Chocolate + Almonds = Yum

Just finished baking some cookies for a party tonight. I went with a reliable source, Abby Dodge's The Weekend Baker, but tried something new:

Soft Chocolate-Almond Oatmeal Cookies

2 cups quick-cooking (not instant) rolled oats
1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process), sifted if lumpy (Whoops, forgot to do this.)
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1⅓ cups firmly packed light brown sugar
16 Tbsp (8 oz.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp almond extract
⅓ cup whole milk
1 cup slivered almonds, toasted*

Heat oven to 350°. Line three baking sheets with Silpats or parchment.

In a medium bowl, combine the oats, flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Whisk until well blended. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the brown sugar and butter. Beat on medium speed until well combined. Add the egg and vanilla and almond extracts and beat until well blended. Pour in half of the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until blended. Add the milk and mix just until blended. Pour in the remaining flour mixture and mix just until blended. Add the nuts and mix briefly to combine.

Using a small ice-cream scoop about 1⅔" in diameter, shape the dough into 1½" balls. Arrange the mounds on the prepared cookie sheets, spacing them about 2" apart. Lightly dampen your fingertips and press on each mound to flatten slightly so it's about ½" thick.

Bake one sheet at a time (I did two and then one, oh well), making sure to use a cooled sheet for each batch, until the cookies are puffed and still moist-looking on top, about 11 minutes. Transfer the cookie sheet to a rack and cool for about 10 minutes. Using a spatula, lift the cookies from the sheet onto the rack and let cool completely.

This was supposed to make about 45 cookies, but I got only 35, so I guess mine were too big.

*Optional step: Put almonds in oven to toast. Go put sunblock on Julie, forgetting all about almonds until it's too late. Throw burnt almonds away. Start new batch. Stand right in front of the oven the entire time, but still manage to burn half of them. Start partial new batch. Deliberately under-toast these, and mix them with the salvageable ones from the second batch.

Comments

[MAS]

Great optional step!!!!