One way to enjoy all the flavor and nutritional benefits of adding oatmeal to a chocolate chip cookie recipe is by adding ground oatmeal. Ground oatmeal will act much like flour, so it is important to substitute the amount of flour with ground oatmeal. Every cookie recipe is different, but swapping out 1/4 of the flour for an equal amount of ground oatmeal will not change the texture of the cookie. Add the ground oatmeal to the flour and prepare the recipe as directed.
All oatmeal is not created equal. There are varieties of different cuts of oats, but for cookies you want to use rolled oats. A rolled oat is an oat that has been flattened into a flake, and then lightly steamed and toasted. It will retain its texture and shape through the cooking process. Do not add instant cooking rolled oats; they will just turn to mush. Any other form of oat will be hard and very difficult to chew. Quaker Oats oatmeal is suitable for making oatmeal cookies. It is better to use “Old-fashioned” oats instead of “Quick Cook” or “Steel Cut” oats. They give cookies the perfect chewy texture. Quick cooking oats are a bit mushy and less oaty when you use them in baking. If you use steel cut oats, they do not get enough time to soften up.
Adding too many rolled oats to the recipe will result in a cookie that is dense and dry. Adding too few to the recipe and you’ll barely know they are there. The key to adding oatmeal to the recipe is balance. Every recipe is different; if your recipe calls for nuts, then you can simply exchange the measurement of nuts for oatmeal. The same can be done for dried fruit or any other addition.
Every cookie recipe is different; therefore it is important to slowly integrate the oats so as to not overwhelm the recipe. At the same time that you add the chocolate chips to the recipe, add 1/4 cup (2 oz. ) of rolled oats. Thoroughly combine and look at the dough. If the oats are hard to find and there seems to be very few of them distributed throughout the dough, add 1 additional quarter cup (2 oz. ) and remix. Unless your cookie dough recipe makes more than 3 dozen cookies, 1/2 cup (4 oz. ) of oatmeal should be plenty. Add more oats if the batch of cookies is doubled or produces a higher yield.
Continue to portion out the dough and cook the cookies as your recipe directs. Check the cookies 3 to 5 minutes prior to the estimated cook time as the rolled oats may expedite the cooking process.
