The Oatmeal Crispie

Before I say anything else, I need to say this: these are not your ordinary soft, chewy oatmeal cookies.
Nor are they intended to be. If you’re looking for traditional, old-fashioned oatmeal cookies, go elsewhere (but I must warn you – you’ll be sorry you didn’t stay).

Okay, let’s move on.

I absolutely adore Ree Drummond, better known as The Pioneer Woman. I drool with envy over her gorgeous food photography (she’s got a Nikon D series camera – oh, how I long for one of my own) and how her recipes are cleverly illustrated with a series of photographs. I would do that here, but I don’t want to be a copycat. Call it pride, call it shame over my subpar point-and-shoot photography, or call it the “It’s too late now,” perspective – all apply.

I love her recipes, too. Everything I’ve tried is absolutely killer (not deadly, rather it will figuratively kill you with pleasure). Let’s just say she uses lots of butter, and is not ashamed of it. Her cinnamon rolls leave me speechless. Her French Breakfast Puffs put me in a sugar coma. Her recipes for Cowboy Food of the sizzled and cheese-covered kind make my knees weak. And then, there are her Oatmeal Crispies.

I found her recipe for Oatmeal Crispies when I was searching for new cookies to make for Eli to take hunting (Missed my post on that? It’s here). I scanned her Cowboy Food listing, and lo and behold, Oatmeal Crispies were the only cookies of note therein. It was also noted that they’re Marlboro Man’s favorite, which was enough to persuade me.

My only issue with the original recipe was that it called for shortening. And well, if you know me, you know how I feel about partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, otherwise known as Crisco. I just can’t do it.

So there I was in my kitchen, me and the Oatmeal Crispie recipe…and two sticks of butter. I was just a little nervous.

I worried that the cookies wouldn’t be as “crispie” as their name claimed if made with butter instead of shortening (and since I’d never had the originals, there was no way to compare). Anyone who knows cookie-making knows that shortening results in crunch. But the cookies that resulted from my ingredient swap were crispy on the edges, a little soft in the middle, and richly oat-textured. They were delicious.

On a whim, I’d also tossed in a bag of peanut butter chips instead of the recommended chopped pecans, so their oatmealy-ness was punctuated by little bursts of peanut butter. Yum.

They went really, really fast.

Oatmeal Crispies

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted sweet cream butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup evaporated cane juice
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups rolled oats
12 ounces peanut butter chips

In the bowl of a mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until fluffy. Add the egss, one at a time, beating well after each. Add vanilla and mix.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, salt, and baking soda. Add to the butter mixture a cupful or so at a time, beating well after each addition, then do the same with the oats. Finally, stir in the peanut butter chips.

Place a long sheet of plastic wrap on a baking sheet. Using a rubber spatula, scoop the dough onto the plastic wrap, and use your hands to shape into a narrow log, about 3 inches in diameter. Wrap the plastic wrap tightly around the dough, so that there is no air between them. Place in the freezer 4-6 hours or overnight.

When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the dough from the freezer, unwrap it, and cut into 1/2-inch thick slices. Place on a baking sheet, leaving plenty of room for the cookies to spread out while they bake. Bake 10-12 minutes, until golden brown. Use a spatula to remove to a cooling rack.

Makes about 3 dozen.