The Amazing Peanut Butter-Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookie Experiment

I'm excited to bring to you today the first recipe post on ReMadeSimple. (Mmmm... it is a good one!)  Since I also love to cook and bake I thought it would be fun to post some favorite recipes here and there. So, just in time for your holiday baking,  here is what I think is the best cookie recipe I've ever tried, courtesy of Brown Eyed Baker.

Now that I'm a stay-at-home mom, I decided it would be nice to start baking a little more than I used to, and I was determined to find the best recipe I could for chocolate chip cookies -and not just use the recipe off the back of the chocolate chips bag anymore.

Since I love the combination of peanut butter and chocolate (think Reese's), I wondered if the two could be combined into a great cookie. I found this great cooking blog called "Brown Eyed Baker" who had a recipe for peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies so I decided to give it a try.

I modified the recipe slightly only because I ran out of regular oatmeal (I used only about half regular rolled oats called for in the recipe) and also only had salted butter. So, I used Gerber baby oatmeal for the rest, (yes, with a 9 month old in the house at the time, there is an abundance of that.) and salted butter and since I doubled the recipe, used only 1/2 the salt called for. I also used whole white wheat flour instead of regular white for more fiber.

I was a little nervous I'd ruin the cookies, but I guess I thought it would be fun to experiment. Believe it or not they turned out amazing! Jeff said the baby oatmeal made the texture smoother than regular oatmeal in cookies. It was a success! These are the best cookies I've ever made.

I also used a couple techniques mentioned on the blog to get a "bakery perfect" result. One technique to get the nice crinkly top to the cookies and not have flat ones was to form the ball (I used a 2 Tbsp. scoop) then pull it apart, turn about 90 degrees and put back together again, then place on the cookie sheet. The other technique was to take the cookies out of the oven after 10 minutes and let them finish cooking on the cookie sheet until they are cool-(not removing  right away or cooling on a baking rack).

I didn't even have to use parchment paper (well, I actually didn't have any left) just a regular cookie sheet, and I used a pizza stone for some of them, which worked well, too.  I used to get annoyed making cookies before because the batter would get too sticky to work with and would stick to everything, but this mixture was almost fluffy, not sticky, very easy to clean up--and irresistable to eat, too. After the cookies cooled down, I stored them in an airtight container at room temperature. This will be my favorite cookie recipe from now on!

two tablespoon measurements

breaking in half, twisting

reconnecting cookie to make "bakery perfect" crinkles

Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 16 cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour (I used whole white wheat)
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
½ cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

3. On medium speed, cream together the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat to combine. On low speed, gradually add the flour until just combined. Stir in the oats, and then the chocolate chips.

4. Use a large cookie scoop (I used 2 tablespoons) and drop dough onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden. Cool completely on the baking sheet and then store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Click here to view BrownEyedBaker

     Are you drooling yet? Now go try this recipe!

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