In my family, perfect oatmeal cookies are the ultimate.
Humble as they may be, the texture and flavor of oatmeal cookies are hard to beat! We’ve had a recipe in the family for decades that used to produce such a delicacy, but when we moved back to the States after many years baking them abroad, something shifted and the finished product was not as we remembered it.
For at least ten years now, I’ve gone back and forth. Sometimes I would almost convince myself that my memories were just super nostalgic and not realistic. At other moments I’d double down and tweak the recipe over and over.
I just needed to understand the science.
I’ve scoured the internet for variations to compare, searched for the original recipe that ours was based on, learned more about the idiosyncrasies of baking soda and baking powder and the texture difference of using butter or shortening over oil and more.
I could write about these cookies for longer than you’d care to read; in fact, I’ve probably almost lost most of you already.
This recipe was a holy grail.
Then it wasn’t and now, I believe I have once again restored it.
We’re all welcome.
The key to this recipe is really all about your choices.
Which fats you use and how long you cream them with the sugar in the first step can make or break this recipe.
You will also notice that we use baking soda together with buttermilk, because baking powder in an oatmeal cookie, aside from being sacrilege in my mind, produces a ‘puffy’ result. I do not like soft or puffy oatmeal cookies. Cake-like textures belong in cake, in my opinion.
Farm Style Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 c. + 2 T. brown sugar
- 3/4 c. oil
- 1/4 c. shortening
- 1/2 c. buttermilk (or sour milk)
- 1 t. vanilla
- 4 c. oatmeal
- 1 3/4 c. flour
- 1 t. soda
- 3/4 t. salt
- 1/4 c. chocolate chips (optional)
- 1/4 c. raisins (optional)
Instructions
- Cream sugar, oil and shortening together on medium speed until light and fluffy. This is a key point! It might not seem like you need to cream it much because of the oil, but run the mixer at least 2-3 minutes. Trust me.
- Add buttermilk and vanilla and mix well.
- Mix in soda and salt, combining well.
- Add oatmeal and mix in.
- Finally, mix in the flour. You may want to sift your flour if it is very lumpy, otherwise it should be fine to dump it straight in.
- If you want to add raisins or chocolate chips, mix them in now.
- Preheat oven to 375*.
- Form 1 inch balls and place on ungreased baking sheet. I confess, I line mine with parchment to keep the pan clean, though.
- Dip the bottom of a glass in water and flatten each cookie. Smash it once really well in the middle to flatten it, then dip the glass again and round the edges to flatten them as well.
- These cookies won't spread past the flattened edge, so feel free to fill the tray. I usually put about 8 per sheet.
- Bake until golden brown and crisp. The longer you bake them, the longer they'll last, but the crunchier they will be...
- Transfer cookies to cooling rack and cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container up to a week.
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I just ran into a recipe almost like this, except the fat called for was lard or shortening. And it calls for two cups of brown sugar. Other than that, it’s the same, even calling for flattening with a wet glass. I was just googling it to find a site with a review. Since your family loves these so much, I’m going to make them! Thank you!
Thank you so much for commenting! It is absolutely possible that an increased sugar amount could contribute to a better ‘spread’ – I’ll have to test it! Of course the reason the sugar in this recipe is so precise is because sweetness levels are too much for me otherwise. However, sugar content as well as the amount of creaming definitely contribute to cookie spread. I believe this original recipe called for all shortening as well, but we found over time that using some oil instead (or liquid fat) helped achieve a chewier cookie. I hope your family enjoyed them as much as we have! All of my recipes are still always works in progress, so if you have suggestions or comments about the finished result, feel free to leave them here! Thank you for trying them!