Today's experiment was to see what would happen if I made an old Amish oatmeal cookie recipe with oil instead of shortening and used whole grain flour in place of all-purpose. In addition, I wanted them to be One Bowl Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, with one bowl and no mixer required.
Hooray on both accounts! The oil (grapeseed) made the cookies dense and chewy, and I was able to throw them together fairly quickly.
As far as brands go, I used Ultragrain for the flour. It's similar to all-purpose, but with more fiber. You can just use all-purpose or white whole wheat if you can't find the Ultragrain. Update: I'm not sure they make Ultragrain anymore. I haven't seen it on grocery shelves in years. All-purpose works just fine, as does white whole wheat.
One Bowl Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are thick, chewy and have a firm shell. I was worried they wouldn't have enough flavor due to the fact they don't have butter, but the spices, vanilla and Greek yogurt made up for it. They have a ton of flavor and I can't wait to make them again...maybe with cranberries and a little shredded coconut.
One Bowl Oatmeal in a Bar Cookie Pan
I recently made a batch of these using a bar cookie pan, and here's what they looked like! They're big, just *slightly* cakey, crumbly square shaped oatmeal cookies. All I did was shape into balls (as in the directions) but pressed slightly in well buttered bar pan holes. The cookies spread and baked up as squares.
Recipe
One Bowl Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose or Ultragrain flour 250 grams
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon plus an extra pinch of salt
- 1 cup granulated or "natural" granulated sugar evaporated cane juice
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon more if you really love cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg optional
- ⅔ cup old fashioned oats
- ½ cup grapeseed oil, olive oil, coconut oil or your favorite
- 2 ½ tablespoons mild molasses
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup toasted and chopped walnuts
- ½ cup raisins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a couple of baking sheets with nonstick foil.
- In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly stir together all dry ingredients (flour through oats).
- Make a well in the center and add your oil, molasses, egg, yogurt and vanilla.
- With a mixing spoon, stir the liquid ingredients together in the center of the bowl. Add the walnuts and raisins, then stir everything (liquid and dry) all together. You should have a thick, smooth, dough.
- Using a generously rounded tablespoons (equal to 2 level tablespoons), scoop up dough and shape into balls. Arrange about 10 to 13 balls 2 ½ inches apart on each baking sheet. Press the balls down slightly to make ¾ inch rounds.
- Bake one sheet at a time on center rack for about 10 minutes or until the cookies are set. Let cool on baking sheet for about 3 minutes, then carefully transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Anna says
Thanks Deb! This is one of my favorites.
Deb says
Used this recipe because a friend cannot have diary or soy. They were great and once my grandsons found them - they were gone...will definitely make again!
Sandra says
AMAZING!! 🙂 I made a few changes and one of those was to used canola oil and the cookies were fantastic!! Thanks so much for another great one bowl recipe. 🙂
Meg says
Used Canola oil and they turned out exactly as advertised. Sturdy, not too sweet but yummy and they stay fresh. Thanks!
Linda Everett says
Just made a half batch with coconut oil. Very tasty! Not overly sweet. Thanks for the recipe.
Anna says
Hi Rhonda,
Thanks for the report!! Glad to hear the coconut oil worked well.
One other thing I noticed about these cookies is that they stay fresh. A lot of homemade cookies are good on day 1, but just "Meh." on day 2. I had another one today and it tasted as good as day 1.
I'm going to post a double chocolate version tomorrow.
Rhonda says
Hello Anna
Thank you for this new recipe. I baked a batch this afternoon.
Only had regular all purpose flour
Used coconut oil for the grapeseed oil (did not have to melt it as it is still pretty summery where I live)
No yogurt so used sour cream.
also left out the raisins as my husband is not a fan.
We like them a lot, they are sturdy, slightly chewy cookie. I have a kitchenaid mixer but I really like quick recipes, like this one, that can just be stirred up.
Rhonda says
Thank you for this new recipe. I baked a batch this afternoon.
Only had regular all purpose flour
Used coconut oil for the grapeseed oil (did not have to melt it as it is still pretty summery where I live)
No yogurt so used sour cream.
also left out the raisins as my husband is not a fan.
We like them alot, they are sturdy, slightly chewy cookie. I have a kitchenaid mixer but I really like quick recipes, like this one, that can just be stirred up.
Carolyn says
These have been added to my must bake list. Thank you for a yummy looking, healthier recipe.
Anna says
Joe and Emily, shoot me a quick note if you try it with coconut oil. I would do it myself, but I'm out of it and need to buy more.
Emily says
These are beautiful.
Joe and I are thinking alike! I'm going to try these tonight with coconut oil and coconut chips. I need something healthier to eat.
Joe says
I'll have to try this with melted coconut oil and added unsweetened coconut chips!
Sue says
Yesterday I was thinking about making oatmeal cookies but I'm out of so many pantry staples that I ended up making microwave caramel corn. Now I don't even have any brown sugar. I'm going to have to break down and go to the grocery store.
Anna says
Hi Martha,
Yes, I think canola would work. Try it and let me know!!!
Martha in KS says
Do you think canola oil would work as well? I won't buy shortening and am thrilled with this recipe. Thanks!