Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies (A Funny Thing Happened)

There are few times in a person’s life when having an oatmeal cookie sounds like a bad idea.  Perhaps when giving birth, or when running a six-minute mile. Otherwise, it is fair game as far as I am concerned. 

Oatmeal cookies say warmth, fall, and comfortable sweaters. These do not suggest otherwise.  My coworker, Anne, first brought them into work, thick with white chocolate and dried cranberries.  And while I do not really love either adornment in other sweet things, I quickly decided they were some of the best cookies I had ever known.  

So I got the recipe.  Swapped in butterscotch and apricot for the chocolate and cranberries.  Then I baked and I tasted, hot out of the oven. 

The cookie was okay. It was not one of the best I had ever known. 

I ate three more, just to be sure.  And then I put the rest in plastic bags, sealed them in, and went to bed feeling a little sick.

But a funny thing happened overnight. Those boring little cookies morphed into something else entirely. Something nutty and chewy, with a dose of oats thick enough to suggest they mean business.  Plus a caramel undercarriage and just enough salt to balance it all out.

I am going to go ahead and say that browning the butter is a must, as is baking them the night before you need them.  The walnuts are in there for a reason, so resist the urge to take them out if you can. You will need good quality oats too, along with a little patience.  I suspect you can hang loose with the chocolate and dried fruit.

The rest pretty much takes care of itself.  We are not birthing a child here, mind you, but having a recipe like this still feels like a win.

Butterscotch Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

• ½ cup walnuts
• 2⅔ cups old-fashioned oats
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup chopped dried apricots
• 6 ounces of butterscotch chips
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1⅓ cup dark muscovado sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

Toast the walnuts until fragrant (either in the oven or in a pan; I used a cast-iron skillet); set aside.  

Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper; set aside.  In a medium bowl, add the oats and sift in the flour, baking soda, and salt; add in the apricots and butterscotch.  Finely chop the walnuts and stir in until everything is well combined.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium low heat until it turns golden brown and fragrant (about four minutes); this happens very quickly so be sure to watch.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, pour in the browned butter and whisk in the sugar until well combined (a minute or two).  Add in the eggs, cinnamon, and vanilla and whisk until well combined.  Add in the dry mixture and stir until just combined.  (The mixture will be thick.)

Chill the batter for 15 to 30 minutes; meanwhile preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Once chilled, scoop the batter using a tablespoon to gather up a heaping amount (about 2 to 3 tbsp) of dough and gently round it loosely into balls spaced 2 inches apart on the prepared sheets.

Bake until lightly golden and just dry to the touch but still soft in the center (about 10 minutes).  

Slide the parchment onto wire racks to cool.  Line the sheets with more parchment and repeat with remaining batches.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Notes:

1. Let the walnuts cool slightly so they aren’t piping hot when you mix them in.
2. My oven runs a little hot, so I ended up dropping the temperature slightly, but these cook pretty quickly so watch them.
3. These freeze beautifully and really do get better with age.
4. If you do not have muscovado, use dark or light brown sugar and don’t look back.
    

Baked Blueberry Oatmeal, I Know a Guy

I have a blueberry guy from stall #3 at the City Hall Farmers' market.  

He has the sweetest, most summery blueberries.  It’s hard to find a bad berry in July—I understand that—but his stand has had the best ones three years running and he’s yet to burn me.  His berries are where it’s at.

My boyfriend has even commented on them.  Which is really saying something, because Dave gives out compliments like they’re ration stamps.  Like it’s wartime.  Like he’s about to run out.

Well, these blueberries got one.

Now, this next bit may not surprise you.  I am certainly not the first one to mention baked oatmeal.  It’s a recipe from Heidi Swanson’s cookbook, Super Natural Every Day.  Molly posted about it in March.  And then Jess posted about her version, made with apricots, just last week. Heck, there could be women all over the country having come-to-Jesus-moments with this oatmeal, for all I know.

I do understand that not everyone loves oatmeal.  But this is a berried whole grain breakfast you can slice, which should help anyone who’s written off oatmeal because of textural issues. The nuts add a rich, buttery note (as does some actual butter that gets melted in, as well).   It’s also sweet—but not too sweet—and good eaten both cold and warm.

It’s the kind of dish that you could use as a dumping ground for all sorts of stray seeds, nuts, and summer fruits.  Most recently, I’ve been entertaining a plum and hazelnut version.  I will keep you posted. But—in the meantime—blueberries tend to be crowd-pleasers.  So I suggest you give it a whirl.

It should also be noted that, while Dave didn’t say anything, there were two fairly large pieces of oatmeal missing the day after I baked it.

Sometimes, he’s a man of few words.  But the guy knows food.  And his fork speaks volumes.

Baked Blueberry Oatmeal

Adapted from Super Natural Every Day, by Heidi Swanson by way of Orangette

Ingredients:

• 2 cups oats
• ½ cup choice nuts, or seeds (I used pumpkin seeds and hazelnuts), toasted
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• 1½ cups blueberries
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1½ tbsp unsalted butter, melted
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

Set the oven at 375 degrees. In an 8 x 8 or 10 x 7 inch casserole dish, mix together the oats, nuts, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

Scatter the blueberries evenly over the oats mixture.  In a medium bowl, combine the milk, syrup, egg, butter, and vanilla extract.  Pour the liquid over the oats; be sure it fully seeps down into the oats (you may need to use a spoon to help coax it).

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden and the oats are set.  Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Makes about 6 servings

Notes:

1. You can use fresh or frozen blueberries (no need to thaw, the frozen ones might just increase the baking time a bit).  
2. This is good warm, perhaps with another drizzle of maple syrup, but my favorite way to eat it is cold, with a fork, or out of hand if no one is watching. (Please note the recipe—as dictated by the ladies—has another 1½ tablespoon of butter drizzled on top.  I can’t argue with that, either.)