Mixed Bag Oatmeal Cookies
This is like if you took your ideal trail mix and made it into an oatmeal cookie (which for me includes extra chocolate and the best dried fruit in existence: sour cherries). If raisins are usually part of your trail mix bag, then these can easily become a variant of oatmeal raisin cookies, though you can also go ahead and use any dried fruit you prefer (dried cranberries are very good as well; I used to make that version of these as a rotating Christmas cookie). Adding in toasted, chopped nuts is also a delightful choice. I felt like these cookies were “busy” enough for my liking, so I didn’t add any nuts into the current recipe, but you could certainly reduce any other “add-in” ingredient in order to do so. I also highly recommend the aforementioned Christmas version, made with white chocolate, dried cranberries, and macadamia nuts. Regardless of your chosen mix-ins, the end results are these daintier-than-expected, super-crispy-on-the edges-yet-super-soft-in-the-middle cookies. They can be dressed up (fancy mix-ins! chocolate drizzle!) or dressed down and packed as a perfect mid-hike pick-me-up (I say that as if I might do that, when in reality my life goal is to avoid hiking as frequently as possible, therefore avoiding said activity’s snack foods).
Mixed Bag Oatmeal Cookies
Adapted from Elanor Klivans
Makes ~30 cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour, measured correctly
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp kosher salt
10 tbsp (1 ¼ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup white sugar
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
½ cup white chocolate chips (+ another ½ cup if you want to do the fancy drizzle)
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips (+ another ½ cup if you want to do the fancy drizzle)
½ cup dried sour cherries (or dried fruit of choice, chopped if large)
½ cup raisins
Directions:
Position both racks in roughly the centre of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets (with parchment paper or a silicone mat) and set aside until ready to bake. Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl to blend; set aside. Using electric beaters or a stand mixer (fitted with the paddle attachment if you have it), beat the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until very fluffy and smooth, ~3-4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula then beat in the egg and vanilla. Scrape down the sides again and beat in the flour mixture and oats on low speed until just combined. Use a large spoon to stir in your add-ins (chocolate! nuts! fruit!) Drop batter in heaped tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets spaced 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies until light golden-brown, ~16 minutes, rotating the sheets from front-to-back and top-to-bottom racks. Cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes then transfer directly to cooling racks and let cool completely.
When the cookies are cool, melt both chocolate chips (separately) in small bowls by microwaving them in 20-second bursts, stirring well between bursts to avoid burning the chocolate. Pour each bowl of melted chocolate into its own small Ziploc bag. Squeeze all the chocolate to 1 corner of the bag and snip off just the very tip of the bag’s corner. Carefully drizzle the melted chocolate over the cookies in whatever cutesy way you like. Let the chocolate set before serving (this can be sped up by a brief stint in the fridge). This shit just got next level.
