Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Oatmeal and raisin has had the spotlight for years. Let’s screw the raisins for a while and give chocolate its chance to shine (since chocolate has been under appreciated for so, so many years).

Sometimes chocolate chunks have a place, and when it comes to oatmeal, it basically always has a place. (Hey- why don’t the Quaker people make an instant Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal for breakfast? I’ve always been a fan of the Maple & Brown Sugar variety, but probably only because the Chocolate Chunk kind was nowhere to be found. Hint hint, Quaker.)

Oh, um, make sure you spread the cookies out on the cookie sheet enough. Or else.

Adapted from my Classic Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe…

1 1/4 cups pecans, chopped

1 cup butter (unsalted), room temperature

1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal

1 1/4 cups chocolate chunks

3 tablespoons sugar-in-the-raw (Demera)
1. Preheat oven to 350° and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Coarsely chop pecans and spread on one of your prepared baking sheets; bake for about 7 minutes, until fragrant and barely toasted. Set aside to cool.
3. In a large bowl, beat butter with both sugars until light and fluffy (4 minutes or so). Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla on low speed.
4. In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together. Slowly add to butter mixture until just combined, then add in oats, chocolate chunks, and cooled pecans and mix just until combined.
5. Scoop heaping tablespoon-sized amounts of cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets, and flatten slightly with a slightly wet hand or spatula. Sprinkle sugar-in-the-raw over top. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes, until lightly browned on top. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack.
Tips:
- Oatmeal- Use old-fashioned oats for this recipe. You’ll want to not use the instant or 1-minute kind. (But not steel-cut). And I’d stay away from the “thick cut” old-fashioned oatmeal. (Okay- in all honesty, I once used the 1-minute kind and the cookies still turned out nicely, so you can do the same if you must, but you won’t see any actual pieces of oat which I think is nice when eating 17 cookies.)
- What kind of chocolate? Totally up to you. I like milk chocolate these days.
- If you’re really into raisins, then add a cup.
- If you’re a purist and don’t want pecans getting in the way of your oatmeal & chocolate party, then skip them. But if you do use them, make sure you toast them. Promise?
- Want more oatmeal cookie ideas? Try my Chocolate Oatmeal Marshmallow Sandwich Cookie. Seriously wow.
- These freeze well.
- Enjoy!
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July 18th, 2015 | More Sweets Please | No Comments | Tags: Chocolate, Cookies, Oatmeal