Everybody’s After School Cookies

Friends, hello.

I’ve been thinking about you so much as you send your babies off to their tiny desks in the den for school this fall.  Literally, how do you do it? Our girl Emily of Cupcakes and Cashmere sprayed glitter in her daughter’s hair as they prepped for the first day of school, at home. My friend Toby (hey bb!) has the sweetest desk for her biggest tot.  I see you out there, making it work, making it feel special, doing what you have to do in the year of our Lord 2020.

My very humble offering for this occasion is, cookies. After school cookies because even though home is the new school… there’s still after school (and its associated snacks) to think about.  If you’re suddenly a homeschool teacher, feel free to print this recipe out and hand it to your partner, or your mother-in-law, or a very friendly neighbor with a look in your eyes that says “Do this.”  They’ll understand.

This recipe is lightly adapted from one of my favorite baking cookbooks – Shauna Sever’s Midwest Made.  It’s a SOLID GOLD baking book. It’s very thoughtful, creative, classic, well-tested.  If you don’t yet have it, put it on your list.

These cookies are essentially every cookie in one.  It’s part chocolate chip, part oatmeal, part snickerdoodle. Yes there are raisins.  Yes I stand by that decision.

Here’s what you’ll need for these after school cookies. This is a kitchen sink situation.

•  softened butter, granulated and brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  Cookie classics.

•  flour and a whole lotta oats

•  baking soda and cream of tartar and salt

•   chocolate chips (though I also encourage you to use those off brand M&Ms from Trader Joe’s) and raisins.

•  cinnamon and sugar for rolling the dough balls before baking

I usually make cookies with my hand beaters. It’s much easier than dragging out the stand mixer and I feel like it’s important to aerate the butter and sugar which is hard to do by hand.  This is my favorite hand mixer because the first speed setting is actually low (sometimes mixer blast ingredients on the lowest setting) and it’s relatively quiet!

Now that we have that out of the way, cream together softened butter and sugars.

Add the eggs one at a time.  Give the ingredients a good mix after each egg.  Add a splash of vanilla, too.

In a medium bowl whisk together all of the dry ingredients: your flour and oats, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.

Why cream of tartar? It’s an acid that will help the cookies rise. Essentially by combining baking soda and cream of tartar, we’re making baking powder. It’s science.

Stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture until just combined.

Add the chocolate and raisins.

If you’re thinking of skipping the raisins, don’t! They’re good for you. They make these cookies basically a salad. Ok… not at all a salad. But I learned how to like things I didn’t think I liked (ie: raisins) by eating them in something I knew I liked (ie: cookies). So… make your kids tough it out and enjoy raisins (said the childless woman).

You’re allowed to sneak as many dough bites as you feel necessary. It’s 2020.

I always think it’s a good idea to refrigerate cookie dough to allow the liquid to absorb and the butter to rechill.  If you’re in a hurry to bake these babies, you’ll just have a flatter cookie. Not a crime.

Roll the dough into generous two tablespoon cookies. Roll in cinnamon and sugar.

It’s nice to portion all the cookies at once so you’re ready to be a cookie machine with cookies in and out of the oven.

There you have it friends. Cookies for everyone. Cookies as we warrior through this year.  I’m rooting for you and your little ones. You deserve the cookies too, mmmkay?

Photos with my friend Jon Melendez.

Everybody’s After School Cookies

★★★★★ 4.9 from 19 reviews

• Author: Shauna Sever adapted by Joy the Baker
• Prep Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 12 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 32 minutes
• Yield: about 36 cookies 1x

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Description

A cookie for everyone! Part chocolate chip, part oatmeal, part snickerdoodle! 

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Ingredients

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• For the Dough:
• 1 cup (225g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cup (300g) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (57g) packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups (250g) old-fashioned rolled oats
• 2 cups (256g) all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cups (256g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
• 1 cup (145g) raisins
• For Coating:
• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• a big pinch of kosher salt

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Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or in a medium bowl with electric hand beaters cream butter on medium speed for about 1 minute.  Add the sugars and beat on medium speed until aerated and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minutes between each addition. Add the vanilla extract.  Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl as necessary.  
2. In a large bowl whisk together the oats, flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.  
3. Add the dry ingredients all at once to the butter mixture and beat on low speed.   Remove the bowl from the mixing stand and stir in the chocolate chips and raisins.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or transfer the dough to plastic wrap or waxed paper and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.  
4. Just before baking, place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl whisk together sugar, cinnamon and salt. 
5. Form the dough into 2 tablespoon balls.  Roll each ball in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Place each ball about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.  
6. Bake until golden and puffed for about 12 minutes, rotating the pan once during baking.  Allow cookies to cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. 
7. Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 4 days.  Uncooked dough can be portioned (not rolled in sugar) and frozen in balls first on a baking sheet, then in a freezer safe bag.  Bake cookies from frozen for 14 or so minutes. 

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Notes

I’ve had success making this recipe GF with gluten-free oats, King Arthur Flour gluten free flour blend, 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum, and an extra egg yolk.