Oatmeal Cookies – Bead Yarn & Spatula

Cookie Palooza: Big Island Oatmeal Cookies

If you are dreaming of being somewhere warm during the colder months today’s Cookie Palooza cookie may help transport you there mentally. It’s an oatmeal cookie loaded with coconut, pineapples and macadamia nuts. All standard things you will find growing in Hawaii, hence the name, Big Island Oatmeal Cookies.

On my first attempt at making these cookies I used dried pineapple and I quickly learned that baking with dried pineapple is not like baking with dried cranberries or blueberries. The pineapple pieces dried out so instead of being chewy and adding flavor to the cookie they were a bit hard and had no flavor. On my second attempt I switched these things up and decided to use canned pineapple tidbits in pineapple juice that I drained. I also added in coconut extract to amp up the coconut flavor and opted not to chop the macadamia nuts. Also on my first attempt I chopped the macadamia nuts and they pretty much got decimated since they are so soft. When you bit into the cookie you really weren’t getting the crunch or taste of them.

So, with my tweaks, my cookies were perfectly loaded with pineapples, macadamia nuts and coconut in two forms. And the taste was exactly what I had hoped for. Not too sweet, the perfect amount of coconut flavor, a little crunch from the macadamia nuts and some added sweetness and taste from the pineapples. Also, because of the pineapples the cookies were incredibly moist. One of the reasons why it’s necessary to let them rest on the baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire to cool completely.

While these cookies may not have any of the standard flavors of the holiday season, they will be a welcome addition to your holiday baking menu. Yes, peppermint, sugar cookies, chocolate, etc. are delicious, but a little something different is good as well.

Big Island Oatmeal Cookies

Servings: 3 Dozen
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Ingredients:

3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup light brown sugar

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon coconut extract

1 1/2 cups flour

3 cups old-fashioned oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup macadamia nuts

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1 cup pineapple tidbits in juice, drained

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, oats, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl cream together the butter and both sugars with a hand mixer on medium speed. Add the eggs, 1 at a time. Add the vanilla and coconut extract and beat until everything is well combine.

With the mixer on low add in the flour mixture.

Fold in the macadamia nuts, shredded coconut and pineapple tidbits.

Use a cookie scoop to drop the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets 2 inches apart. Bake in the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes, until the cookies are set, and the edges begin to brown.

Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container.

Recipe first appeared on Bead Yarn & Spatula.

Cookie Palooza: Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

It’s the first week of December and around here that means Cookie Palooza! A week dedicated to cookies that would make a great addition to your holiday cookie platters. And we are kicking it off with a cookie that combines two favorites, peanut butter and oatmeal. I personally love a good peanut butter cookie and a good oatmeal cookie. And I like both just plain, no peanuts in my peanut butter cookies and no raisins in my oatmeal ones. I got to thinking one day what about combining the two. Hence, the resulting Peanut Butter Oatmeal cookie. A cookie that is soft like a peanut butter one, but has the texture and heartiness of an oatmeal one. So, you get the best of both worlds.

And while these cookies are delicious just the way they are you could make them extra special by adding in a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips. You can never go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate together!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Servings: 3 Dozen Cookies
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Ingredients:

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups quick cooking oats

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl beat the butter, both sugar and peanut butter using hand mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat the eggs in 1 at a time. Stir in the vanilla extract.

In another medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.

Add the flour mixture into the peanut butter mixture and beat until just blended. Stir in the oats.

Using a cookie scoop, drop the dough onto the prepared cookies sheets 2 inches apart.

Bake in the preheated oven 12-14 minutes, or until the cookies are set and beginning to brown.

Allow to cool on the cookies sheets for two minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Recipe first published on Bead Yarn & Spatula

Cookie Palooza: Kitchen Sink Oatmeal Cookies

While many aspects of the holidays will be different this year due to COVID, one thing can remain the same… the baking. While cookie swaps may have to take a back seat this year that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the holiday goodies yourself and with those in your quarantine circle. With that being said welcome to Cookie Palooza 2020. Each day this week I will bring you a new cookie recipe that will hopefully make it on your holiday baking list. Up first a loaded oatmeal cookie. While the recipe called these a White Chocolate Chunk Cookie, I decided to refer to them as a Kitchen Sink Oatmeal Cookie for the title of this blog post thanks to the walnuts, coconut, golden raisins, white chocolate chips and of course oatmeal added to the dough. That’s quite a mouthful. And while the recipe for these cookies makes 4 dozen, you could easily halve the recipe to suit your needs.

Here’s a look of all of the add-ins together before I added them to the dough…

And what the dough looked like after stirring them all in.

And while these cookies do have a lot going on, not one thing overpowers the other. And don’t worry, if you are not a fan of coconut, you won’t even notice the coconut in the cookies. Or, you could just leave them out to be on the safe side.

White Chocolate-Chunk Cookies

Servings: 4 dozen
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Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

2 cups old-fashioned oats

12oz. bag white chocolate chips

1 cup sweetened coconut flakes

1 cup golden raisins

1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a large bowl cream the butter and both sugars together with a hand mixer on medium speed until creamy. Mix in the eggs one at a time until combined and then stir in the vanilla extract.

In a medium bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Gradually add the flour mixture into the butter mixture until combined. Stir in the oats, chocolate chips, coconut, raisins and walnuts.

Using a cookie scoop, drop the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Flatten the dough slightly. Bake in the preheated oven for 14 to 16 minutes, or until the cookies are golden. Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

Recipe from Martha Stewart’s Cookies

Lemon Oatmeal Sugar Cookies

These cookies have a little bit of everything. A nice light lemon flavor, a tad bit of oatmeal and the soft chewiness of a sugar cookie. While they are perfect for the warmer months ahead, they would also be a nice addition to your holiday cookie baking. Since I wasn’t sure how they were going to taste, I halved the recipe and ended up baking only 24 cookies. Big mistake! These cookies were such a hit I should have baked the full amount. But just in case you don’t need 48 cookies, you can easily halve the recipe below.

Lemon Oatmeal Sugar Cookies

Servings: 4 Dozen Cookies
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Ingredients:

1 cup butter, at room temperature

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 3/4 cups flour

1 cup quick-cooking oats*

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Additional sugar to roll the cookies

*Can also use old-fashion oats

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lines two cookie sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder and salt and set aside.

In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer on medium speed cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, lemon zest and lemon juice. Gradually add in the flour mixture.

Pour additional sugar into a small bowl. Use a cookie scoop to scoop the dough and then roll in the sugar and then place on the prepared cookie sheets. Using the bottom of a glass flatten the cookie about halfway down.

Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are beginning to brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Recipe slightly modified from Taste of Home

Malted Oatmeal Cream Pies

Have you been doing a lot of baking this summer? Unfortunately I haven’t. I did my fare share for a July 4th celebration, including the cake below, but, other than that baking has been to a minimum. It’s primarily due to the fact that it’s been a little warm and humid and that coupled with the fact that I don’t have air conditioning does not make for the ideal recipe to turn on my oven.

I did make some Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies and while they were good, they were a bit too cakey for my liking. And that brings me to the recipe I am sharing with you today… Malted Oatmeal Cream Pies, a la Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies. Truth be told, I have never had a Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pie, but, when I saw this in an issue of Food Network Magazine last year (yes, it’s taken me that long to finally make them) I knew I wanted to try them.

One of the things I liked about this recipe is that you got the oatmeal texture of the cookie without the actual pieces of oatmeal because the recipe calls for you to pulse the oatmeal along with almonds. I think the next time I make a batch of oatmeal cookies I will try that out. What I didn’t like… The size of the pies. The recipe called for the dough to be scooped out in 1/4-cup balls, a little too much for my liking especially since the cookies were pretty thick. I think next time I make these I will keep them on the smaller size, maybe just use a cookie scoop. The cream part though was delish and I wouldn’t change a thing about it.

Malted Oatmeal Cream Pies

Servings: About 12
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Ingredients:

For the Cookies:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoon malted milk powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup sliced almonds

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Filling:

5 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 tablespoon malted milk powder

2 tablespoons whole milk

1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Begin by making the cookies. Whisk the flour, malted milk powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together the oats and almonds until coarsely ground, set aside.

In a large bowl (or using a stand mixer) beat the butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, then beat in the vanilla. With the mixer on low, add in the flour mixture until just combined and then add in the oat mixture and beat until just combined.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop 1/4-cup balls of dough and place on the prepared sheets about 2 inches apart. Freeze until firm.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the cookies until just golden and crisp around the edges, about 15 to 17 minutes. Let cool on the sheets for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make the filling. In a large bowl beat the butter, confectioners’ sugar and, malted powder on medium speed until well combined. Reduce the speed to low and add in the milk and vanilla extract until just combined. Increase the speed to high and beat until light and fluffy. If the filling is too thick add more milk, too thin, add more confectioners’ sugar. Spread the filling on half of the cookies and then top with another and enjoy!

Recipe from Food Network

Cookie Palooza: Oat-Rageous Chocolate Chip Cookies

It’s the first week of December, are your ovens ready? It’s time to bake until your hearts content and then bake a little more! It’s probably one of the best things about the Holiday Season… Sweets everywhere! And I am here to help… Every day this week I’ll be bringing you a new cookie recipe that may become part of your baking repertoire or give you some inspiration to create a new recipe for yourself. I’ve scoured my cookbooks and old holiday cookie magazines to gather recipes that are easy to make, are a bit traditional with a twist and one that combines three favorites in one. That’s today’s cookie… One that combines oatmeal, peanut butter and chocolate chips together. So, welcome to Cookie Palooza 2016 on Bead Yarn & Spatula… Up first Oat-Rageous Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Oat-Rageous Chocolate Chip Cookies

Servings: 30-36 cookies
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Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, oats, baking soda and salt, set aside.

In a large bowl combine the butter, peanut butter and sugars and use an electric mixer to cream together. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop by rounded tablespoonful onto the prepared baking sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are lightly browned.

Recipe from Taste of Home

Pumpkin-Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies

I hope you are all not tired of my pumpkin recipe posts because I have one more for you today. I kicked off Fall by making Pumpkin Doughnuts and Pumpkin Rice Pudding and just last week I posted about my experience making Homemade Pumpkin Puree – and some of the subsequent treats I made from it – and today I am bringing you Pumpkin-Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies. To be honest these cookies weren’t entirely for me. I have a dear friend who is just as much of a pumpkin fan as I am – I told her about Chobani’s Pumpkin Spice Yogurt and she told me about Pumpkin Spice English Muffins (which I am yet to find) and Pumpkin Spice Oreo’s (not worth trying according to her) – so for her birthday I decided to bake up a pumpkin treat to send her. (I sent her Pumpkin Doughnuts last year so I wanted to go with something new this year.) Unfortunately my pictures for the cookies aren’t the best as rainy cloudy days don’t lend for great picture taking!

I began making the dough for the cookies by whisking together the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl: flour, quick oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.

In a larger bowl I creamed together softened butter with light-brown sugar and granulated sugar. I was concerned that these cookies would be super sweet since the total amount of sugar was 2 cups, but thankfully the sweetness was toned down due to the addition of the pumpkin puree which doesn’t have much sweetness to it.

Next, I whipped in an egg, vanilla extract and the pumpkin puree to the butter mixture, mixing well after each addition.

With the mixer on the lowest setting, I gradually added the flour mixture to the butter mixture until both were combined. I then folded in chocolate chips with a spatula.

After letting the dough rest for 10 minutes – which allows the oats to absorb the liquids from the dough so the cookies won’t spread out as much while baking – I then used a cookie scoop to scoop the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet and placed the cookies in a 350 F preheated oven for 12 minutes.

I let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

In total I ended up with a little over 4 dozen cookies. Which was perfect since it meant I could keep some for myself! These cookies are all-around delish! You get a slight taste of pumpkin and the flavors of cinnamon really shine through which is a nice complement to the chocolate chips. And if you like your cookies super-soft then these are for you… They are borderline soft/cakey.

Pumpkin-Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 4 Dozen

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups quick oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/3 cups packed light-brown sugar

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin puree

1 3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger for 30 seconds, set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until creamy (occasionally stop and scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl throughout entire mixing process.) Blend in egg then blend in vanilla extract and pumpkin puree. With mixer set on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until combined. Mix in chocolate chips and nuts (if using). Let batter rest 5-10 minutes (this just gives the oats some time to absorb the liquids so batter isn’t so sticky and cookies don’t spread so much.)

3. Scoop dough of 2 tbsp. at a time and drop onto Silpat or parchment paper lines baking sheets, spacing cookies 2-inches apart. Bake in preheated oven 12-14 minutes. Allow to cool on baking sheet several minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Sweet & Salty Oatmeal Cookies

Not too long ago I went on a Cupcake Tour in NYC and my favorite treat on the tour wasn’t a cupcake – even though all of them were quite good – but a cookie, a Salted Oat Surprise cookie from Milk & Cookies Bakery to be exact. It was the perfect combination of sweet and salty with white chocolate chips, toffee bits and sea salt. Since then I have wanted to try and create a version of the cookie myself since there isn’t a definitive recipe floating around anywhere. I finally got around to it by tweaking my favorite oatmeal cookie recipe.

First up… I whisked together flour, baking soda, and salt together and set it aside.

Using my stand mixer I creamed together butter, brown sugar and white sugar.

Next I added in two eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Then some vanilla extract.

And then the flour mixture.

And finally the key ingredients to these cookies… old fashioned oats, white chocolate chips and toffee bits.

Once all my ingredients were mixed together well it was time to scoop them out onto my prepared baking sheets (I covered them with parchment paper.) I squeezed two extra cookies onto my second baking sheet so the order was a little wonky but it didn’t alter the baking at all. Before popping them in the oven I sprinkled each cookie with some sea salt to get that salty flavor.

The first batch out of the oven after baking for 11 minutes in a 350 degrees preheated oven.

Final verdict… They didn’t taste exactly like the cookies I had on the tour, but, they were delicious nonetheless!

Salted Oatmeal Cookies*

Yields: 42 cookies

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

3 cups old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup toffee bits

Sea Salt, for sprinkling on cookies

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and cover baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.

Cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until smooth. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then add in the vanilla extract.

Stir in the flour mixture until just combined and then add in the oats, white chocolate chips and toffee bits.

Using a cookie scoop drop spoonfuls of the dough on to the prepared baking sheets and sprinkle a few flakes of sea salt on each cookie.

Bake for 11 minutes in the preheated oven and allow the cookies to cook for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

*Adapted from the Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies recipe found on Allrecipes website.