Chewy Oatmeal Decorating Cookies

Recipe by PJ Hamel

So who says cut-out cookies need to be either A) sugar cookies, or B) gingerbread? These chewy oatmeal cookies, with a hint of whole wheat and lots of flavor, are easy to roll and cut out with your favorite shaped cutter.

Prep
25 mins
Bake
9 to 10 mins
Total
1 hr 15 mins
Yield
6 1/2 dozen 2 1/2" cookies
Chewy Oatmeal Decorating Cookies

Instructions

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  1. To make the dough: In a medium-sized bowl, beat together the butter and sugar, then add the egg, vanilla, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and ginger, beating until smooth

  2. Beat in the flours and oats; the mixture may look dry at first, but don't worry, it'll come together.

  3. Divide the dough into two pieces, wrap each piece in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

  4. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

  5. To shape the cookies: Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll it into a circle about 14" in diameter. Use your favorite cutters to cut out cookies, re-rolling and cutting the scraps.

  6. Place the cutout cookies on lightly greased or parchment-lined cookie sheets; set them fairly close together, as they don't spread.

  7. To bake the cookies: Bake the cookies for about 9 to 10 minutes: the shorter amount of time will make softer cookies, the longer amount of time, crisper cookies.

  8. Remove the cookies from the oven, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, and transfer to a rack to cool.

  9. Repeat with the remaining dough. Decorate as desired.

Tips from our Bakers

  • When rolling dough for cutout cookies, roll from the center outwards, giving the dough a quarter-turn on the floured surface with each stroke of the pin. This will produce a more tender cookie than rolling back and forth over the dough.

  • If you use salted butter, reduce the salt in the recipe to 1/4 teaspoon

  • Substitute an equal amount, by volume, of King Arthur Rolled Oats for the oats in this recipe. They'll add slightly more chew and heartiness (and also more protein!).