White Chocolate & Pistachio Oatmeal Cookies {energy in the key of pleasure}

18 November, 2014
Comments Off on White Chocolate & Pistachio Oatmeal Cookies {energy in the key of pleasure}

en español

This morning found us with power supplies to the max. These undeniably awesome white chocolate & pistachio oatmeal cookies, that are super soft and chewy, won’t be easily forgotten. The truth is that it’s been a while since I posted my last cookie recipe (translation pending) round here, and that unacceptable situation needed to be resolved.

Galletas de avena con chocolate blanco y pistachos

To be honest, this renewed cookie-baking mood is actually due to a very special occasion this time. And that’s the way it was. One fine day, after picking my daughter up from school, she solemnly told me that her teacher wanted to have a word with me. A flicker of dismay crossed my face for a moment (we always come up with the worst case scenario…). However, it was good news; he had heard about my penchant for baking and just wanted to know if I would spend one day at school teaching the children how to bake something they could easily make at home later with their families (and at the same time, they could take the opportunity to put the use of connectors into practice for the Spanish course). So, as you can imagine, my own organizational side immediately jumped for joy inside and started to scheme and plot every single step and detail of the said ecstatic proposal.

Galletas de avena con chocolate blanco y pistachos

Before he could finish uttering the first sentence, I had already decided that the chosen recipe would be a few batches of delicious cookies. We would start from the base cookie dough of my favourite chocolate chip cookies (in Spanish). Then, each kid would add their own favourite additional ingredients or ingredient combination, choosing among chocolate chips (of course!), chopped walnuts, M&M’s®, and dried cranberries.

That truly was a gratifying, fun and rewarding experience (and a little exhausting too…). The day comes, and you find yourself standing up there, in front of a class, all those faces eagerly looking at you, expecting, waiting for you to tell them what you were there to tell (and obviously, to eat their cookies in the end); all of them loaded down with questions, each as interesting as the last. It was undoubtedly a real privilege to witness how willingly they devoted themselves to mix the dough, to select the additional ingredients of their choice, to shape their cookies with their own hands, with all that dedication and seriousness… And above all, that was the day when I could get to see my own daughter’s face, filled with pride, as her mum was the one who was getting all the looks. Words cannot describe something like that. An unforgettable memory.

Galletas de avena con chocolate blanco y pistachos

Well, as I was saying, one thing led to another and that happy cookie session reignited an almost unstoppable urge to bake bunches of cookies after a long inexcusable cookieless period. This time, though, I’ve chosen a combination that, honestly, will be practically unbeatable. I hadn’t been able to get oatmeal cookies out of my head for some time. What’s more, a few always welcoming pistachios, white chocolate chips by the ton, and a subtle touch of maple syrup, came to join the party; a real shot in the arm. And to top it all off, I must add that I was overjoyed as I was going to use my brand new silicone baking mat for the first time. I had always seen, with a touch of envy, how many of my favourite food blogs use one on a daily basis. I must say that, although it may not be one of those baking essentials, it has truly turned out as one of the most practical tools I’ve used lately.

Okay, okay, I’m just finishing. But I do not wish to end this introduction without an expression of gratitude to the whole team of 5th graders as well as their teachers —all the more enthusiastic and deeply engaged in their task. Thank you for providing me with one of those so very simple yet special moments in life; I’m sure I will dwell on that day for a long, long time…

Galletas de avena con chocolate blanco y pistachos

White Chocolate & Pistachio Oatmeal Cookies
 
Prep Time
Cook Time
Total Time
 
Author:
Type of recipe: Cookies
Cuisine: American
Yield: 24
Ingredients
(All ingredients must be at room temperature unless otherwise noted)

  • ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon (130 g) unsalted butter
  • ½ cup (110 g) dark brown sugar
  • ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1½ cups (130 g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats
  • 1¼ cups (165 g) all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch (optional)
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup (85 g) white chocolate chips
  • ½ cup (60 g) shelled pistachio nuts, coarsely chopped
Method
  1. In a medium bowl, toss the flour, oat flakes, cinnamon, baking soda, cornstarch (if using), and salt together. Set aside.
  2. In the bowl of your electric mixer (either a hand or a stand mixer), fitted with paddle attachment, (or in a separate large bowl) beat butter at medium speed for 1-2 minutes until soft and smooth.
  3. Add both sugars and beat together at medium-high speed for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape down paddle, sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
  4. Reduce speed, add the egg and mix at medium speed until incorporated.
  5. Add the vanilla and maple syrup and mix until combined.
  6. Fold in the dry ingredients (see point 1) and mix now with a rubber spatula until just combined.
  7. Fold in the white chocolate chips and pistachios and mix until totally incorporated. (Dough will be thick and sticky at this point.)
  8. Chill the dough for 25-30 minutes in the refrigerator.
  9. Meanwhile, preheat oven (electric) to 350º F (175ºC) and place oven rack in the middle position.
  10. Line two* large cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
  11. Roll balls of dough (about 1 - 1½ tablespoons of dough per cookie) and place them 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets. You can either shape your cookie dough balls using your hands (remember, it will be rather sticky) or you can also use a small ice cream scoop. (If you feel like it, you can press a few extra chocolate chips/chopped pistachios on top of the cookies so that they are more visible after baking.)
  12. Bake for 12-14 minutes until they appear slightly brown around the edges but the center is still soft. Do not over bake; these cookies are very soft and fragile while hot, but their consistency will become firmer when cooled.
  13. Remove from the oven and let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to let cool completely.

    Cover cookies and store at room temperature for up to 1 week.
    Firma Rosa M Lillo
Notes
- *In case you only have one cookie sheet, keep cookie dough in the refrigerator between batches and do not bake a new batch of cookies until the cookie sheet is completely cold.
- Baked cookies and rolled cookie dough freeze well, up to 3 months.

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