Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

"There's an oatmeal cookie in there?  I see no reason for the existence of oatmeal, particularly in cookies." -- Oscar the Grouch 

Well, Oscar, I object.  Oatmeal cookies are comfort food.  They just have that "homey, homemade, from-the-heart" taste.  In fact, oatmeal cookies are the number one non-cereal usage for oatmeal.  (Tuck that away for a Jeopardy nugget to throw at Alex Trebek.)

They call it "comfort food" for a reason.  When I bake "comfort food," I'm baking for the comfort of baking itself.  There's something comforting in knowing that the right amounts of ingredients yield a tasty result that makes people happy.  :)  Baking therapy is good stuff!

King Arthur Flour recently had a blog post about chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, and the cookies looked like my kind of oatmeal cookies: crisp on the outside but soft and chewy on the inside.  King Arthur Flour is my favorite flour for baking, and their products are such high quality.  Their recipes are tried-and-true.  

This recipe for chocolate chip oatmeal cookies just rocks!  I had a bag of mini Reese's pieces and added them for a pop of Halloween color.  I only had steel cut oats, and this was my first time baking with them.  They gave a nice crunch to this soft, chewy cookie.  

These are the types of cookies that will make anyone feel better (um, Oscar, you want one?).  This makes a large amount of cookie dough, so I froze some of the dough so that I can make "feel better cookies" at a moment's notice!  

PS: Any cookies containing oatmeal are instantly healthy in my book.  :)

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Yields 20-100 cookies, dependent on size (see below for note)

Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup steel cut oats (or quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats)
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. sea salt
3 cups chocolate chips (I used a combination of mini chocolate chips and mini Reese's pieces)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325ºF.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silicone liner.

In a stand mixer (or a large bowl with an electric mixer), beat together the butter and sugars until smooth.  Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla one at a time, and beat well after each addition.

In a separate medium sized bowl, whisk together the oats, flower, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add to the butter mixture.  Mix until all ingredient and incorporated.  Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and mix briefly.  Add in the chocolate chips and mix until blended.

Scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 1 1/2" between the cookies.  Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes until light golden brown.  The middles make look a little undercooked, but they will continue to bake as they cool on the pan.

After removing the cookies from the oven, allow them to slightly cool.  Once the cookies are set enough to handle, transfer them to cooling racks.

Note: A muffin scoop (1/4 cup) will make 20 large cookies.  A tablespoon cookie scoop (4 tsp.) will make 50 medium (3") cookies.  A teaspoon cookie scoop (2 tsp.) will make 100 small (2") cookies.

Source: King Arthur Flour