fivebyevif

Cookie weekend. I made maple-oatmeal because I bought maple syrup in Funk’s Grove on my last drive down from Chicago, and snickerdoodle because I’ve never made snickerdoodles. Maple-Oatmeal recipe included, as it was my favorite of the two. Yummm.

Maple-Oatmeal Cookies
Based on the recipe from Crescent Dragonwagon’s book, except I complicated it with cinnamon, raisins, and nuts. You’ll notice that there’s no sugar, only maple syrup, in this recipe. Crescent comments that this cookie is more likely to appeal to adults because it’s not as sweet as regular oatmeal cookies. I found this to be a fair assessment — the cookies were also pleasantly crumbly due to the lack of massive amounts of sugar, and no eggs whatsoever.

These are very simple to make. I would definitely make them again.

The Wet Team

• 4 oz (1/2 c. or 1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 3/4 c grade “B” maple syrup

The Dry Team

• 1 1/2 c wheat pastry or all-purpose flour
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 1/2 t cinnamon
• 2 c cooking (not instant, not steel cut) oatmeal

Optional Mix-Ins

• 3/4 c raisins (optional)
• 3/4 c pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)
• anything you like, really, but I suggest no more than two (chopped dark chocolate would probably be yummy)

Preheat oven to 325. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and hit with a bit of nonstick spray.

With electric hand-mixer, cream the butter (or margarine) in a big bowl until fluffy. Add the syrup one 1/4 cup installment at a time, incorporating each dose fully before you add the next one. Add the vanilla.

Sift the salt, soda, flour, and cinnamon into a medium bowl. Add the oats and combine thoroughly. Dump on top of the wet stuff. If you are using mix-ins, don’t stir just yet — instead, add your nuts/raisins/whatever to your now-empty medium bowl, grab a handful of the still-dry floury mixture, and toss to coat. Add the mix-ins to the big bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon.

The mixture will be fairly dry. Drop onto the prepared cookie sheets at desired width and height; these things don’t really spread much in the oven. That said, give them at least 1 1/2 to 2 inches apart.

Baking time varies on cookie size and how good your oven is. Mine took 20 minutes, though the recipe I based this on said 15. So, if you’re using two pans, rotate after 7 minutes, and then check up on it every five minutes after. Cookies will be dry on top and light brown on the bottom. Let them firm up on the pans for five minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool.