us via email? They look really really good.

    Thanks for re-emphasizing the rules of linking with us at bake-along. Cheers!

    Zoe

    ReplyDelete
  8. wow wee! these looks so amazingly done.....

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow, you bake lots of crispy yummy treats for CNY, I am so behind! lol! got to catch up! These cookies looks really good! Got to pin this too!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I would not be able to get enough of! Delicious!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. They do sound wonderful, Joyce, and perfect with coffee or tea! Lately, the only cookies I've been making are for the palate of my 4-year-old grandson. I need some 'me' cookies :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Joyce , you don't have the America's Test Kitchen book yet ?! Tsk :D Those cookies look wonderfully crispy and I'm sure tastes really good ! I can't make up what to bookmark among those 133 entries of gorgeous cookies *sigh*

    ReplyDelete
  13. hey you know something, i was just thinking of coconut in these oatmeal cookies! you see i know you so well! hahhaha! this must be the one that you were talking abt earlier..

    ReplyDelete
  14. These cookies looks very good. Very neatly done.

    ReplyDelete
  15. These look thin and crispy! I am sure I would love to eat them by the box.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I'm like your family - I only like completely crispy cookies and looking at the recipe, I think I've tried this before and liked it, except I found it too sweet! Shall try it again with your modifications! :)

    ReplyDelete