"You can be miserable before you have a cookie and you can be miserable after you have a cookie, but you can never be miserable while you are eating a cookie." (Ina Garten) Wise words from the ultimate food goddess. If I were to add one word to that quote, it would be 'huge'. If you aren't one of those people whose eyes widen and heart races when you see gorgeous bakery style, extra-large and as big as you palm sized cookies, you are an outlier. The popularity of Levain cookies has not only influenced home cookie baking, but has spawned the large sized cookie in boutique bakeries across the country as 'the' most coveted kind of cookie. Levain style cookies are big enough to share (if you dare) or to fuel you on a long hike. They are not one bite wonders. Rather they are colassal sized, thick without being cakey stunners.
When we think of oatmeal cookies, we generally think of oatmeal raisin cookies. But in switching out the raisins for milk chocolate chips, the oatmeal cookie gets a kind of jaw-dropping makeover. And while it might be harder to justify eating one of these Iced Milk Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies for breakfast, I might argue we can rationalize most things if we set our minds to it.
If you are looking to impress or wow your family and friends, make these Iced Milk Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies! With Valentine's Day right around the corner, these would be the most perfect gesture of love. The ability to serve a beautiful, scrumptious, ginormous cookie would be akin to awakening their visual and taste senses while simultaneously filling them up with joy. In many ways it's a form of intimacy that can only be created with something homemade with love.
So let's talk about the ingredients for a second. Unlike most other cookie recipes, this one uses chilled, not room temperature unsalted butter. In addition to all-purpose flour it also uses cake flour. The cake flour along with some cornstarch helps to create a softer, more tender cookie. The molasses combined with the light brown sugar not only deepens the flavor of these cookies, it adds a mouthwatering kind of sweetness. Instead of two eggs, the recipe uses one large egg and one large egg yolk. When buying milk chocolate chips, look for the oversized ones (Guittard makes a great milk chocolate chip) rather than the smaller ones. The oatmeal needs to be the old-fashioned kind, not the instant or the quick cooking oats. For the most optimal results, I strongly encourage you to weigh your ingredients.
While you don't need to refrigerate these cookies overnight, they do benefit from a brief 15 minute resting period. Which will give you enough time to preheat your oven to 400 degrees (F).
Divide the rested dough into 7 equal pieces. Ideally I would recommend you weigh out your clumps of dough before rolling them into a ball. When cookies are almost identical in weight, they bake evenly. For a craggy topped cookie, break each ball in half, then press the halves of the dough balls against each other. Shaping the edges of the cookie with your hands so they are rounded.
These cookies are baked at a high temperature to ensure they don't spread as well as to create their crispy edges. Baking time is only 9-11 minutes (my baking time was 10 minutes). The cookies are ready to come out of the oven when you see they have some golden spots (you still might think they don't look done, but trust the baking time and color). They need to rest on the hot baking sheet for another 15 minutes after they come out of the oven so, in esssence, they will continue to bake.
The vanilla flavored icing not only creates a mouthwatering looking cookie, it adds just the right amount of sweetness. Personally, I wouldn't them any other way.
I like to use a small whisk to drizzle the icing over the top of each cookie. But a dinner fork will too. Let the icing set up before serving or packaging them up.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give these cookies a 10. Their flavor and texture is spot on. And they are seriously one of the most gorgeous oatmeal cookies.
Once you taste one of these Iced Milk Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies Levain Style, you might be tempted to declare them the best ever oatmeal cookie. You will never be miserable eating this huge cookie. However, at a minimum, these divine, slightly addictive cookies are destined to your favorite oatmeal cookie. And yes, I think you can justify having one for breakfast.
Recipe
Iced Milk Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies - Levain Style
Makes 7 super large cookies
Ingredients
1 cup (130g) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (90g) cake flour
2 cups (180g) old-fashioned oatmeal (not quick or instant oats)
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1//4 rounded teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (113g) chilled unsalted butter, cut into cubes (preferably European or European style butter)
1/2 cup (100g) light brown sugar
1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon molasses
1 Large egg, room temperature
1 Large egg yolk, room temperature
2-3 teaspoons vanilla (I used 3 teaspoons or a Tablespoon)
1 package (11.5 oz/326g) milk chocolate chips (highly recommend Guittard Milk Chocolate Chips)
1 cup (120g) confectionary sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions
1. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, cake flour, oatmeal, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, Kosher salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter for at least one minute. Scrape down sides and bottom of the bowl.
3. Add in the brown sugar. Beat for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides and bottom of the bowl.
4. Add in the granulated sugar. Beat for at least one minute until fluffy. Scrape down sides and bottom of the bowl.
5. Add in the egg, egg yolk, molasses and vanilla. Beat until well blended (approximately one minute). Again scrape down sides and bottom of the bowl.
6. Add in the dry ingredients 1/3 cup at a time. Mix on medium-low just until blended. Do not over mix.
7. Pour in the milk chocolate chips. Mix just until blended. Let batter rest for 15 minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F). Put oven rack at one rung about the center. Line two heavy bottomed baking sheets with parchment paper.
9. Measure out the batter into 7 equal pieces, ranging from 5 ounces (142g) to 5.5 ounces (157g). Roll the pieces into balls. Then break in half. Press the sides of the halves together, shaping into circle (this will give you the craggy edge top).
10. Divide the cookie dough balls between the two baking sheets. But bake only one sheet at a time (unless you have a double oven).
11. Bake for 9-11 minutes or just until the tops look golden, but cookies may not look done. Do not over bake. Allow cookies to rest on baking sheet for 15 minutes. Note: Rotate baking sheet midway through the baking process.
12. Transferred the cooled cookies to a cooling rack.
13. Whisk together the confectionary sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth. Using a whisk, drizzle the icing over the cookies. Let the cookies set.
14. Wrapped in cellophane bags, the cookies will remain fresh for up to 3 days, but they are truly over the top incredible on day one.
Notes: (1) My baking time was 10 minutes. (2) Highly recommend the Guittard Milk Chocolate Chips as they are larger than all other milk chocolate chips. (3) I used Kerrygold unsalted butter. (4) If you wanted, you could switch out the milk chocolate chips for raisins. Look for larger sized raisins, not the small dry ones generally found in the baking aisle.
