There's also a little heart healthy whole wheat and olive oil in here too, but all you'll taste is the best memories of going to grandma's house.
The house was larger than ours even if it wasn't a literal house at all, and when my siblings and I visited we were always treated to an endless assortment of cakes, cookies, sugary cereals, ice cream and basically anything else that my mother didn't typically buy.
Most of these treats were reserved for our grandpa to get for us, but there was one exception: the Little Debbie boxes that resided under the counter and sometimes in a fruit bowl on top of the mid-century modern cut-out bar.
We were encouraged to eat these with abandon, and generally speaking my grandmother still does. Whenever I visit her she asks me if I'd like anything and when I say yes, she'll ask me to bring her an oatmeal cream pie, which has always been her favorite.
I can't keep anything Little Debbie in the house because I'll inhale it in an afternoon, so over the years I've started making these slightly healthier versions of my grandma's fave (and one of my favorite memories) and freezing them in the hopes that we won't have time to eat them all in the same evening. Enjoy!
Easy Oatmeal Cookies
Yield: approx. 24 cookies
Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
1/2 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup olive or canola oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or the seeds of one vanilla pod*
3 cups oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
a pinch or two of salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1 cup raisins, cranberries or chocolate chips (optional)*
Tools:
bowl
wooden spoon
tablespoon or teaspoon
measuring cups
sieve (optional)
silicone baking mat or parchment paper
cookie tray
oven
cooling rack (optional)
Method:
Preheat your oven to 375°F or 220°C fan.
Grease your cookie tray and sit it aside.
Cream together butter, oil, vanilla and sugars.
Add eggs and mix until they are fully incorporated.
Add oats and allow batter to sit for at least ten minutes until oats are soft.*
Sift in all the dry ingredients.
Mix until the dry ingredients are just incorporated. This is a pretty forgiving recipe, but your batter should still only look just wettened.
Add any extras and fold them into the batter.*
Scoop and sit the batter in tablespoon-sized portions on your baking tray. Press down on each cookie to flatten it slightly.
Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes or until the tops are just a little golden brown.
Cool the cookies, but be sure to enjoy at least one on the warm side with some tea.
A Few Variations to Consider
As with most of my recipes, there are many variations you can choose to incorporate in order to make these personalized. Hubby's personal favorite is chocolate chip. I'm partial to making these into oatmeal cream pies, and you could make them even more health-conscious with the addition of dried fruits or nuts.
If you plan to add raisins, cranberries, chocolate chips, or nuts, you'll want to add about a cup's worth. If you add more than this the cookies will no longer taste of oatmeal, and too few won't be worth the trouble.
If you add cinnamon, feel free to halve the amount of vanilla.This will balance out both the flavors perfectly.
How To Make Them Into Oatmeal Cream Pies
Want to make these into my own coveted version of homemade oatmeal cream pies? In a separate bowl, count the number of cookies you've made and divide by half. So if I yield 24, I'll be making 12 sandwich cookies. For the frosting you'll need equal parts unsalted butter, softened, and powdered or icing sugar. So for 12 sandwich cookies, that's:
1 1/2 pounds (sticks) unsalted butter
3/4 cup powdered or icing sugar
Mix them together using a hand mixer, stand mixer, or whisk until light and fluffy in texture. Mix in a few pinches of salt and teaspoon of vanilla and you've just made a basic buttercream frosting that will sit perfectly in-between your cookies.
Of course, I like a lot of variety in my home cookie selection so I'll generally only only make enough frosting for one sandwich and leave the rest to be eaten on their own. To do this, you simply whisk together the following:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon powdered or icing sugar
1 pinch salt (optional)
1-2 drops vanilla extract
Then you can have your oatmeal cream pie for one without sacrificing the entire batch.
If you tried and liked this recipe, consider pinning it, sharing it on social media, or tagging a picture of your cookies with #craftyvintagelady.
What do YOU like to mix into your oatmeal cookie batter?
Let me know in the comments below.
