Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Cookie Base

Today, I'm going to share with you a delicious soft and chewy oatmeal cookie base, and make some fantastic oatmeal raisin cookies in the process.

Oh, and I've included the recipe in a couple of handy printable sizes. What? You were expecting to read/scroll through a 36 page dissertation about the first time I smelled raisins in a small farmhouse somewhere in rural Nebraska? Sorry to disappoint.

Here's a list of the tools and ingredients we will need:

Tools:

• Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer (you can also do it by hand with a fork, whisk, your bare hands, etc.)
• Kitchen scale (you can also use measuring cups, but the scale will make things more accurate for science!)
• Measuring Spoons (and measuring cups, if you skip the scale)
• Mixing Bowls
• Whisk
• Cookie Sheet
• Silicone Baking Mat / Parchment Paper / Non Stick Spray

Ingredients:

• 125g (1 cup) - All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 tsp. - Ground Cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. - Sea Salt
• 1/2 tsp. - Baking Soda
• 115g (0.5 cup) - Butter Flavor Shortening, my Grandma's secret weapon (or 8 Tbsp. (1 stick) Butter or Margarine)
• 100g (0.5 cup) - Brown Sugar
• 50g (0.25 cup) - Granulated Sugar
• 1 - Large Egg
• 1 tsp. - Vanilla Extract
• 150g (1.5 cup) - Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats
• 150g (1 cup) - Featured Ingredient (I'm going to use Raisins, but you could use chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, dried cranberries, etc.)

The first thing you're going to want to do is grab your scale (or measuring cups, i guess...) and a bowl to mix in. I used a 4 cup measuring bowl.

When using a scale, it's important to zero it out. Most have a "zero" or "tare" button to do this. Make sure you're in the right unit (grams in our case) and add a vessel to the scale to keep things tidy.

You can see in the first two photos, the green bowl weighs 212g, but after we zero the scale, it's weight has been compensated for and we're ready to measure!

Measure out your flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and a sea salt, and toss them in the bowl.

Using a whisk or fork, mix these together and then set it aside. We'll bring them back to the party in a little bit.

*If you want PERFECT cookies, use a kitchen scale, for science! Baking is a science, after all. Science relies on accuracy. The more accurate we can be, the better the cookie we can expect! This is my opinion, but it makes sense, right?

In another bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, go ahead and toss in your shortening (or butter/margarine) brown sugar and granulated sugar.

If you're using a stand mixer, grand your paddle attachment and mix, mix, mix for a couple of minutes until they are well combined. Next, toss in that egg and delicious vanilla and mix some more until it is all well combined.

*If you're using a hand mixer, use the beaters, if you're using a whisk/fork, do some forearm exercises to prepare.

Party time! Remember step 1? Grab the bowl with the dry mix from Step 1 and start slowly adding it into the wet mix. Mix this up until just combined.

Grab your oats and mix them in as well. Be sure and scrape down the sides of your bowl to make sure everything gets mixed in well.

Your Oatmeal Cookie base is done! Good job! Time to customize and add in your raisins, chocolate, peanut butter, or anything else your heart desires! I added raisins, as they make a pretty delicious cookie.

*Remember those forearms exercises? You're gonna need them again if you're doing things the manual way.

Once your dough is well mixed, scrape down the sides one last time and cover with plastic. At this point you have some choices. If you like thicker cookies, toss the bowl in the fridge and let it cool for 30 minutes. If you like thinner cookies, you can go right to the pan!

Preheat your oven to 350°F (177°C) and grab your cookie sheet!

You don't want these to stick, so line your pan with a silicone baking mat, parchment paper, or give it a spray with baking spray.

Take 2 tbsp. of dough in your hand and ball it up. If you like smaller cookies, use less dough per cookie, obviously. I eyeball it. So much for science, right? Arrange on the cookie sheet, leaving enough space for the cookies to expand while baking.

Using the backs of your fingers, slight flatten the balls. Now we're ready to bake!

Once the oven is preheated and the cookies are portioned and on the cookie sheet, it's time to make magic.

Adjust to the middle rack and place your cookie sheet in the oven. Shut the door and set a timer for 10-12 minutes. I prefer to stick to the shorter side of time, for a softer, slightly undercooked cookie. You do you. If you like em runny, go shorter, if you like em crunchy, go longer. It won't hurt my feelings.

Once your timer goes off, pull the cookies out let them cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer them to cooling racks. It's ok if the cookies look a little soft, they'll settle into themselves and become absolutely delicious.

Done! Time to taste our creations!

I hope you've found this recipe to be as delicious as I have. The purpose here is to really show just how versatile a cookie recipe can be. In the end, we've created a base and added something to it to customize it.

Whether it's an oatmeal cookie, chocolate chip cookie, or another, it's important to look at any recipe and say "what else can I do with this?" Often times, we can swap out that "feature" ingredient with another and come up with a totally different treat, using the same basic recipe!

Cooking is a creative process, and a very scientific one. Ask yourselves the same questions as you would in a science experiment and have fun!

If you try this recipe, be sure to let me know! I would love to see and hear about your results!