oatmeal cookie question?
Maybe someone with experience baking Oatmeal Cookies can help me out, here.
I'm a fairly experienced baker, but every time I make oatmeal cookies (I've tried a few different recipes), the oatmeal remains too hard and "tough" inside the cookies. The rest of the cookie is just fine (texture, flavor), but the oatmeal stays dry and tough.
I've tried letting the oatmeal soak for a while in the "wet" ingredients, to soften it, but this doesn't seem to make a difference. Is there any other "trick" I can try to get cookies that are a bit easier to chew? FYI, I use regular, old-fasioned rolled-oats oatmeal, NOT the "quick" kind.
Some ideas.
When pre-soaking the oatmeal flakes, use warm (tepid) water instead of cold. You could add a bit of molasses to the water first.
You could also try adding a few drops of white vinegar to the water used for soaking. Use only a small amount. The extra bit of acid may help to soften the oats.
Add raisins. Plump the raisins in warm water before putting them into the dough. This will leave more moisture in the finished cookie.
I’ve never had that problem,but maybe you would like the quick kind better in cookies.
References :
Some ideas.
When pre-soaking the oatmeal flakes, use warm (tepid) water instead of cold. You could add a bit of molasses to the water first.
You could also try adding a few drops of white vinegar to the water used for soaking. Use only a small amount. The extra bit of acid may help to soften the oats.
Add raisins. Plump the raisins in warm water before putting them into the dough. This will leave more moisture in the finished cookie.
References :
Some recipes say to chill dough for an hour before baking. 375 for 8 to 10 minutes. If you have raisins in the recipe, cover the raisins with water and boil for 5 minutes, drain and reserve 1/2 cup of hot liquid. Add baking soda to the hot liquid and stir until disolved.
Also there was an article on Cook’s Illustrated that said this –
" Big Chewy Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies
The Problem: When we considered doing a story on oatmeal cookies, the first place we went was the back of the Quaker Oats box, and the cookies the Quaker recipe produced were very good. Nonetheless, we wanted something more–more chewy, more moist, and more substantial.
The Goal: We were after a big, moist, chewy oatmeal cookie with lots of real oat flavor.
The Solution: After literally months of testing, our final recipe was in fact still very close to the Quaker Oats recipe that had gotten us started, but we had discovered four simple changes that made a significant difference in the end result. First, we substituted baking powder for baking soda. The baking powder gave the dough more lift, which in turn made the cookies less dense and a bit chewier. Second, we eliminated the cinnamon recommended not only in the Quaker Oats recipe but in lots of other recipes. By taking away the cinnamon, we revealed more oat flavor. Third, we made our cookies really big, doubling the amount of dough most recipes recommend dropping onto the cookie sheet. We had learned that small cookies tend to be dry; by increasing size, we got more moisture and more chewiness. Fourth, we increased the sugar in our cookies, and this made a huge difference in terms of texture and moistness. "
Good Luck! ~-~
References :
http://www.cooksillustrated.com/login.asp?did=1210&LoginForm=recipe&iseason=
you should try the quick oats they are smaller
References :