Crispy Salted Oatmeal Cookies

On the side of chewy vs crisp cookies, I'm on Team Crispy all the way. Most times, I end up having to modify recipes I find in order to make them just the way I like. The downside is that it increases the chances of them burning. So I was really excited when I came across this recipe for crispy salted oatmeal cookies.


Crispy Salted Oatmeal Cookies
From Cook’s Illustrated

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon table salt
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup good-quality chocolate, chopped
1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt (for sprinkling on top)

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and table salt in a medium bowl.

Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Scrape down bowl, then add egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated.

Gradually add flour mixture and mix until just incorporated and smooth, followed by oats and white chocolate.

Divide dough into 24 equal portions, each about 2 tablespoons. Roll between palms into balls, then place on lined baking sheets about 2 1/2 inches apart. Using fingertips, gently press down each ball to about 3/4-inch thickness.

Sprinkle a flake or two of sea salt on each cookie

Bake until cookies are deep golden brown, about 13 to 16 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack to cool.

Notes:
I was baking while watching Masterchef and completely forgotten to add sea salt on top of the cookies. Oops. They still turned out fine though. Next time I'll try some lemon salt on top.

I actually made my cookies about 1/2 tablespoon sized and baked for 10mins instead.

Orange-Cranberry Rolls

It's been one of those weeks where I just cant be bothered cooking. Most days I just end up getting take-away or rummaging through my pantry for nonsense. For instance, hypothetically speaking, I may or may not have had a giant bag of chips as a meal, and this may or may not have happened several times. Hypothetically speaking, of course.

Anywho, instead of cooking, I decided that needed something sweet to help me get through my statistic assignment. So I made orange-cranberry rolls with some left over marmalade. Very simple and easy, just the thing I need when I'm stressed.

The dough was from my favourite cinnamon buns recipe, and really, you can use whichever recipe you prefer.


Orange-Cranberry Rolls
Dough recipe from The Pioneer Woman

For the dough
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder, heaping
1/4 teaspoon baking soda, scant
1/4 tablespoon salt

For the filling
Orange-cranberry marmalade
115g butter, soften and slightly melted
Brown sugar
Dried cranberries
Nuts, optional

Mix the milk, vegetable oil, and sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture and leave to cool until lukewarm (around 45min).

Sprinkle in the yeast and let sit for a minute or so. 

Add in 2 cups of all-purpose flour and stir the mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour. 

Add the remaining flour, the baking powder, baking soda and the salt. Stir mixture together.

Sprinkle surface generously with flour. Take the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape.

Spread marmalade over the dough. (I used about 4 heaping tablespoon cause that's all that I have left, but what you're aiming for is a nice layer) Spread/Drizzle butter over the dough and sprinkle the sugar over. (I used nearly 1 cup, but it really depends on how sweet or bitter your marmalade is). Finally add chopped nuts, cranberries, etc to taste.

Now, begin rolling the dough up, keep it relatively tight. Pinch the seam to the roll to seal it. Then, cut the rolls approximately 3/4 to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans.

Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 190 degrees until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.

Banana Bread Cookie

Now I know these don't look like much, but honestly, you have to make them. The shockingly bad picture doesn't detract from the fact that these cookies are amazing. It just tells you that I've been baking at night again. They pretty much taste like soft pillowy bites of banana bread, encased in a crisp outer shell. Give it a go and let me know how yours turn out.


Banana Bread Cookies
Recipe modified from the Tasty Kitchen

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
splash of almond extract (optional)
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 bananas, mashed
1 cup oats

Preheat oven to 185C.

Cream butter and sugar together. Add in eggs and extracts.

Combine flour, baking soda and cinnamon. Mix into butter mixture.

Gradually add banana and oats.

Drop by spoonfuls (I used about 1/2 to 1 tsp as I like small cookies) onto prepared cookie sheets.

Baked for 10-12 minutes and cool immediately on wire racks.

Notes:
Be careful not to overbake these. You want it just done enough to have a crisp, slightly brown outside while maintaining a soft interior.

The original recipe calls for 1/2C chocolate chips. If you're so inclined, add them in after the banana and oats.

As I knew I was going to make small cookies (I ended up with about 50), I've actually halved the recipe. If you prefer a more traditional sized cookies, feel free to double the proportions.

Chocolate-Mint Cupcake.

Made this for my friend's birthday. You can't really tell, but they are itty bitty mini cupcakes instead of the regular sized ones. Haven't really made cupcakes in a long while, so was a little rusty with the decoration, but I think they turned out pretty alright, yeah?