Recipe > Baking
Oatmeal Cookies
Mmmm-Hmmm... crunchy oaty yumminess!

Serves the good, the bad and downright snackish (Also makes about 30 cookies, but who's counting?)

Ingredients
225g / 8oz butter / margarine
225g / 8oz caster sugar
2 egg yolks
1 Tsp vanilla essence
225g / 8oz plain flour
1 Tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 Tsp salt
110g / 4oz oats

Mise-en-Place:
Preheat the oven to gas mk 3 / 170°C / 325°F
Line a baking tray with non-stick parchment
Weigh all the ingredients
Beat the egg yolks with the vanilla
Mix the flour, oats, salt and soda together

Method:
With an electronic whisk or in a mixer:
Beat the butter and sugar together until light and 'fluffy'
Slowly beat in the egg yolks and vanilla
Mix in the dry ingredients
Roll the cookie mix into balls, hey you need fat cookies; roll big balls, smaller cookies; smaller balls comprende?
Place the rolled cookie balls onto the baking parchment, be sure to leave space for the cookies to spread
Bake in the oven for 12 - 15 minutes
When done the cookies should have slight cracks in their surface yet the inside should still remain moist
Leave the cookies to cool for 10 minutes before moving, if you have a wire rack allow them to cool there for another 10 minutes otherwise just leave them on the sheet until completely cool
Serve or store in an airtight container

Where you went wrong:
Cookies too soft /spread too much: Measurements wrong / oven to cool / too much egg and liquid content
Cookies too hard: Overcooked / oven too hot
Cookies crumble and fall apart: Measurements wrong / too much flour and oats

Chef Tip: Cookies haven't spread and are still too spherical? While the cookies are still hot press down on each cookie lightly with the palm of your hand, the cookies will spread under the pressure. Return to the oven for 1 minute, then remove to cool