Chewy Oatmeal Macadamia Cookies

A quick cookie recipe for your Monday afternoon, some chewy oatmeal macadamia cookies to be precise.

Oatmeal cookies have to be one of my favourites, I first came to love their gooey texture while travelling through the US a couple of years ago. They are big over there in both size and popularity. Some were the size of dinner plates and held together by the slightest bond that melts in your mouth upon contact and ever since that first gooey mouthful I have tried to re-create the perfect texture at home. I think the secret to a gooey cookie with a crunchy outer layer is to chill the dough before you bake. Not only does it make working with the dough easier, it also makes for an awesome texture so if you’ve got a bit of time on your hands then I strongly recommend pre-chilling – even if it’s only 20 minutes. When it comes time to bake, don’t judge by touch, cookies always harden up as they cool. You are better off judging by smell. Once the house fills with that sweet cookie aroma you know you are only a couple of minutes from heaven. I baked these for 10 minutes but it will depend on your oven so use your nose and find your sweet spot.

I’ve no doubt mentioned before the difficulties I have keeping sweet things in the house, I have next to no self-control when it comes to sugary treats and so drastic steps must be taken to avoid guilt riddled blow outs. I am not one to deny myself anything, everything in moderation yadda yadda. This means that when I bake a cake, I’ll cut off a wedge for Paul and I and take the rest to work to share with my colleagues, when I make cookies I go one step further. I make enough dough for about 20 cookies (depending on the size) but I don’t cook them all at once. I shape the dough into ‘logs’ and wrap them tightly in cling wrap and then pop them in the freezer. Freezing cookie dough, aside from aforementioned texture perfection, means that you can cut off slices as you want/need them and will always have something on hand should unexpected guests (or late night cookie cravings) arrive. I decided to play around with a traditional oatmeal cookie with this recipe and added some macadamias and cranberries for a little tarty crunch. You could of course substitute raisins if you prefer and I suspect that switching out the butter with coconut oil would work magnificently as well.

Chewy Oatmeal Macadamia Cookies

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

10 mins

Total time

15 mins

 

Sweet, golden brown oatmeal cookies with macadamias and cranberries.

Author: Erin Brooks – adapted from recipe at Taste.com.au

Serves: About 20

Ingredients

• ¾ cup rolled oats
• ⅔ cups whole wheat flour
• ⅓ cup plain flour
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup macadamia nuts, roughly chopped
• ⅓ cup dried cranberries
• ⅓ cup coconut flakes
• 2 tbspns honey
• 125g unsalted butter
• 1 tbspn warm water
• ½ tspn bi-carb soda

Method

1. Heat the oven to 170 degrees centigrade
2. In a large bowl add the oats, flours, sugar, nuts and cranberries.
3. Mix well.
4. In a saucepan, over a low flame, melt the butter and honey together.
5. Remove from heat.
6. Dissolve the bi-carb soda in water and then add to the butter mix.
7. Stir well and leave for a moment.
8. Add to the dry ingredients and mix well to combine.
9. Roll out dough on a clean counter into two logs of equal size.
10. Chill dough for at least 20 minutes.
11. Cut into cookie sized pieces and bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly golden.

Notes

If freezing, wrap the logs in cling wrap and freeze. Cut off pieces of dough as needed and bake for 10 minutes. Recipe adapted from taste.com.au

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Disclaimer: I received a kilo of Macadamias from Australian Macadamias some of which I used in this recipe.

Tagged as: Adelaide, baked goods, baking, butter, coconut, coconut oil, cookies, cranberries, healthy baking, honey, macadamia, nuts, recipe, South Australia, vegan option, whole wheat