peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookies
If you like peanut butter cookies, and if you like chocolate chip cookies, and if you like oatmeal cookies, you will like peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. Just like if you like rutabagas and you like pulled pork and you like mint chocolate chip ice cream you will like rutabaga pulled pork mint chocolate chip ice cream. It's basic logic. One cookie always tells the truth and the other cookie always lies...
I've been trying to like oatmeal for a long time now. It seems so warm and comforting - like a Snuggie (honestly, Snuggies are great; I don't care). I've tried instant. I've tried very not instant. I've tried plain. I've tried milk and honey and maple syrup and chocolate chips - basically trying to hide the oatmeal in other food. I've tried it super mushy. I've tried it so there are pieces of hard things to chew in the oatmeal. I just keep on buying it, and keep on not liking it, over and over again.
Because I want to like it so bad; a nice, warm, steamy bowl of hearty oatmeal on a cold, rainy day sounds so nice to me. I feel like I'm whatever that creature is in Green Eggs and Ham and I've tried it every which way, in boxes and on trains and with mice and all of that, but I'm just trying to get to that last page, where I find out I actually do like green eggs and ham/oatmeal (good morning writing workshop members, let's all open our books to "Good Metaphors").
So I have this giant bag of Bob's Red Mill rolled oats that has been sitting in my pantry, and if it's not going to become a bowl of oatmeal, it might as well become cookies. So much logic today. These cookies use a whopping three cups of oats, which makes them pretty healthy really, as well as two sticks of butter, so nevermind, and no eggs. I was afraid they weren't going to turn out - they kind of seemed like oats held together with butter when they went into the oven. But they turn out beautifully - balanced right down the middle between chewy and crunchy. The hearty oats are front and center, nice and toothsome; the peanut butter plays second fiddle, rich and salty; and the chocolate adds just the right amount of sweetness. Of course, I still had oats left in the bag, so stay tuned for some honey oat bread loaves I also made. And there are still oats left. Is oat liqueur a thing?
And that will use up all of my oats until I see them again at the store and think, "I probably like them now."
peanut butter chocolate chip oatmeal cookies
adapted from martha stewart
ingredients
+ 3 cups rolled oats
+ 1/3 cup all purpose flour
+ 1 teaspoon baking soda
+ 1 teaspoon baking powder
+ 1 teaspoon kosher salt
+ 2 cups packed light-brown sugar
+ 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
+ 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
+ 2 large eggs
+ 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
+ 2 cups dark chocolate chips
recipe
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl, stir together the oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the brown sugar, butter and peanut butter on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until incorporated.
Reduce the speed to low and add the oat mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Add the chocolate chips and mix until they are distributed evenly.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Drop golf ball size scoops of dough about 2 inches apart onto the baking sheets.
Bake the cookies, rotating and switching the sheets halfway through, until they are just set and golden brown at the edges, about 13 to 15 minutes. Let the cookies cool and set for five minutes before transferring to wire racks.
makes about 50-60 cookies