Kitchen Exploits - Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

One of my favourite things to eat is the Chocolate Chip Cookie. I'm not partial to chewy or crunchy versions, and cravings can be satisfied either way. To me, a good chocolate chip cookie cannot be too sweet. It has to have the right balance of mellow sugars and flour. I am partial when dark chocolate is used, and will avoid the white chocolate ones (white chocolate is so. not. chocolate.).

In my current favourite cookie recipe, I add oats more for its nutritional value than taste and texture. After all, you know, I got to sort of offset the (unhealthy) sugars with (healthy) oats - a good source of many good things, as you can read here.

I like this recipe as it doesn't require a mixer, and it uses oil instead of butter. Both pluses in my books because of the convenience it lends to making of the cookies. When cookie-cravings hit, you just want things fast!

I've made these cookies with various combinations of chocolate types, varying amounts of sugar, and different coarseness of salt. When sweeter chocolate is used, I reduce the sugars because I cannot stand too-sweet cookies. When I need to bake, I often just use whatever chocolate I have in the fridge, chopping them up into generous chunks. Thankfully, my brother-in-law likes to gift us with Ghirardelli dark chocolate bars, and I really like to use those with 60% Cacao.

Coarser salt results in some bites being saltier and crunchier than others, making each bite somewhat of a surprise, and the overall experience of eating the cookie a little more interesting. This version is a treat for those who like salty-sweet desserts, and is a rather grown-uppy cookie, although Bubbles loves it too. 

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Adapted from Ovenhaven and Recipe Source

(Makes about 24-26 cookies)

1⁄4 cup white sugar
1⁄2 cup brown sugar
3⁄4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp coarse sea salt
2⁄3 cup dark chocolate chunks (60% Cacao)

1. Preheat oven to 190°C.
2. Mix the sugars, oil, egg, and vanilla extract in a large bowl.
3. In a smaller bowl, mix the flour, oats, salt and baking powder.
4. Pour the ingredients from the smaller bowl into the large bowl mixture and mix well.
5. Fold in the dark chocolate chunks.
6. Drop tablespoonfuls of dough onto two parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for about 9-12 minutes, or until the edges brown slightly. (The longer you bake them the crispier they get.)
7. Leave to cool in the pan for a minute or two, then move to a rack to cool completely.