The debut of the Batman television series in January 1966 was ground breaking on many levels. The show starred two crime-fighting heroes, Bruce Wayne/Batman and Dick Grayson/Robin, who defended Gotham City from a variety of arch villains. Broadcast on two consecutive nights, it was the highlight of my week for more than one reason. After watching the latest episode at a classmate’s house, as the closing credits filled the screen, we invariably paraded into the kitchen and shared a treat. Not just any snack: packaged oatmeal cookies.
Iced Oatmeal Cookies
Up until then, the only cookies that I ate were home-baked. The mystique of eating commercial cookies was only slightly less than the magic of seeing grown men wearing lycra suits, driving a Batmobile at white-knuckle speeds and vanquishing villains named Riddler and Joker. When I saw this recipe for iced oatmeal cookies by cookbook author and baker, Shauna Sever in her classic baking book, Midwest Made: Big, Bold Baking from the Heartland, I bought the book. And it was well worth the price. Round disks of crispy oatmeal cookies, with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg topped with a kiss of snowy white icing are reminiscent of everyone’s favorite store-bought cookie. These slice and bake cookies come together in minutes in the food processor and “holy oleo”, the taste is unbeatable.
Assemble your ingredients. In the bowl of a food processor with the S-blade, grind the oats to a flour.
Add the brown sugar, flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pulse 5 or 6 times to blend the ingredients.
Add the butter or margarine cubes and process until the fat is well incorporated and the dough begins to clump around the blade and pull away from the side of the processor bowl. Add the egg yolk and pulse until the dough comes together with no dry pockets. Save the egg white!!! You are going to need it.
Spread a large sheet of plastic wrap on your work surface. (Parchment paper will also work.) Scrape the dough onto the plastic wrap and shape it into a log about 12 inches long and 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Cover the log with the plastic wrap and holding on to the edge of the plastic wrap, push against one side of the covered log with a straight edge such as a bench scraper or ruler to press tight around it, creating a uniform cylinder. (Check out this video.)
To further ensure perfectly round cookies, take an empty paper towel roll and cut down the length of the tube. Slide the cookie dough cylinder into the slit paper towel roll and close it with tape. Place the dough in the freezer overnight.
Remove the roll of cookie dough from the freezer a few minutes before you are ready to bake the cookies. Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove the dough from the cardboard tube. Using a sharp knife slice the cookie dough into rounds slightly more than 1/4-inch thick. Transfer the rounds to the prepared cookie sheet, placing them about 2 inches apart. Bake until golden, about 10 minutes in my oven. Allow the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack.
While the cookies are cooling, prepare the icing. In a small bowl combine the egg white, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and salt. Stir until smooth. Add 2 teaspoons of water. To ice the cookies, holding one cookie at a time, touch the top of the cookie very lightly to the surface of the icing in the bowl. Don’t submerge the cookie. Allow the excess icing to drip off for a second or two and place the cookie icing-side-up on a wire cooling rack so the icing can set. Allow the icing to dry completely before serving. Cookies can be stored in a airtight container for up to a week. They also freeze very well.
Iced Oatmeal Cookies
Round disks of crispy oatmeal cookies, with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg topped with a kiss of snowy white icing
Ingredients
- Cookie Dough:
- 1 1/2 cups / 150g old-fashioned rolled oats
- 3/4 cup / 170g firmly packed dark or light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup / 64g all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated if possible
- 1/2 cup / 113g cold unsalted butter or margarine, cut into cubes
- 1 large egg yolk
- Icing:
- 1 large egg white
- 1 1/4 cups / 150 g confectioners' sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoons water
Instructions
Prepare the dough:
In the bowl of a food processor with the S-blade, grind the oats to a flour. Add the brown sugar, flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pulse 5 or 6 times to blend the ingredients. Add the butter or margarine cubes and process until the fat is well incorporated and the dough begins to clump around the blade and pull away from the side of the processor bowl. Add the egg yolk and pulse until the dough comes together with no dry pockets. Save the egg white!!! You are going to need it.
Spread a large sheet of plastic wrap on your work surface. (Parchment paper will also work.) Scrape the dough onto the plastic wrap and shape it into a log about 12 inches long and 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Cover the log with the plastic wrap and holding on to the edge of the plastic wrap, push against one side of the covered log with a straight edge such as a bench scraper or ruler to press tight around it, creating a uniform cylinder. To further ensure perfectly round cookies, take an empty paper towel roll and cut down the length of the tube. Slide the cookie dough cylinder into the slit paper towel roll and close it with tape. Place the dough in the freezer overnight.
Bake cookies:
Remove the roll of cookie dough from the freezer a few minutes before you are ready to bake the cookies. Place a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove the dough from the cardboard tube. Using a sharp knife slice the cookie dough into rounds slightly more than 1/4-inch thick. Transfer the rounds to the prepared cookie sheet, placing them about 2 inches apart. Bake until golden, about 10 minutes in my oven. Allow the cookies to cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
Ice cookies:
While the cookies are cooling, prepare the icing. In a small bowl combine the egg white, confectioners' sugar, vanilla and salt. Stir until smooth. Add 2 teaspoons of water. To ice the cookies, holding one cookie at a time, touch the top of the cookie very lightly to the surface of the icing in the bowl. Don't submerge the cookie. Allow the excess icing to drip off for a second or two and place the cookie icing side up on a wire cooling rack so the icing can set. Allow the icing to dry completely before serving.
Notes
Cookies can be stored in a airtight container for up to a week. They also freeze very well.
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