Brown butter oatmeal raisin cookies
Prep Time: 25 minutes active + 30 minutes rest + time to prepare some ingredients
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Keywords: snack cookie vegetarian dessert sugar rolled oats raisins flour
Ingredients (makes 11 cookies)
- 1/4 cup / 2 ounces / 56 grams unsalted butter (to make brown butter, recipe below)
- 1 1/2 ounces / 42 grams raisins
- 1 tablespoon / 15 ml warm apple juice OR tea OR water
- 3 ounces / 85 grams rolled oats
- 1 ounce / 28 grams sliced almonds
- Avocado OR other mild-flavored vegetable oil to add to the brown butter to obtain 2 ounces
- 1 3/4 ounces / 50 grams sugar: 1/2 coconut sugar and 1/2 light brown sugar
- 1 egg about 2.1 ounces / 60 grams, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon / 5 ml vanilla extract
- 2 ounces / 56 grams total of a combination of flours:
- 1/2 ounce / 14 grams okara flour
- 1/2 ounce / 14 grams whole rye flour
- 1/2 ounce / 14 grams whole-wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 ounce / 14 grams sprouted whole-wheat pastry flour OR whole-wheat pastry flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
Prepare the following four ingredients ahead of making the cookies: brown butter, plumped raisins, toasted rolled oats, toasted almond slices.
1) Cut the butter into small pieces and put them into a small saucepan. Melt the butter while stirring then keep the melted butter on the heat, stirring. The butter will foam as water evaporates then the solids will caramelize. Remove the saucepan from the heat, pour the brown butter into a ramekin and let cool. The process is fast and requires full attention as the solids go from brown to burned in a few seconds4.
2) With your fingers, separate the raisins that are clumped. Place the raisins in a ramekin. Pour the warm liquid over them and stir well. Stir again a few more times, until the liquid is absorbed.
3) Heat the oven to 350 F / 170 C. Spread the rolled oats on an unlined baking sheet. Toast rolled oats in the oven for 4-5 minutes, shaking the sheet half-way through. Transfer the oats onto a plate.
4) Toast the sliced almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat. Shake the skillet to ensure even toasting and prevent burning. Transfer the almonds onto a plate.
Finally, make the cookies. Let the brown butter soften in a mixing bowl. Weigh the butter and add enough vegetable oil to get to 2 ounces / 56 grams. Add both sugars to the mixing bowl. Cream the butter and sugars. I do all the mixing with a spatula or wooden spoon, but you can use an electric mixer until otherwise noted. Add the egg and the vanilla extract and stir until combined.
Sift the flours into a small mixing bowl. Sift in the baking soda, then add salt and cinnamon. Add about half of the dry ingredients to the wet ones and stir briefly. Add the rest and mix just until the flour is incorporated. Add the toasted oats and incorporate them `using a spatula. Finally, add the raisins and incorporate them using a spatula.
Cover the mixing bowl and place it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so to firm up the dough (it will be easier to handle and the cookies will remain chubby), but not too firm, since there is one last ingredient to incorporate.
Heat the oven to 350 F/177 C.
Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
Take the cookie dough out of the refrigerator. Add the toasted almonds to the dough and stir to incorporate. Weigh approximately 1.2 ounces / 34 grams of dough for each cookie. Shape each piece of dough into a half dome, tap the top to flatten it slightly and place on the baking sheet, leaving 1 1/2-2 inches / 4-5 cm of distance between them.
Bake for 6 minutes. Rotate the backing sheet. Bake for another 6 minutes. The cookies will still be soft. The edges should be golden brown.
Leave the cookies on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer them onto a wire rack and cool completely.
Store the cookies in a sealed container.
