Fast Oatmeal Cookies

One of the advantages of oatmeal cookies is their flexibility; they are delicious plain or loaded with all sorts of goodies, from dried fruit to nuts. Toss in raisins, dried cranberries or cherries, chocolate chunks, or coconut— the dough can handle up to 11/2 cups.

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

11/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups rolled oats (not instant)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract

• Heat the oven to 375 F. Use an electric mixer to cream together the butter and sugars; add the eggs one at a time and beat until well blended.
• Mix the flour, oats, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder together in a bowl. Alternating with the milk, add the dry ingredients to the dough a little a time, mixing on low (if you’re adding ingredients like raisins, now is the time). Stir in the extract.
• Drop tablespoon-size mounds of dough about 3 inches apart in rows and columns on ungreased baking sheets. Bake until lightly browned, 12 to 15 minutes.
• Cool for about 2 minutes on the sheets before using a spatula to transfer the cookies to a rack to finish cooling. Store in a tightly covered container at room temperature for no more than a day or two.

Lacy Oatmeal Cookies.
• Almost tuiles, these cookies contain no flour: Melt the butter and combine it with the sugars, oats, and salt; beat in the eggs. Omit the flour, baking powder, milk, and vanilla; add the cinnamon if you like. Bake at 350 F on greased baking sheets for 8 to 10 minutes; let rest for a minute before transferring to a rack with a thin-bladed spatula to finish cooling.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies.
• Any nut butter works here; these cookies have a tendency to burn more quickly, so keep a careful watch over them: Substitute 1/4 cup peanut butter for 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) of the butter.

Whole Grain Spice Cookies.
• Cooked whole grains (like bulgur, barley, wheat or rye berries, buckwheat, or even short-grain brown rice) replace rolled oats with tender-but-chewy results: Substitute cooked whole grains for the rolled oats and fluff with a fork to separate the kernels before combining with the other ingredients. Omit the milk. In Step 2, increase the cinnamon to a teaspoon and add 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger and 1/4 teaspoon each ground allspice and freshly grated nutmeg. Proceed with the recipe, combining the dry ingredients into the egg mixture in Step 3 all at once without adding any milk.

Coconut Cookies.
• Shredded coconut replaces all or most of the oats: Substitute coconut milk (to make your own, see page 389) for the milk and shredded coconut for all or a portion of the oats, as you like.

MAKES: 3 to 4 dozen

TIME: About 30 minutes