Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Oatmeal Cookies

Last Saturday, my Tita-Ninang (auntie and godmother) asked me to bake some of her favorite oatmeal cookies (To tell you honestly, these are the only cookies I know and dared to bake). I've been in long suspension from baking then so I was so eager to do her a favor.


These oatmeal cookies I am talking about are just simple butterscotch cookies from a recipe found in my maternal grandfather's cookery book. I just tweaked the recipe to cater the tastebuds of my Tita-Ninang and grandparents as they are the ones who often request for these sweet cakes.


Below is the modified recipe I use to make these Simple Oatmeal Cookies.

The Ingredients:
1 cup soft butter
1 1/2 cups bro
wn sugar
2 whole eggs
1 tsp vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour sifted
1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 cup cut dates/nuts/chocolate bits (optional)


Directions:
-----------
1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Add butter, eggs, sugar and vanilla in a bowl. Mix Well.


3. Then add all the remaining dry ingredients. Mix with hands to blend well.
4. When no dry ingredient is visible, stop mixing.

5. With a tablespoon, scoop a mixture to prepared cookie sheet. Drop each cookie mixture at least 2 inches away from each other.

6. Bake in 350 F for 10-15 minutes or until set but not dry.

(Freshly baked from the oven - chewy cookies)

I often bake them with no additional nuts or chocolates, but I have tried using sweet dates before - the result was good!

My siblings and cousins just love these cookies despite their simpleness. The butterscotch sweet taste each cookie possess does not overwhelm the tastebuds because of the abundance of oats. On the contrary, the original recipe actually calls for a doubled amount of brown sugar and a one-to-one proportion of oats and flour. Imagine how sweet would that come out, having 3 cups of brown sugar in the bowl.

Using muscovado sugar instead of brown sugar will also yield satisfactory results as I have tried using it before - the difference in taste is very subtle. For the calorie and fat conscious people, you may opt to use muscovado and low-fat butter in place of the usual grocery butter. Of course, the taste would be less pleasing but still quite delectable.

The recipe yields around 36-40 cookies.

5 comments:

ruff nurse-du-jour said...

@DRAKE: Thanks! You’re a Thomasian too? =) You sure you haven’t seen me around? Naaah, I’m that forgettable naman eh. I guess this passing of mine was the karmic retribution of my past pains don’t you think? First comes the tears, then the joys.

You do cook? =) I can only make those oven-ready stuffs. The one where you have a premixed batter and you just have to add water, etc. As for me, my culinary knowledge is impoverished. =(

Drake said...

Yeah, I'm a fellow Thomasian. I don't know if I've seen you - daming students sa uste. But you might have seen me... If we were on the same batch, you might have seen my four-eyed self during the baccalaureate mass.

Well, I don't really cook everyday dishes - mahirap mag-trial and error. I can cook for myself though. As for baking, I've tried making chocolate and caramel chiffon cakes with frosting and icing. My favorite recipe is Oreo cheesecake. Yum yum!

I would have to agree regarding your retribution. Kudos Ruff!

chase / chubz said...

ei! i tried that. but my was yucky. heheh
but yours looks sooo good!

Drake said...

Hehe. On the contrary, two of my friends commented that the cookies looked quite unappetizing.

What happened to your cookies? =)

chase / chubz said...

i dunno.. heheheh.
im just bad at cooking stuff. heheeh
im good in eating though. waaaaahh!