WINTER MENU: Merguez Sausage with French Lentils; Stewed Greens and White Beans; Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies
Day 2 of the BGSK book-writing retreat, Phoebe and I had yet to indulge in dessert, and we started to jones for some sugar. Our grand, efficient, and economical supermarket sweep made no allowance for extras like chocolate and ice cream. And my mom’s house contained little more than a freezer-burned piece of dark chocolate. It was Phoebe who, after our first of two carbonara meals, asked: is there anything sweet? The next afternoon, following our beans, greens, and toast lunch, I quickly obliged her, using a frozen half stick of salted butter-not even the butter in the house was sweet!-to make satisfying oatmeal cranberry cookies.
When you’re making cookies for two, you can forsake all the electric tools. There’s just so little dough, it’s really not necessary. The biggest pain, though, when making cookies with less than a stick of butter is that you need less than a whole egg. If it seems absurd to you to split eggs, you can quadruple the recipe below. But if you, like us, prefer to make sure that your cookie jar is always half empty (and not from eating), make this small-yield recipe. Of course if you’re eating as much carbonara as we were that week, you can also throw the remaining egg into the next day’s sauce. I’ve been making half batches for a long time, and I always seem to find a use for leftover egg.
You’ll also note that there’s no cinnamon in this recipe. We were out at my mom’s house, but I truthfully think there’s something kind of modern and refreshing about cinnamon-less oatmeal cookies.
From my kitchen, albeit small, to yours,
Cara, THE QUARTER-LIFE COOK
**Recipe**
Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies For 2
Makes 12 cookies
You can substitute unsalted butter and a pinch of salt for the salted butter.
Ingredients
1/2 stick salted butter, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1/4 egg
1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup oatmeal
1/3 cup cranberries
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cover a baking sheet with parchment.
Mix the softened butter with the sugar with a wooden spoon. You want it all very well combined, but don’t worry if it doesn’t exactly “cream.” Add in the partial egg and stir to combine. Sprinkle the flour and the baking soda over the butter mixture and fold a few times. Add the oatmeal and the cranberries, and stir just until the dry ingredients are incorporated.
Form evenly into twelve balls. Bake for 6-8 minutes until the cookies are spread and just firm. Leave them on the cookie sheet for about 15 minutes, then remove to a plate.
Other great additions to oatmeal cookies:
Chocolate chips
1/4 cup of raisins & 1/4 cup of chopped pecans
1/4 cup dried cherries & 1/4 cup milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots & 2 tablespoons finely chopped crystalized ginger
