This stormy weather has made me quite lazy! All I want to do is drink tea and cuddle up next to my fireplace while watching movies all day long. It was 42 degrees today! …. In Southern California! If it’s gonna get this cold, I wish it would just snow. That’s hopeful wishing on my part. [Now, people that are reading this from around the world must think that I’m crazy to be considering 42 degrees as freezing, you must bear with me because I’m used to 80-90 degree weather on a yearly basis. It’s always sunny in Southern California and hardly ever drops below 65 degrees!]
I’ve finally finished with my Christmas shopping and am quite ecstatic with what I got everyone. I love shopping for others– just the quest of finding a perfect gift to match everyone’s individual personality brings me joy. I hope you guys are done with your holiday shopping as well, seeing as how there’s only only 8 more days for last minute shopping!
Day 6 of my 12 Days of Cookies: Half way there! I decided to do a little twist on the usual Oatmeal Toffee/Oatmeal Raisin cookie. I added a bit of what I had on hand in my kitchen: walnuts & cocoa powder. I used just a bit of Ghiradelli cocoa powder, but would definitely up the ratio the next time I make these. You can hardly taste the amount I put in. Also, don’t over bake these babies! They taste better the next day, believe it or not. By leaving the cookie out overnight, the flavors really get to mix and then get to the perfect consistency. They’re crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside. I made a half batch and pulsed my oats in the food processor until they were FINELY ground. These were adapted from Martha’s Stewart’s Recipe for her Oatmeal Raisin cookies.
Ingredients
- 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup toffee bits
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Whisk together oatmeal, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
In the bowl of stand mixer cream butter and sugars until pale and fluffy (5 mins) and add eggs and vanilla until just combined. Add oat mixture and mix until just combined. Stir in walnuts and toffee.
Scoop onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-13 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies. Let cookies cool on sheet for five minutes and transfer to wire racks to cool completely.