Oatiest Oatmeal Cookies

   

 

So this is the third time I've typed this now and it won't stop being in all caps and I'm about to just give up.  I was watching Food Network a day or two ago and Alton Brown was doing a show on oats, all oats.  Yum!  I love oats!  This is just one of the many recipes on there that I was excited to try.  This recipe requires absolutely no flour, just oats.  I also omitted the butter and substituted non-hydrogenated shortening to eliminate the dairy as well.  I actually made this recipe twice.  The first time I didn't have or use a scale and tried to just convert the weighed measurements to cups.  Totally didn't work. I had a big blob of a mess, a tasty mess, but not a cookie.  So I went out and bought a scale.  I needed one anyways especially since I just got the Good Eats 3 cookbook for Christmas and most of Alton Brown's recipes are done by weight.  This cookie was amazing.  I loved it, my kids loved it, and I didn't even feel bad indulging a bit since it was gluten-free and dairy-free.  This is a very thin, crispy cookie, but totally worth it.  Yum!   



This recipe was adapted from Alton Brown's Good eats.



16 ounces old-fashioned rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch kosher salt
10 ounces non-hydrogenated shortening
6 ounces dark brown sugar
3 1/2 ounces granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces raisins, optional (soaked in hot water for 10 minutes to rehydrate)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Start soaking your raisins in hot water to allow them to rehydrate while you make the cookies.  Spread oats into a single layer on a half sheet pan. Bake until lightly toasted, about 20 minutes . Cool the oats for 2 to 3 minutes on the pan.  Grind 8 ounces of toasted oats in a food processor until the consistency of whole wheat flour, about 3 minutes. Add the baking powder, cinnamon and salt to the food processor and pulse 2 to 3 times to combine. Set aside.  Combine the shortening and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix on medium speed using the paddle attachment until light in color, about 3 minutes. Stop once to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Reduce the mixer speed to the lowest speed and add the egg and vanilla extract. Mix to combine. Slowly add the flour mixture until just combined. Stop once to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the remaining toasted oats and the (drained) raisins. Stir to combine.  Scoop the dough with a 1 1/2-ounce disher onto parchment-lined half sheet pans, leaving 2 inches between each mound. Bake until the cookies begin to brown around the edges, 12 to14 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through cooking. Cool on the pans for 2 minutes, and then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.