Cookie Baking Tutorial for Janay

Oh Janay, I didn't forget about your request for a cookie baking tutorial!  Here's a slideshow, with the recipe and directions following below:



The cookie recipe I like to use is a version of the "famous department store" recipe published years ago. It's got a great base for different add-ins: you can make chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, or cinnamon raisin spice oatmeal cookies, or oatmeal with macadamia nuts and craisins... with oatmeal being a constant.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F, and line baking sheets with parchment paper (NOT foil).

Ingredients:

2 sticks of butter, salted or un; room temperature
2 eggs
1 cup of granulated sugar
1 cup of pressed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp to 1 tsp salt

Mix the above together until it begins to resemble the texture of frosting.

Add and mix:

2 cups quick oats
1 cup chocolate chips (or a bit more)
1 cup pecan pieces

 OR

2 cups quick oats
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup M&M baking minis

OR

2 cups quick oats
1 cup chocolate chips (or a bit more)
1 cup shredded coconut (which will make the cookies VERY sweet)

Mix until the cookie dough sticks to the mixer paddle, cleaning much of the sides of the bowl. The dough will still feel sticky to the touch (especially if it's a humid day) but should NOT be wet. I use a cookie scoop (like a mini ice-cream scoop) to measure out similarly sized blobs of dough.

I have large cookie sheets that easily hold fifteen cookie balls (or more, depending upon the recipe) each, so after I smooth each blob out (I don't try to compress or hard-pack the dough) I place it on the sheet and gently press it down. I don't want it flat like a pancake, just flat enough to keep it from rolling.

I bake the dough for 11-13 minutes (depends on how hot my oven is running, or if it reheats mid-bake) and remove the pan from the oven to cool for five minutes on a rack. The cookies are still puffed up or inflated looking at this point: they flatten out and firm up as they cool. After five or more minutes, I remove each cookie from the sheet and put them on the lower levels of the cooling rack to finish hardening.

Then it's time to INHALE, er, "taste-test" a cookie.

(These were oatmeal/chocolate chip/M&M baking minis cookies.)

*****

I hope this helps!  Happy cookie-baking!

~Michaele~