Can you bake me some cookies?

It is rather unusual that blogging and baking were excluded from my daily activities for the past few weeks.

Besides all the tasks that a stay-at-home-mum got to do, I was preoccupied with a home-based job assignment (nothing to do with baking). After the assignment was completed, I spent the following week chasing after a Korean drama, 'Beethoven Virus' with my two boys. It was an instant hook for the three of us. We let ourselves being led into the world of classical music by the lead character Kang mae(maestro in short). For the whole week, we were so obsessed with the drama that we spent all our free time glued to the tv set. After watching the entire drama, we found ourselves spending time watching live orchestral performances on youtube! It also sent my elder child searching the internet for music scores, so that he could attempt to play to the melody of Beethoven Symphony no 5, Morricone's Nella Fantasia (better known as Gabriel's Oboe), and their favourite William Tell Overture by Rossini (thanks to this 'The Mom Song', a must see for all mothers!). Even my younger child is able to hum to the tune of Piazzola's Libertango, and he kept singing to the catchy melody of Radetzky March by Strauss; while I had Gabriel's Oboe ringing in my head for days! In case you are wondering, no, you don't need to have any music background to enjoy this drama! I know nothing about music and yet I was able to enjoy the music pieces as much as the brilliant plot, and of course the flawless performance by the male lead...who has won 6 awards for playing this role.

Well, that pretty much sums up my absence from the blogging world :) Just like the Chinese saying "山中方一日，人间已千年" (literally translated as: after spending one day in the mountain, one discovers that a thousand years has already gone past in the real world), things happen so fast in the cyberspace that being away for just one day is as though I'm a thousand years behind! I sure have lots of blog hopping to catch up!

I believe I would not have returned to blogging much earlier if not for this little request from my younger boy.

While we were sharing a quiet moment together, reading on our bed, he turned to me, at the same time, executing his puppydog eyes (one of his best weapons to get his way) and asked, "Mama, can you bake some cookies for me? There are no more cookies left." His request became my obligation right away. I promised I would make him those oatmeal cookies again.

If you happen to be a frequent visitor to my blog, I wonder whether you have noticed that I seldom strongly recommends a particular recipe that I have attempted. Taste is something so subjective that one man's meat is another man's poison, as such, unless it is something truly awesome, most of the time, I would rather leave it to readers to try out the recipe themselves. However, for these cookies, they are so so good that I can't help but to shout out loud that this is a must-try or at least put it down in your to-do list.

Just take a look at the ingredients list, I am sure you will be sold. These cookies are made with not-too-much butter, low sugar amount, half portion flour, half portion oatmeal (also known as rolled oats, I used baby oats, which are slighter smaller), walnuts, chocolate and chocolate chips. What a good balance of healthy and not-so-healthy ingredients ;) It certainly makes me feel that it is not a sinful thing to pop one cookie after another into my mouth. These cookies belong to the category of crisp on the outside and soft inside texture. Not only are they full of flavour, they have got stupendously good texture, thanks to the various ingredients. Plus, much to my delight, these cookies only have a slight chew to it as I have yet to acquire the taste of chewy, oatmeal cookies. I didn't get to find time to take photos when the cookies were made...two days later, I was left with only 4 to 'work on'. Even if I have failed to inspire you to rush to the kitchen to bake a batch right away, I hope you would be able to enjoy them from your screen right now :)



Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:
(makes about 25~28 cookies)

90g butter, softened at room temperature
25g caster sugar
25g brown sugar
1 egg (weights about 60g with shell), lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
100g plain flour
100g oatmeal or roll oats (I used organic instant baby oat)
20g dark (semi-sweet) chocolate, finely chopped
50g walnuts, chopped
60g mini chocolate chips

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 190degC. Line baking trays with parchment paper.
2. With a manual whisk, cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until the mixture turns pale and fluffy.
3. Dribble in the egg gradually. Mix well after each addition. Add in salt and vanilla extract, mix to incorporate into the batter.
4. Sift the flour over the batter, fold in with a spatula.
5. Add oatmeal, chopped chocolate, walnuts and mini chocolate chips. Mix well with the spatula.
6. Drop tablespoonfuls of the cookie dough onto the prepared baking tray. Leave some space between the cookies to allow for spreading. Flatten each cookie dough slightly with the back of a fork, keeping the shape as even as possible.
7. Bake for 8~10 mins or until golden. If necessary, rotate the baking tray halfway through the cooking time to ensure even browning.Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in air-tight containers.
   
   Recipe source: adapted from 好想为你亲手做出美味的甜点! 检见崎聡美