Oatmeal Scotchies

I recently went to parent teacher conferences.  These would be my first for my son who is now in middle school.  Ouch.  So not fun when you have a kid who doesn't always think before acting is a free spirit.  I need cookies more than a drink and my kid certainly needs some sugar therapy after having to also sit through the criticism.

I tried these cookies a few ways and I am now kicking myself, being the nut junkie that I am, for not trying them with walnuts or pecans.  Or, grinding up the walnuts and using them as part of the flour?  Oh, the possibilities.

I tried them first with all-purpose white flour with the cake flour and then I tried doing them with whole wheat flour with the cake flour.  The whole wheat flour won out, in my opinion.  I have been partially replacing white flour with whole wheat flour in a lot of recipes lately because there seems to be more flavor with a mix rather than just with one type of flour.



Recipe adapted from Cookie Love by Mindy Segal:

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup cane sugar
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 jumbo egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup cake flour
1/2 cup whole wheat
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 heaping teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (6 ounces) butterscotch chips

Method:

Heat the oven to 350°F and line a half sheet (13 by 18-inch) pan with parchment paper.

Spread the oats across the sheet pan and toast in the oven for about 5 minutes.  (Keep the oven on for the cookies.)  Let cool.

Combine the oats, flours, baking soda and salt and mix with a thick.  Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugars and mis on medium to high for about 5 minutes until the mixture is pale in color.  Scrape down the sides and bottom and mix again for another minute until the mixture is combined.  Add the eggs and vanilla and mix for another two minutes.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.  Add the butterscotch chips and mix until just combined.  Finish off mixing with a rubber spatula until ingredients are just combined and all of the bits at the bottom of the bowl are incorporated.

Using an ice cream scoop, do 4 or 5 mounds of dough per cookie sheet.  They will spread, so don't overcrowd.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges start to brown ever so slightly.  If you refrigerate or freeze the dough, as I did, bake 12-15 minutes.

After you take out the cookies, let them cool on the pan for at least 30 minutes before digging in.  They will last about a week in an airtight container and for a few weeks if you keep them in the fridge.