Oatmeal Crispies with Chocolate Chips

I found this recipe in the The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook and it looked simple enough. Plus I love cookies made with shortening vs butter. Yes, I said it. Shoot me later. The fact is cookies like these made with shortening have an amazing texture and flavor that you just can't get with butter. So crispy and nutty. Trust me.

The original recipe added nuts to the cookie dough. As I wanted a school-friendly anti-nut snack, I opted for chocolate chips instead.

This recipe makes 2 large rolls of cookie dough which you roll up into wax paper and refrigerate. 2 things with this recipe to be aware of if following the book: 1. It didn't state how long to let dough sit in the fridge. If you take it out too early and try to slice it you will be left with a crumbly mess. I recommend sticking it in your freezer for a good 1/2 hr before attempting slicing. Truth be told, I would skip the rolling into a log step altogether because it isn't worth it unless you are freezing the dough for a later date. Instead I recommend just shaping a tablespoon of dough into a ball, placing it on a cookie sheet and then pressing it down to about 1/2 inch thickness. Trying to cut the roll, cold or not, is a mess - period.

2nd: The recipe says to take the cookies off the cookie sheet right away after baking. If I had tried that I would have ended up with cookie shards. They would have completely fallen apart. So I let them sit for 5 minutes on the sheet then transferred them to a cooling rack.

These cookies are excellent. They are crispy, crunchy, sweet with brown sugar and pure golden heaven.

LET'S GET STARTED



As mentioned, this makes a lot of cookie dough. The recipe states 24 cookies


Ready to be baked


Baked - all golden brown and beautiful!
These do spread out a bit when baking
so leave 2 inch spaced between cookies

RECIPE:

WHAT YOU NEED

1 cup shortening
1 cup packed dark or light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups rolled oats (slow cooking, old-fashioned - NOT quick or instant)
1 cups chocolate chips

MAKE IT

LINE 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper
IN LARGE BOWL, combine shortening and sugars. BEAT slow speed with electric mixer to combine then MED speed 2-3 minutes
IN MEDIUM BOWL, slightly whisk eggs and vanilla
ADD EGG mixture to sugar/shortening mixture and beat to combine
ADD FLOUR, salt, baking soda to wet ingredients and stir with wooden spoon til combined
STIR in oats and chocolate chips
DIVIDE DOUGH IN HALF and place each 1/2 on a sheet of waxed paper
FORM a roll 1 1/2 inches in diameter and wrap tightly with waxed paper
REPEAT with remaining dough
ALLOW dough to sit in freezer for at least 1/2 hr
WHEN READY TO BAKE, preheat oven to 350F
SLICE dough into 1/2 inch thick cookie and place on cookie sheets leaving 2 inch gap between cookies
BAKE 10-12 minutes until light golden brown
LET COOKIES REST on cookie sheets 5 minutes before moving them with a spatula to cooling rack.
ALLOW to cool completely.

SCRUMPTIOUS WITH A GLASS OF MILK and GREAT AS ICE CREAM SANDWICHES!