Cookie Quest, Part 2

Oatmeal cookies. I seem to be a little obsessed with them today.

I made the same recipe I talked about yesterday, only I used regular golden raisins, no rum, and vanilla extract instead of paste. Happily, they turned out pretty much the same as the other ones.

Then, I went on to the next recipe in Bouchon Bakery, the TLC. This is basically an oatmeal cookie with pecans instead of raisins. It has the seeds of half a vanilla bean in it and are much lighter in flavor than the others.

I don’t think the vanilla seeds are worth the expense and the recipe calls for no salt, which I thought was a little odd, so I added a pinch anyway. When I tasted it, I could tell it needed a little more salt. I liked the nuttiness from the pecans, but the cookie as a whole was a little disappointing, though this could be because I was taking bites out of both cookies, one right after another. The oatmeal raisin ones have more spice and a chewy texture, so the TLC cookies may just be overshadowed a bit by its glamorous sister.

Both cookies are leavened with baking soda alone, which kinda bugs me a little. I have never been a huge fan of the soda flavor and it is particularly strong in the cookies with the raisins, which has more than double the amount of baking soda than the TLC ones.

A quick check through some of my other cookbooks revealed that most other oatmeal cookie recipes also call for baking soda. My understanding is that soda is sometimes used in a recipe when a tenderizing effect is wanted. In this case, the soda helps to tenderize and soften the oatmeal. This helps keep the cookie softer and moister, but also has a huge effect on flavor.

I’m not really sure where I am going with this line of thought, except to wonder if there is a way I could have the soft texture without the soda flavor. It’s probably impossible, and I will probably just have to get used to it, but if anyone has any ideas, I’d welcome them. In the meantime, I’ve got another oatmeal cookie recipe or two (or 5) that I may try.

Cookie, anyone?

About these ads