Last March, in the midst of my Cinnamon Roll baking frenzy, I picked up a copy of Cook’s Illustrated Light Recipes when I saw the recipe for Guilt-Free Cinnamon Rolls [which I haven't tried, of course]. What I ended up making first from the magazine were the Healthier Oatmeal Cookies, and let me tell you — they wowed me. I can’t help but take a bite…then the next, and another one, and before I knew it I ate 2 cookies already. They’re sweet, chewy and somewhat lighter without sacrificing that great texture with each bite.
To be honest with you, when I was comparing its ingredients with that of my beloved Blueberry Pecan Oaties [I'll share that with you sometime in the future], I didn’t expect much considering that there are only 4 tablespoons of butter and 1 cup of (brown) sugar for 24 cookies. According to the magazine, the brown sugar made them moist — “because of its unique properties, brown sugar holds on to water during the baking process”. If you want to get technical about it, it’s caused by the “invert sugar” (found in brown sugar, but not in white sugar), which is hygroscopic, or pulls water from wherever it can be found.
It contains a cup of old-fashioned rolled oats, which I just love eating for breakfast. I like having something to chew on instead of just gulp down. For cookies, it’s no different — it makes it heartier, and gives it better texture. Yum..munch, munch.
Instead of raisins, I used dried cranberries. Dan and I don’t like raisins, and would rather have dried cranberries or blueberries. I also added nutmeg to the recipe. It’s a must for every oatmeal cookie I make.
I have to tell you, this is the ONLY cookie recipe where the number of cookies I made matched what’s on the recipe. I thought that was pretty cool. [I'm easily amused.]
For those who are curious on how to make balls out of the dough, here’s a pic for you. I use a plastic tablespoon to measure it, then have a teaspoon to scoop and mold with it.
A 15″x20″ insulated cookie sheet would hold 20 cookies. And I really would suggest using one. Or a Silpat baking mat if you have it.
I baked the last 4 cookie dough balls on a regular cookie sheet with parchment paper and they did not spread as much, and it turned out browner. You can see the considerable difference below:
Hope you get to try them. They’re definitely a great alternative to your usual oatmeal cookie recipe.
Healthier Oatmeal Cookies
[adapted from Cook's Illustrated Spring 2008 Light Recipes]
» download the PDF recipe
Ingredients: [makes 24 cookies]
- 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 3/4 cup (3 3/4 oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp table salt
- 4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup packed (7 oz) dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
Preparation:
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350ºF. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Whisk oats, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk butter, egg, and vanilla together. Stir in brown sugar until smooth, smearing any remaining clumps of sugar against side of bowl with rubber spatula. Stir in oat mixture and raisins until thoroughly combined.
- Working with 1 tablespoon dough at a time, roll dough into 1-inch balls. [If dough is too soft to roll, refrigerate until firm. You can also use the technique of using plastic measuring tablespoon and a teaspoon to shape the dough]. Place dough balls on prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 1/2 inches apart. I highly recommend insulated cookie sheets and Silpat baking sheet to replace the parchment paper for better results.
- Bake cookies 1 sheet at a time, until edges are light golden and centers are just set, 11 to 13 minutes, rotating baking sheet front to back halfway through baking (do not overbake). Cool cookies on baking sheets 5 minutes, then serve warm, or transfer to wire rack and cool completely. [Cooled cookies can be transferred to an airtight containger for up to 4 days.]
Nutritional information per cookie — Calories: 90 Fat: 2.5g Saturated Fat: 1.5 g
Wow, these look delicious. I like the idea of cranberries instead of raisins–and nutmeg, yes.
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These sound delicious and light enough to be semi-guilt-free. And I’m always happy to find unusual versions of old favorites. My favorite take on oatmeal cookies, for instance, actually involves the Indian spice mix garam masala and golden raisins.
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Love oatmeal in any form, and these look gorgeous! Nutmeg, yes, absolutely – and you could sub in liquid honey for half or even all of the brown sugar, for even moister cookies (but I’d drop the oven temp by 25 degrees too, if using honey – it’s more sensitive to heat and could over-brown). I haven’t tried the dried cranberries in oatmeal cookies – that’s got to go on my “to do” list!
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I was looking for the difference then I noticed there’s only half a stick of butter for 24 cookies! That’s quite impressive and they look yummy too! :)
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These are adorable! I like the size you made them. Yum!
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Those look really good!
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Syd — Thanks! Yeah, I can’t live without nutmeg.
Terry B — That is a unique take on the classic.
rjleaman — I’ll give honey a try next time!
Manggy — Yup. And because of your comment I changed the text to highlight that. Hehe. Thanks! They are surprisingly yummy. And I’m usually picky with cookies.
Hillary — Thanks. They’re good portions so I’m happy how they turned out.
Elizabeth — Thank you.
I just made oatmeal cookies yesterday, and I am reading your post only today! I missed it:)) I made vanishing outmeal cookies (Quaker recipe). I love their texture and I am pretty picky with cookies too. I notice you use less butter than in the Quaker recipe. Great! I am printing your recipe to try next time. Thank you!!!
I love oatmeal cookies! And yeah, I’m really ok without the raisins, hehe. I use dried cranberries in my oatmeal every morning. These look perfect!
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These were great, I made them tonight!
A note – I think you have a typo on the baking soda. Pretty sure it’s 1/4 tsp, like the rest, not tbsp … that’s what I used, and it was perfect!
Thanks!
looks good, it makes me hungry. but am cutting down on sat fats :-(
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Farida — ‘Tis the season. :) Hope you like it. I didn’t miss the butter that was taken out. It’s pretty good.
Elle — Oddly enough I eat my breakfast oatmeal plain. Haha.
Kimberly — Great! Oh my gosh…thanks for pointing that out. The PDF recipe was correct, but for some reason it’s different on the text of the post. So sorry! I’m glad you figured it out, though.
Phew … a day later… they’re deadly good! Seriously – these are great cookies! And I challenge anyone to eat just one … or even two. (Or three.)
Kimberly — I’m so glad you liked them! They are good, aren’t they? In fact, I’m going to make another batch this week. :)
Joy, I made these cookies yesterday! Just scooped them out with an ice cream scopp, right onto the baking sheet. They turned out lovely! I really loved their taste and texture. They seemed lighter than vanishing oatmeal cookies I always make.
The only thing is that I had only 15 small cookies, not 24 as the recipe says. I followed the recipe strictly, so not sure what might have been the problem. It doesn’t matter much though, they were delicious! Gone within minutes:) I think I’ll just double the recipe next time.
THANK YOU!!!!