Oatmeal Raisin Crisps... ideas

[malamute5]

So I was at a restaurant for dessert a few weeks ago (Hot Chocolate in Chicago) and it was fabolous... I highly reccomend.

Well, there was one thing in particular that really was intereting. With my Chocolate Stout Shake came two little 'cookies'(if you will), and when I asked what they were, I was told "Oatmeal Raisin Crisps." They were very chewy and really thin, and definatly had a nice oatmeal raisin taste. They were a brownish color that was almost translucent and they were so soft that you could probally fold them over onto themselves and they would not break, just bend, almost like a candy, but clearly still a very chewy cookie.

Being a big ametur baker, I have no idea where to go with this. I have tried with raisins and blanched oats with some kind of brown sugar caramel candy base, but it was not even close. Think of the chewiest cookie you ever ate, and then basically take the flour away.

I've searched a lot and have found not many recipes... I just found this http://www.thatsmyhome.com/hannahs/cookies...eal-cookies.htm what do you think? Any ideas where to start..... these were out of this world (and very unique). I would appreciate any help or guidance!

Thanks,

Billy

[sanrensho]

It sure sounds like a tuille. Perhaps you can adapt an existing recipe to incorporate the oatmeal/raisin flavor.

[Wendy DeBord]

Hum..........I wonder why they call them 'crisps' if they are really chewie..............

You could probably acheive that texture thru dozens of recipes. It's just a matter of experimenting. Bake off small amounts and add corn syrup to your recipe or omit the flour and slowly introduce some as you test bake. Play with the fat, sugars, flour (or lack of) in some recipes.

[K8memphis]

Maybe something like this. But to me, adding the raisins means the cookies will de-crisp, will get chewy. I mean these cookies would soften just in a day or two here in our humidity anyways but raisins would hasten it I think.

I tell yah, sandwiching chocolate in between is awesome too. Sometimes they are called oatmeal lace.

[Toliver]

I tell yah, sandwiching chocolate in between is awesome too. Sometimes they are called oatmeal lace.

←

Yes, they sound like "lace" cookies to me, too.

[malamute5]

So I tried the Lace recipe. It was pretty good- I think it is close, but there are a few key differences...

1. Too thin - these are amost paper thin, they need to be thicker. (use more corn syrup?)

2. They are too crisp- after they cool they almost crumble when you take a bite.( use more corn syrup/ cook slower&lower?)

3. Not brown/carmeley enough. only the outside browns, I would like more even brownness (maybe use brown sugar?)

Also, I took some oats away and added raisins in their place, they really stuck out since the cookies were so thin, but they worked.

Any more ideas/feedback?

Thanks for all your help!!

-Billy

[bluechefk]

i often make anzac biscuits, which have a texture similar to the cookies you describe - thin, but not too thin; a little chewy; lots of oatmeal flavor. i don't have my recipe handy at the moment, but i'd be happy to find & post it, if you like. i'd bet you could find tons of recipes if you google 'anzac' though.

[Jmahl]

This weekend I baked a batch of oatmeal raisin cookes with the help of a five year old. We used the recipe under the lid of "Quaker Oats" I would say they are pretty close to your description.

Is it possible?

Jmahl

[ruthcooks]

Jmahl...I'm afraid Dan Rather was born "rather" late to have originated the signature line for which you quoted him.

The line "Kissin' don't last; cookery do!" comes from a nineteenth century novel "The Ordeal of Richard Feverel" by George Meredith. I just happened to run across the quote in a cookbook today, and looked it up.

[K8memphis]

So I tried the Lace recipe. It was pretty good- I think it is close, but there are a few key differences...

1. Too thin - these are amost paper thin, they need to be thicker. (use more corn syrup?)

Use less

2. They are too crisp- after they cool they almost crumble when you take a bite.( use more corn syrup/ cook slower&lower?)

Occupational hazard of being such a high maintenance little cookie

3. Not brown/carmeley enough. only the outside browns, I would like more even brownness (maybe use brown sugar?)

a thousand answers--your oven maybe?

Also, I took some oats away and added raisins in their place, they really stuck out since the cookies were so thin, but they worked.

Maybe this is why they were so crumbley.There's not a lot to hold these buggers together. I mean would I would grind my raisins but that will certainly moisten the cookies up completely but you want that anyways right.

Any more ideas/feedback?

Thanks for all your help!!

-Billy

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I think you should do what Wendy said, maybe just add corn syrup to an already good recipe--like my favorite is the same as Jmahl's, the one on the Quaker oats box. But like I would do a fraction of it to test. Y'know, half it or something.

My favorite oatmeal cookie is the Quaker one--no raisins, but add toasted coconut--Oh man these are good! No cinnamon, can't remember if it calls for that. But if I do raisins, I toss in cinnamon. But grinding the raisins takes it to a different level too. I LOVE cookies.

[miladyinsanity]

Grinding raisins should make the cookie more chewy as a whole.

And I'd be very interested in your ultimate version, malamute5.

Edited April 11, 2006 by miladyinsanity (log)

[etalanian]

Reading through this thread my thought was the same as miladyinsanity's; grind the raisins with some of the flour from the recipe so they are in tiny pieces.

Increasing the butter will make the cookies spread more, which would make them thinner. Reduce the flour (and the leavener accordingly with the lower amount of flour). A little corn syrup will help with the texture. The ground raisins will make them bendable. Melting the butter will help to make them spread, also. And you might want to add a little milk.

Were there whole rolled oats in the cookies, or were the oats ground?

I, too, am mystified as to why the restaruant would call a soggy cookie a crisp. Maybe they are crisp when they are first made, but the sugar and corn syrup absorb the moisture from the raisins and the cookies become soggy.

Good luck, and please let us know how things go.

Eileen

[miladyinsanity]

Malamute5, how are your experiments going?

I mixed up a batch and baked them off--according to numbers/ratios I pulled out of my head. They turned out find, but need more liquid to they'll spread out a bit more and definitely more raisins.

[andiesenji]

There is a version of the oatmeal "lace" cookies that is a traditional Norwegian cookie.

Recipe here.

which is pretty much the usual way of doing them.

For a still-crisp variation with dried fruits, cherry, lingonberry, raisins or cranberries, the fruit is very finely minced, then mixed with 1/2 of the oatmeal which has first been pulsed in a blender or food processor until it looks like coarse meal.

This mixture is spread on a tray or sheet pan and allowed to "dry" overnight or you can place it in a very low oven for an hour or so.

For each 1/4 cup of fruit added to the recipe, add 1/2 tablespoon of butter. All other ingredients remain the same.

Mixing the minced fruit with the oatmeal "flour" will draw some of the moisture out of the fruit and the cookies will still be crisp.

They cannot be stored in a closed container and are best served the same day they are prepared.

I have been able to re-crisp this type of cookie in a dehydrator but they are not as good as when truly fresh.

Edited April 23, 2006 by andiesenji (log)