I don’t get to make cookies that much. They’re too time-consuming for weeknights, and the weekends get busy so quickly that there isn’t always time then either. But we’re on the Monday of a three-day weekend, and the kids’ friend Margot was here, and we had a whole stretch of time to play with and nothing else on the agenda beyond having fun, playing with Legos, arguing about who plays what, and watching Phineas and Ferb.
I gave the kids a choice of four different cookie recipes, and they chose these Maple Oat Cookies with the request that I add chocolate chips. Fair enough. I’ve been wanting to make these for a long time. And it turned out to be a unique and interesting recipe.
It started with oats.
I put in a cup and a half, and then felt like a few extras would be nice. I threw about a half a handful in. I like oats. Then I added flour, whole wheat white of course.
Next, brown sugar. Packed. Packed well. See?
Dave was already at the store when I realized I didn’t have coconut, so I whisked everything together knowing that he would bring some home with him soon enough.
Then the recipe got interesting.
I put a stick of butter plus one tablespoon into a saucepan, and added 5 tablespoons of maple syrup. (And no, I didn’t use “table syrup” or whatever the hell that stuff is. I’m Canadian.)
(This wasn’t a time to be substituting yogurt for butter.) I melted them together, stirring on low heat.
Once it was done, I put it aside to cool. Then I mixed a teaspoon of baking soda with 2 tablespoons of boiling water, and mixed as best as I could. It didn’t really mix all that well, to be honest. I poured it into the maple syrup/butter concoction.
At that point, Dave had arrived with the coconut. As I added it to the dry ingredients, he found the other supply of coconut I was sure I’d had but couldn’t find earlier. No matter. In it went.
Once that was re-whisked, I added the butter-maple syrup-baking soda-water mixture.
Once that was thoroughly stirred, I added the last ingredient listed: Rice Krispies. I LOVE Rice Krispies in cookies. They add a lovely crunch.
I thought things were looking pretty good at that point, and told the kids that I didn’t think we needed chocolate chips.
They disagreed. We compromised. I used mini chips, and only added a quarter of a cup. (Oh yeah, and Juliet will now eat things with chocolate chips in them. Sometimes.)
I let the kids know that I was ready to start scooping the cookies onto trays. Juliet helped out briefly, but Margot stuck with it.
She scooped, she placed, she flattened.
The directions said to cook at 300 degrees for 15-20 minutes, which seemed excessive for cookies, but they were dead on. At 8 minutes, I took the tray out and turned it around, then put it back in for another 10 or so. Once they seemed golden at the edges and fully set, I took them out and put them on a rack to cool.
They looked great. Juliet came by to help Margot show them off. She brought Orange Bear with her.
Then Nathaniel turned up so they could all have a taste.
I made more. All in all, we got 52 cookies.
And the final result? AMAZING COOKIES!
These are so good, they will become a cookie staple around here. Maple, coconut, Rice Krispies, oats, a bit of chocolate, it all comes together, each subtle flavor comes in just right. The texture is glorious, crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. And they look nice too, always a bonus. I will definitely make these again, and maybe I can convince the kids to let me leave the chips out next time. Either way, they’re just delicious. And thanks to getting 52 out of the batch, they’re only 2 P+ each, so I can eat a few too. Cookie perfection.
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