I love crunchy chocolate chip cookies, but my oatmeal cookies need to be soft and chewy. Yes, I'm quirky, but if you have the same taste characteristic, then these cookies are for you. In honor of Earth Day and the amazing Science March yesterday in Washington, D.C., I thought a "Cookie Chemistry" lesson was in order.
There are a few things to know if you want to make a cookie soft: substitute half of the unsalted butter with shortening, increase brown sugar to granulated sugar, almost 2:1, add some light Karo syrup, and if you're making a cookie with dried fruit (i.e., raisins), soak them for at least 30 minutes in hot water.
First, the butter v. shortening lesson--shortening is 100% fat, but butter and margarine are composed of about 80-85% fat and 20-15% water. Butter definitely has a superior flavor than shortening, but when you use all butter, it gives off steam and will cause a bit more gluten formation, so you'd get a crisper cookie with all butter. Also, butter melts at a lower temperature than shortening and therefore, it melts faster. Shortening will hold its shape, but with a little leavening, as in this case I used baking soda, then this cookie will rise and expand some.
Secondly, the ratio of brown sugar to white, granulated sugar is another factor. I used double the amount of brown sugar to white sugar in this recipe because it has a higher moisture content and since it also contains molasses, yields a softer cookie. Brown sugar isn't as sweet so I also added light Karo Syrup to give a chewy, almost gooey factor to these cookies. Corn syrup is an invert sugar, which means that it prevents sugar crystals from forming. This is very important when making candy or caramel, but since I wanted that texture, I added some. Please note, it's not like Corn syrup is the same thing as the much maligned high fructose corn syrups. While both are made from corn starch, corn syrup is 100% glucose while high fructose corn syrup has been processed to convert some of that glucose into fructose and consuming large amounts of fructose has a negative effect.
Finally, soaking dried fruit is very important to create a soft cookie. I typically cover dried fruit with boiling water and wait at least 30 minutes and even up to an hour before using them in any recipe. Moistened dried fruit has two effects: first, dried fruit will normally draw out moisture from the dough and make a crisper cookie, but if there isn't enough moisture to begin with, you'll also get crispy fruit pieces...ugh! Of course, plump fruit adds back some moisture to the dough and creates a soft cookie!
Old Fashioned Soft Oatmeal~Raisin~Pecan Cookies
1 cup Raisins, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes, then drain
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room tempeature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room tempeature
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 T Light Karo Syrup
1 large egg
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. Almond extract
1 tsp. ground cinnamon*
2T milk
3 cups Old Fashioned Oatmeal
1 1/2 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup chopped Pecans (or walnuts)--optional
*I found a new spice mixture at Penzey's Spice called Cake Spice: it contains Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, star anise, and ginger and I used that instead of just cinnamon!
Preheat oven to 375F-degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
In a stand mixture, using the paddle attachment, cream the butter, shortening and sugars together thoroughly. Add the Karo syrup, egg and extracts and cream once more, scrapping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Add the milk and beat once more, then the dry ingredients. Beat just until the ingredients are combined. Stir in drained raisins and the pecans, if using.
I used a #20 scoop to portion out the cookies, making sure I left space for the cookies to expand.
Bake in the preheated oven for 11 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and allow to cool for 5-7 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
Perfect treat after a day in the garden. I've been planting a new flower bed I'm calling, Kelly's Garden, in honor of our daughter who passed away seven years ago from breast cancer. Since she carried hydrangeas in her wedding, I've planted mostly varieties of them, but added in some other plants I knew she loved. It's a loving work in progress and makes me happy. I hope you have a wonderful day as well.
