Reasonable Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

While I normally have no problems with cookies that are dessert, with sugar and butter aplenty, sometimes that's not what I want. On a cold day, when I didn't have much for lunch and wanted a more substantial afternoon snack, it made sense to make a more, well, reasonable cookie. Very good with tea. We have about ten bags of cranberries crowding the freezer, so I used chopped cranberries, but raisins would be more traditional and would make a sweeter cookie.

Reasonable Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/2 stick butter, at room temperature
1 egg + 1 egg white
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 to 2/3 cup chopped cranberries, or raisins
Cinnamon to taste (several dashes)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the egg, additional egg white, and vanilla. Fold in the dry ingredients, then the fruit.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using a teaspoon or your hands, drop small cookies onto the baking sheet, about 1.5 inches in diameter (or larger if you'd like). Bake 10-15 minutes, until the edges are colored but the cookies are still soft.

Makes 2 dozen or possibly a few less.

Pistachio Cookies

Pistachios are my new favorite nut. These showcase the pistachios very well; the flecks of lime zest pick up the green color. They are crisp and not too sweet, ideal for dunking in tea.

Pistachio Cookies

3/4 cup pistachio nutmeats, chopped roughly (put them in a plastic bag and whack them with a rolling pin)
1 2/3 cups white flour
2/3 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp powdered cardamom
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, chilled and diced
2 tbsp water, or more as needed
grated zest of 1 lime


Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet.
In a large bowl, mix together flour, oats, nuts, sugar, baking soda, salt, cardamom, and lime zest. With your fingers, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until it reaches the texture of coarse sand. Add the egg and stir until incorporated (the dough will still not come together into a ball). Add the water, beginning with 2 tbsp, and mix with your hands until the dough just comes together into a ball (it may take more like 4 tbsp). Shape into balls slightly larger than walnuts, flatten slightly, and place on cookie sheet. Bake about 30 minutes, until crisp and slightly colored. Makes about 24 - 28 cookies.

Blueberry Cookies

Still dealing with a mountain of blueberries... these are delicious. Light, juicy, and quite tart.


Blueberry Cookies

1 cup rolled quick-cooking oats (NOT instant)
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup 2% milk
1.5 cups fresh blueberries
grated zest of 1/2 to 1 lemon
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a baking sheet.
Combine oats, flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl; set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, followed by milk. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Fold in blueberries and lemon zest.
Drop by tablespoonfuls on cookie sheet. Bake for 12 minutes.

Makes about 40 cookies.

If you store them overnight, they will lose their crispness; if you'd like them to be crisper, just toast them briefly on a cookie sheet in the oven.