!#7# Cake Flour Makes Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies Crispy and Delicious

!±8± Cake Flour Makes Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies Crispy and Delicious

Changing a recipe can alter results significantly. A few small changes can turn a good recipe into a fantastic one. The opposite is also true. I've added cold coffee to cookie dough, changed baking temperatures and times. Fortunately, the changes I made to a basic oatmeal cookie recipe improved it big time.

When snow is forecast, as it was several days ago, I have the urge to make soup or cookies. Cookies won out this week. I checked the pantry and found a box of cake flour that should be used soon, a large bottle of vanilla, a large bag of chocolate chips, and three cartons of oatmeal. (Why I had three is a mystery.) Of course, oatmeal cookies came to mind.

I found several recipes in my cookbook collection. One was a basic cookie with nuts. I made several key changes to the recipe, starting with substituting chocolate chips for walnuts. Since I adore vanilla, I added twice the amount. I added a hint of almond as well. Instead of all-purpose flour I used cake flour. This was a risky decision.

Annette Wolter, author of "Cakes and Pastries Cookbook," describes baking as an exercise in creativity. She thinks the type of flour you use "is an important variable" in baking success. Cake flour is best for pastries, tarts, and cakes," she explains. But Wolter doesn't say anything about using cake flour for cookies. Would my cookies be yummy and crispy or would they be as hard as hockey pucks? The only way to find out was to start baking.

Cake flour is finer than regular flour, but I thought the oatmeal would hold the batter together. I measured the cookies carefully and put the first batch in the oven. The instant the edges started to brown, I whisked the cookies out of the oven. The smell of the cookies made my mouth water. It was time to taste the first cookie. What is the ending of this story? These are some of the best cookies I ever made. I think you will love them too.

Ingredients

2 sticks I Can't Believe It's Not Butter

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 1/2 cups cake flour (I didn't even sift it.)

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon low sodium salt

1 large package (11.5 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. If you are using non-stick baking pans, lower the temperature to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream shortening and sugars together until fluffy. Add eggs, extracts, baking soda, and salt. Work in chocolate chips with a wooden spoon. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto baking pans. Make sure you leave two inches between the cookies. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Take the cookies out of the oven and let them cool for about 20 seconds. Remove from baking pan with a metal spatula. Store cookies in tightly covered container. Makes about 5 dozen.