A great recipe that delivers awesome chocolate chip cookies.
A few additions to the recipe:
1. chill the chocolate bar before grating...simplifies the process. Use a
food processor to expedite this part of the recipe.
2. make sure that the oats are ground completely. I usually empty the
blender and add them again.
3. I find that people are just as happy without the nuts, and some people
either can't eat nuts or hate them in cookies. Leaving out the nuts will
improve overall acceptance.
4. It may be obvious to people who really know how to cook, but these
cookies turn out much better when you hand mix the ingredients. Ok,
maybe it's my own superstition, but I really believe this...stick your bar
hands in there and really "feel the dough".
5. I always cool the dough before rolling into balls...it makes it easier to
roll into balls, and the slighty chilled dough seems to improve the final
shape of the cookies (no idea why, but seems to work).
I got a hold of this recipe about 15 years ago. It is fantastic. Be sure to blend the butter and the sugar until fluffy...this makes the cookies soft and chewy. The recipe can be easily cut in half. If you have no need for 52 cookies...roll out the rest into golf ball size and freeze on a cookie sheet on wax paper. Once frozen, store in the freezer in freezer bags. Then you can take out just a dozen or so. Let thaw a little before baking. YUM!
Yum! This was a lot of work but very delicious--well worth the effort! I cut the recipe in half--I don't need 52 cookies My boyfriend doesn't like nuts so I omitted them and doubled the amount of chocolate chips (cut chocolate chips by 1/2 instead of 1/4). Powderizing the oatmeal was a great idea--it lends a unique and very subtle flavor to the cookie. I made the entire process much easier by adding in the chocolate (not chocolate chips) with the oatmeal instead of grating it by hand. I also threw in 1/4 C of almonds while powderizing the oatmeal and chocolate-the texture is subtle enough that my boyfriend didn't notice. I also added 1 teaspoon EACH of cinnamon nutmeg and ginger. It lends a slightly spicy taste that pairs very well with the grated chocolate. Please follow the cooking time--10 minutes for a smaller cookie 12 minute for the larger ones. Grease the cookie sheet WELL and wait at least 5-10 minute for the cookie to cool before removing them from the sheet--otherwise they crumble. After they are cooled however they're not very crumbly and can easily be packaged and shipped.
I have been making these for years and everyone raves about them. The trick is to only bake them for 8-10 minutes. They will look like they are not done but once they have cooled they will be perfect. If not they will not taste good at all. A cookie scooper will make this a lot easier.
Grating the chocolate takes FOREVER but these cookies are remarkably good. I can't figure out how long they need to be baked -- they seem like they could use more time when they come out but later on harden a bit. Store with a slice of bread in closed container to keep moist
I've been making these cookies since the late 1980s. Always a major hit with anyone who eats them! The key to success is to not over bake them. Various stories have been attached to this recipe -- when I recevied it via e-mail long ago the theory was the recipe cost someone 200 and they were getting "even" by passing it around. Who cares what urban legend is attached to this recipe -- the cookies are simply the best that I've ever made.
The balls don't flatten during cooking so flatten them with your hand or a spatula. And 9 minutes was perfect for my oven. I did one batch with half whole wheat flour and a-p flour and one with all 1-p flour and both were quite yummy.
This is what I want when I want a chocolate chip cookie. Perfect. Very pretty too -- stayed nice and fat instead of spreading and flattening. The oats give it a great chewiness. I measured the ground oats and they came out to 3-3/4 cups so next time I will just use oat flour in that amount instead of grinding my own oats. I replaced half the white sugar with Splenda but bet I can get away with replacing all of it (since it will still have brown sugar in there too). Lasted almost a week and were nice and soft the whole time.
This is a tasty cookie but the oatmeal flavor is too prominent for my preference. Grinding the oats was time consuming as well; I might try just purchasing the oat flour if I make this recipe again.
