Breakfast Oatmeal Cookies with Browned Butter, Cranberry, and Orange
There is nothing worse than grabbing a 'chocolate chip cookie' and biting into its delicious core with all of the wonderfully built up anticipation and the failing result is getting nothing but raisins!!! Why God??! I have fallen for that scamone too many times, and this is why we chose to make it obvious with RED, festive cranberries and a burst of orange zest. Because who doesn't love a holiday breakfast cookie? We are not here to drag your soul down but instead to lift it up through delicious recipes such as this festive cookie.
It is a 'healthy' cookie... so have as many as you want! Just kidding, everything in moderation. But for real, we hope that you enjoy these cookies and are not fooled again by someones treachery! Truth be told this cookie takes a bit of time to prepare from the browned butter cooling, the need to freeze the dough, to resting the cookie, but do not let that hold you back if you have reserved a day for baking! It is a challenge and a labor of love that will surely pay off. Also in the end, you can always replace your cranberries with chocolate chips and just succumb to your insatiable palate. Have fun sharing these little goodies with friends and family and enjoy the fact that they will happily bring those you love most back to the table.
“This method is different, no creaming, just quick 30 second mixes for each addition and then let them freeze. This is going to give us the texture we are visually and physically desiring.”
Teaching Moment:
We are adding water back into the browned butter because butter is made up of 15% water and that will evaporate as it cooks. Adding back in the water will help dissolve sugars in the dough and mixed with flour, create gluten that will add to the chewy texture we desire.
Regarding the browned butter - The milk fat will be the little particles in the bottom of the pan that will turn amber. That is the yummy stuff, so don't leave a drop of it behind.
Breakfast Oatmeal Cookies with Browned Butter, Cranberry, and Orange
Servings: 12 Time: 110 mins Difficulty: medium
This recipe has more prep due to needing to cool the browned butter till it solidifies in the refrigerator, so give yourself some time to do that. Mixing the dough is quite quick and then give yourself at least 90 minutes to freeze the batter. They are worth the wait, give 'em a try!
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, browned and cooled
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tbsp of orange zest (about 1 orange)
2/3 cup of dried cranberries
1 cup of all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
2 cups of rolled oats
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of cinnamon
1/2 tsp of ground ginger
2 eggs, whisked
2 tsp of vanilla extract
Cube up the stick of butter and place it into a sauce pan on medium heat. Brown the butter until it is an amber color and you will start to smell a nutty aroma, about 10 minutes. Your butter will go through phases of bubbling and then sputtering and you will notice the milk fat at the bottom change colors. Transfer to a bowl and add 1 tbsp of water and then refrigerate till it solidifies.
In a separate bowl mix in all your dry ingredients; flour, rolled oats, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and ginger. Whisk together and set aside.
In a stand mixer bowl, with a paddle attachment, spoon in your solidified brown butter and on medium speed, mix till the butter starts to smear on the sides, about 30-45 seconds.
Rub the orange zest into the brown and granulated sugar and add to the mixing bowl, beat on medium speed for another 30 seconds. The mixture will look like little butter balls.
Add in your cranberries and mix for another 30 seconds.
Pour in your dry ingredients and mix for another 30 seconds. Your mixture will look dry and crumbly.
Whisk your eggs and vanilla extract together and add this to your dough and mix for about 45 seconds to 1 minute. You will start to notice that it will start to clump together and then soften a bit. Do not overmix.
Portion out 12 cookies, about 65-70 grams each if you have a scale. About 2 large tablespoons (racquetball size). Place it in the freezer for at least 90 minutes, but you can definitely leave these in overnight.
Preheat your oven to 375 F and place 6 cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for about 14-16 minutes, turning half way through. You want these to have a golden brown edge and they will look undercooked in the center and puffed up. Leave them to cool 10 minutes on the baking sheet to finish baking and then transfer to cooling rack. Enjoy!
The longer you let these sit, the tastier they get! So don't be afraid to keep them in the freezer overnight or up to 3 days.
