Oatmeal Cookies Revisited

Fresh from the oven!

I was craving for a cookie this weekend and amazing enough, I wasn't craving for my chocolate chip cookies but an oatmeal cookies! Who would have thought that I would forgoe eating bunch of chocolates in exchange for a healthier oats and raisins. I wan't a fan of oatmeal cookies before specially commercially bought ones because they tend to be though and much too sweet for me. Looking back at my blog, I saw that I only made oatmeal cookies TWICE and they are years apart. I remember clearly that one of the best oatmeal cookies that I have ever tasted is the made made by Sherry Yard. Its moist and chewy at the same time without being coyingly sweet.

Cookies cooling

It's very fortunate that I have golden raisins handy though I was willing to use the regular black raisins if I don't have the golden variety. My craving needed to be satisfied immediately, instead for looking for orange juice, white wine and bunch of other stuff to soak the raisins with, I used up my last cup of dark rum and sprinkle a bit of sugar in it and zap it in the microwave. I let it soak for a good hour or so and like magic the shriveled up raisins turn into these gorgeously plump juicy raisins. Making the batter was so wasy just cream the butter and sugar and dump everything in the mixer, though the raisins got to be folded into the batter since they are now soft and juicy. Using the paddle on them might turn them into mush. Was debating whether or not I should age the dough first before baking like what I do with my chocolate chip cookies, but then aging takes time and time is something I don't have. Thowing caution to the wind and besides the recipe said we could bake it asap or freeze it, I just chose the easier answer which is to bake it! Yeah!

Up for grabs! :D

It's a good this that this cookie have oatmeal and raisins in them gorging on them all weekend long makes me feel less guilty on cheating on my diet! LOL! Definitely very addictive and excellent to wash it down with a tall glass of milk.

PRES. CLINTON'S OATMEAL COOKIES

Adapted from Sherry Yard, Desserts by the Yard

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 7 ounces (1 ¾ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 ¼ cups rolled oats
• 1 ½ cups fat raisins (ingredients below)

1. Sift together the flour and baking soda and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter on high speed until lemony yellow, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle or beaters. Add the sugar, brown sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Continue creaming the mixture on high speed until it is smooth and lump-free, about 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle.
2. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl and paddle after each addition. Beat on low speed for 15-30 seconds, until the eggs are fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle. On low speed, add the sifted flour mixture, beating until all of the flour is incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. On low speed, mix in the oats and raisins.
3. With a rubber spatula, scoop out the dough and divide it in half. Center one half along the bottom of a sheet of parchment paper and roll it up in the paper, creating a log about 2 inches wide and 12 inches long. Repeat with the second piece of dough. Fold over the parchment, creating a sausage. Twist the ends over and wrap in plastic. Chill the dough logs for a minimum of 1 hour. (At this point the dough will keep nicely, wrapped well, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or up to 1 month in the freezer.) You can also simply spoon the dough onto parchment-covered baking sheets and bake at once.
4. Place racks in the middle and lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. When the dough is chilled, remove it from the parchment paper. Using a chef’s knife or an offset serrated knife, slice ½-inch rounds off the log. Place the cookies on the prepared baking sheets, spaced 2 inches apart. Bake for 12 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets from top to bottom and from front to back, and bake for another 5-8 minutes, until nicely browned. Remove the cookies from the oven and carefully slide the parchment off the sheets and directly onto your work surface. Cool the baking sheets between batches. Wait a minimum of 5 minutes before eating, or allow to cool completely before storing the cookies in an airtight container. (The cookies will keep for up to 3 days at room temperature.)

FAT RAISINS

• 1 cup golden or Red Flame raisins
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 1 tablespoon dark rum
• 2 tablespoons sugar

1. Combine the raisins, wine, orange juice, rum, and sugar in a small heavy saucepan, bring just to a boil over medium heat, stirring all the while. Lower the heat so that the liquid is at a bare simmer and poach for 20 minutes.
2. Remove from the heat, cover the pan with plastic wrap, and allow to cool to room temperature. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Chunk Muffins

I spent the last quarter of 2010 spending way too much! There was a lot of bargain items which I got for Christmas gifts to my love ones and tons of new baking books and kitchen paraphernalia. My room looks more and more like a storage room with all the boxes, shopping bags strewn everywhere. Little by little I try my best to organize them and put it in their proper place. My huge pile of baking books, one by one I try to have them covered with a clear plastic wrap to protect them from certain kitchen spills and accidents. Once they are well protected, it's time to give them a whirl! But where will I start? After pondering for a few seconds, I settled on the The Essence of Chocolate. I got this book from my favorite second hand bookstore and I got it on a bargain for 375 pesos around $8! Another thing that I love is that the baking books that I often get though used are in excellent conditions and since most of them are in hardcover formats there are no tear pages. Though sometimes the book jacket is missing or the jacket looks dilapidated but heck for more than 1/4 of the price of a new book, I can look passed it and when it's all wrapped in clear plastic, no one would notice those. I probably just bore you with my obsessiveness and you probably don't care and just want me to get it and talk about the muffins. Here goes...

I don't make a lot of cupcakes or muffins, I however would like to admit that a compulsive muffin/cupcake liner buyer. Whenever I see new colors or designs of the liner even if I have no idea when I'm going to use them I always buy it! I even get obsessive with them whenever I see a cute design online, I check my local cookery store if we got those designs here. One of my New Year's Resolution is used up all the things that I have been hoarding like a crazed maniac. For this Chocolate Chunk Muffins, I used my clear plain ones to showcase the chunks that you could see through out the muffin. It a total coincidence that I chose this recipe by Joan Chang from a different book while at the same time started reading her new baking book Flour. How fun is that?

I don't make muffins often and I can still remember the first time I made muffins years ago, it was a huge disaster! I was afraid of over mixing which I heard creates a tough muffin. Silly little me, under mixed it and made a huge inedible mess! There were bits of flour not mixed in so when it baked . . . you can only guess the horror! LOL! After that horrible muffin incident I'm glad to say that I have made major improvement since then. I made my muffin making come back 3 years ago making this. I guess the saying "When there is a will, there's a way" Ha! It surely applies to me. My will to eat gives me the courage to try and try again. I actually wanted a chocolate chunk muffins but couldn't find a good recipe for it but since I love eating and making chocolate chunk cookies how bad can it be in muffin form. I'm glad to say they are not to shabby and the house smelled so wonderful after. The muffin itself is a vanilla based muffin with generous chunks of chocolate suspended in their crumbs. Its was such an easy afternoon baking project that I'm sure you will enjoy. My only gripe is the recipe said it yields 12 muffins? Uh..it barely fits 11 pieces. One less muffin to enjoy. LOL!

CHOCOLATE CHUNK MUFFIN

Recipe from Joanne Chang

• 4 oz unsalted butter, melted & cooled
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 c creme fraiche
• 2 c all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 c granulated sugar
• 3 oz 62% chocolate chunks

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
   
   
2. Butter and flour 12 muffin cups (3/4 cup capacity) or line with paper liners.
   
   
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the butter, eggs and creme fraiche.
   
   
4. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add the butter-egg mixture and stir with a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks.
   
   
5. Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until muffins springs back when lightly pressed on the center.
   
   
6. Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack and let it cool completely.
   
   
7. Chow it down! Enjoy!