One-bowl oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (made with oil)

In general, I'm a fan of baking with oil and those recipes always appeal to me.  I suppose I feel somewhat "virtuous" using oil instead of butter, plus there's the convenience factor of not having to bring butter to room temperature, as you often need to do before the mixing and baking can begin.

Honestly, it doesn't take all that much to tempt me to bake a batch of cookies!  And this recipe from Half Baked Harvest was particularly tempting since it's just so simple - one bowl to mix everyone up, as you see below. And when a recipe is touted as a mom's specialty and one of the best around, I know I have to try it. 

The secret's in the oil.  The lineup of ingredients include the typical roster you'd expect in an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie but instead of butter, softened and creamed with sugar, you stir in canola oil.  The result is a somewhat crumbly, moist dough.  

I'd say the only tricky part of the recipe is molding the dough balls.  It doesn't want to stick together so you can't simply scoop the dough.  Instead, take spoonfuls of it and squeeze it together in your palm to pack it into a ball.  Be mindful to take some of the chocolate chips and incorporate it into the dough and on top to make sure you evenly distribute them among the cookies.

The little bit of finagling with the cookie dough balls was certainly a worthwhile effort.  In about 12 minutes, I had lovely little mounds of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies cooling on the counter.  The cookies have a great texture - thick, chewy, and moist.  They are chock full of chocolate from a generous amount of chocolate chips.   

I liked these cookies best a bit warm...the chocolate flavor is more intense and the caramel notes in the cookie seem to stand out more.  Enjoy them fresh from the oven if possible but you can always warm them for 10 seconds or so in the microwave.  Cooled, the cookies are still great - with a firm yet moist and chewy texture.  

My son is a big fan of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and these have his stamp of approval - whether warm or cooled!  That always makes a mom feel like she's accomplished a mission.  

I bake all year round but I was thinking today that this really feels like the time to bake, with the temps dipping and the leaves changing colors and falling.  I feel that desire to nest and fill the house with warm aromas. Baking up a batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies was a simple of doing that.  


Recipe:

One-Bowl Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from the Half Baked Harvest Cookbook (recipe also featured here)

- Approximately 14 cookies - 

1 1/4 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup canola oil (a little more if dough seems too dry)
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Scant 1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon baking mat.

In a bowl, stir together the oats, flour, sugars, baking soda, and salt.  Add oil, egg, and vanilla extract and stir together until ingredients are combined and you have a moist dough (it will be crumbly, though moist).  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Take about 2-tablespoons of cookie dough and press it with your hands to bind it into a ball (if the mixture seems too dry and is not holding together well, you can add 1 tablespoon more of oil; I did not have this problem).  Use a little pressure to really squeeze the dough into a ball and take care to incorporate some of the chocolate chips.  Place onto prepared baking sheet and continue, spacing dough rounds about 2 inches apart.

Bake cookies until set and golden (do not over-bake), about 12-14 minutes.  Remove baking sheet from the oven and set on a wire rack for a few minutes before removing the cookies onto the wire rack.  These cookies are especially tasty warm from the oven; I personally like warming them for a few seconds in the microwave before eating but they are also good at room temperature.