Chewy Double Chocolate, Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Cookies--UPDATED!

(More than a mouthful)

I first wrote about these cookies back in November last year right after I started writing The Redneck Gourmet. This is my own original recipe that I've developed in an attempt to duplicate some cookies that I used to buy at Harry's Farmer's Market in Atlanta back in the late 1980's.

I have cooked several batches since I first published the recipe and I have slightly refined the ingredient list and the process, so I thought it would be worthwhile to write about them again after cooking my latest batch last night.

I'm not just saying this because I cook them, but believe me--these are some of the best darn cookies you will ever put in your mouth. YOU NEED TO TRY COOKING THEM.

Here is what I use to make my cookies:

2 sticks butter + 1/4 stick

2 eggs
1 cup white crystal sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup Quaker oats

1-1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup walnut pieces

1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 cups cake flour, sifted
1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3 squares unsweetened baker’s chocolate

According to my Betty Crocker Cookbook, there are a couple of details that ensure good cookies. I followed Mrs. Crocker’s instructions and my cookies came out perfect.

Betty Crocker Tip: First, let your butter soften at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before you use it. Second, if you don’t have flat cookie sheets (I don't,) turn your sheets upside down and cook your cookies on the back of the sheet.

Now, as to making great cookies, in a double boiler, combine ¼ stick of butter and three squares of unsweetened baking chocolate and heat over medium heat to melt, stirring occasionally.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the white crystal sugar, the brown sugar, the oats, and the cinnamon. Mix everything together with your hands to combine very well. Slice your softened butter into 1/8" thick pieces and slowly add it to the sugar/oats mixture as you beat it with an electric mixer on low speed.

Do not over beat, just break up and distribute the butter evenly. Now add the eggs and vanilla and beat some more.

Sprinkle in your chocolate chips and walnuts and beat lightly with the mixer. Be careful to not break up your chocolate chips.

Finally, once the chocolate and butter mixture has melted, add it to the sugar/oats mixture and beat lightly.

In a separate medium mixing bowl, sift and measure the cake flour, the whole wheat flour, the salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix everything together with a spoon.

Now it is time to think—you might not need all of your flour mixture--so pay close attention. Add half of your flour mix to the wet mix and beat it all together with the mixer. Take a spatula and scrape the sides of the bowl to get the dry stuff off of the edges. Keep adding the flour mixture a little at a time and beating it with the mixer until you have a very stiff dough.

As I said, you might not need all of the flour, depending on room temperature and your accuracy of measuring the ingredients.

I said VERY stiff dough...it's important.

When you are satisfied with your dough, cover the mixture with Saran Wrap and sit it in the refrigerator for ten or fifteen minutes to chill. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Open a beer or mix yourself a drink while you wait.

Redneck Tip: My Betty Crocker Cookbook had another idea I liked. Instead of cooking a whole batch of bad cookies, spoon out a little ball of your dough on to a cookie sheet and test-cook one cookie to see what you’ve got. If your cookie spreads out too much and is flat, add a little flour to your mix. If it is too dry and cooks like a golf ball, add a little more butter, a dash of milk, or another egg and try again. Mine worked great the first try. Also, allow your cookie sheets to cool off between batches so that your cookies don’t spread too much while cooking—remember, that’s why we chilled the dough in the first place…

Spoon out even globs of your cookie dough onto your cookie sheets. I wanted real thick, 4” cookies, so I used big portions. I left the dough in even globs--almost "balls" of dough standing up 1-1/2" to 2" high. Trust me here. The dough will spread out as it cooks, but the cookies will still be almost 1/2" thick when you're done.

For large cookies, cook them for fifteen to seventeen minutes, until you see the sides of the bottoms starting to get real dark.

Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes, then slide them off onto a cooling rack. Repeat the cooking process until you run out of dough, or make some more dough and keep going.

I made about a dozen and one-half 4" diameter, super fat cookies, and between the real estate agents and other victims I ran into today, I only have four left.

I had ZERO complaints.

YOU BETTER TRY MAKING THESE COOKIES, DARN IT...


Enjoy Y’all,

The Redneck Gourmet