Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
Start with room-temperature shortening, sugar and light brown sugar.
Beat it with a wooden spoon!
Add egg and vanilla. Beat some more!
Mix together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder.
Add the oats to the batter to hydrate them before mixing in the dry ingredients.
Mix in the chocolate, too. It's important to chop the chocolate yourself so you get a mix of chunks and shards, which melt into the dough.
Add the dry ingredients in one fell swoop!
Stir until you have dough, then fold in the nuts.
Drop onto parchment-lined baking sheets.
And bake until crisp on the edges but still moist in the center.
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amanda says: The oatmeal part of the recipe comes from "Ruth's Oatmeal Crisps," winner of the 1966 Kentucky State Fair cookie contest. I added cocoa, chocolate and walnuts, and left the golden raisins and pecans on the cutting room floor. The shortening makes this a super crisp cookie. Seek out organic shortening.
Makes about 60 cookies
- 1 1/2 cup sifted all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup organic vegetable shortening
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup regular rolled oats
- 1 cup coarsely chopped dark chocolate
- 1 cup chopped toasted walnuts
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
- Beat the shortening and sugars in a large bowl just enough to blend well. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until thoroughly mixed. Add the oats and chocolate, and mix again. Add the flour mixture, mixing well. Stir in the nuts.
- Drop the dough by tablespoonfuls onto the parchment-lined baking sheets, 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake until toasted on the edges but still moist in the center, about 12 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool.
- This recipe is a Community Pick!
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6 months ago RANDI
We are a nut-free home. Would you add anything to replace nuts, or just leave them out?
6 months ago amanda
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
You can just leave them out -- no problem. And I think that's a better way to go than adding anything else. Although if the cookies are not for children, gin- or run-soaked raisins are great in chocolate and oatmeal cookies.
11 months ago Mianna
Yummy, these were perfect. Thanks for so many good recipes.
12 months ago aussiefoodie
I don't have any dark chocolate... Has anyone tried these as a white chocolate chip/pistachio cookies? Thinking I will out the cocoa, but not sure how the oats will go with white chocolate?
12 months ago amanda
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
Hope you'll try it and report back -- sounds good!
12 months ago aussiefoodie
I tested it out - substituted dark chocolate for 1 cup white chocolate chips and walnuts for 1 cup chopped pistachios. I omitted the cocoa and instead used 1 3/4 cup All Purpose flour. I used 1 scant cup brown sugar, loosely packed. The key difference is the white chocolate adds a lot of sweetness, so next time I would probably used 3/4 cup brown sugar (loosely packed). But they have worked out great - I like the texture from the oatmeal. I probably over-cooked them slightly (I need to remember they keep cooking on the tray out of the oven) as I would like them a little more chewy. Great recipe! Thanks! I look forward to testing with dark chocolate.
12 months ago amanda
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
Great -- thanks for the follow up. Hadn't thought about the white chocolate sweetness issue. Makes sense.
12 months ago sharli13
just took them out of the oven...this is just not fair....they are unbelievably without a doubt indisputably incredible.....I have to get away from this blog....it's driving me insane..all I want to do is cook...bake....cook...bake....HELP.....you are just wonderful....on the other hand....don't stop....:)
12 months ago sharli13
just put them in the oven....scoop size....will report shortly....
12 months ago sharli13
just put them in the oven....scoop size....will report shortly....
about 1 year ago em-i-lis
Emily is a trusted source on General Cooking.
These are AMAZING!
about 1 year ago amanda
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
Glad you think so. Thanks for the report back.
about 1 year ago lschrive
Beautifully snow day - so my daughter helped me make these today. She was very glad to not have to wait and let the butter come up to room temperature as it is shortening recipe. Everything turned out well - and I love the crispy yet chewy texture. Will definitely toss this recipe into the cookie rotation. Thanks!
about 1 year ago DanaYares
This is a wonderful cookie. I made it just as the recipe says and they turned out great!
over 1 year ago mdonovan33
I've been wanting to make these for a while and with company coming for Thanksgiving, I thought I'd make a batch. They were an absolute DISASTER!! I took the advice of others and did half butter/half shortening, but otherwise followed the recipe to the letter. The cookies came out of the oven as one giant, flat cookie. They certainly don't look like the picture! Are they supposed to be that flat? I chilled the dough after the first batch, and that helped a bit, but I also found the flavor lacking. They have both cocoa and chocolate, yet all I taste is oatmeal!
A VERY disappointing recipe.
about 1 year ago amanda
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
Very sorry you had a bad experience, but it's not fair to change a recipe and then blame the recipe! I've made this many times with all shortening and the photo you see above is what it looks like -- because that is one of the batches I made and that photo was taken in my apartment in Brooklyn. Still, I don't want you to have a bad experience. I gather that butter contains more moisture than shortening so I'm wondering if this extra moisture is what caused your cookies to spread.
about 1 year ago mdonovan33
Amanda, you're absolutely right. I should not criticize the recipe after changing ingredients and I most humbly apologize. There's another oatmeal-chocolate chip cookie I make that has half butter/half shortening and I thought I could make the same substitution here. I will try this again, with all shortening, and hopefully they'll hold some shape. As I said, I was making them for house guests, and when I pulled them out of the oven, I was so disheartened by how they looked that I wrote the above comment in anger. On the plus side, I've taken these "lace" cookies and used them to make really tasty ice cream sandwiches!
about 1 year ago amanda
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
How thoughtful of you to write back! And glad there was a silver lining -- ice cream sandwiches sound great! Hope the next batch works out better.
over 1 year ago Nela
I made two batches with and without walnuts, (for the finicky eaters). And all my students gave these an A+. Thank you!
over 1 year ago amanda
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
Glad they were a success!
over 1 year ago CrazyDaisyZ
I, too, used butter instead of shortening. I also used special dark cocoa instead of regular cocoa and they turned out fabulous! My family loved them! My kids are asking me to make them again.
over 1 year ago kerbi
I also made them with butter (shortening just scared me) and they are going to be a new staple in our cookie repertoire. They were absolutely delicious! They had the right balance of sweet but not too sweet.
over 1 year ago everblessed
Just made these tonight, but with all butter and two cups of oats (I live in a humid climate and the dough looked too wet)...delicious!
over 1 year ago amanda
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
Everyone is having such success with butter, I think I'm going to have to try it myself! Thanks for your comment.
over 1 year ago monkeymom
Made these the other day with the 1 cup of oatmeal. Also did half shortening and half butter (because I ran out of shortening). My kids (and I) loved them! They have a perfect texture - crisp edges and chewy middle. Thanks for a new family favorite!
over 1 year ago loves2eat
Can't wait to try it. How well do they freeze? I have an event coming up next month and would like to make ahead. Thanks.
over 1 year ago midnitechef
I'm also curious how long they store for (air-tight on counter, or frozen)? My other oatmeal cookies tend to be best within the first day or two, then they don't taste as good and dry out.
over 1 year ago amanda
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
I haven't frozen them so I'm not sure. A safer bet would be to freeze the dough and bake off the cookies the day before the event. Also, they are best eaten within a day.
over 1 year ago midnitechef
Thanks Amanda!
12 months ago aussiefoodie
Would you freeze the dough in one batch, or separate it into cookie sized portions before freezing? Thanks!
12 months ago amanda
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
You could go either way. I'd probably freeze in one batch (to avoid freezer burn or other freezer issues) and defrost for a day in the fridge.
over 1 year ago amanda
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
Hey all -- I made a mistake when I added the recipe to the site. It should be 1 cup oats, not 3 cups. Apologies to anyone who made the recipe and had a problem.
over 1 year ago TaffyIsVictory
Don't understand, three cups of oats?? That really dried out the batter. Slideshow only shows one cup going in. What's the deal here?
over 1 year ago amanda
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
Hey -- thank you SO much for catching that. That was a typo. It should be 1 cup!
over 1 year ago ssharma1121
These cooks are just okay. Followed the instructions... the dough seemed a little dry. Hubby said they tasted more like brownies than like cookies.
over 1 year ago amanda
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
So sorry -- I make a mistake when I typed in the recipe. It should have been 1 cup oats, not 3 cups. That would account for the dryness. Again, my apologies!
5 months ago durun99
The original recipe for "Ruth's Oatmeal Crisps" calls for 3 cups of oats. Everything else is pretty much the same as your recipe except for the 1/4 cup cocoa and swapping out raisins and pecans for dark chocolate and walnuts. Why would using 3 cups of oats in your recipe dry your cookies out but not the original recipe?
5 months ago durun99
So I went ahead and made the recipe with 1 cup of oats and the batter was way too moist. I added in another cup of oats and it worked fine. I think it could've taken even more than that and still not been dry. Tasted great, too, everyone loved them.
over 1 year ago thespicegirl
Delicious looking cookies. I just made a batch of my own version of chocolate oat cookies (healthy version) but will definitely give this a go next time. The crispy aspect coming from the shortening sounds like a real winner! Thanks for sharing.