Our Yummy Mummy Wednesday class has officially become crazy. Lots of the tiny Yummies have come of age and are right in there with their older siblings, rolling up their little sleeves, stirring, tasting batter, and holding their own. The older kids have been wilder lately (urban can fever?), and we may very well have to incorporate a good calisthenics session into the class before we sit down to cook.
Crazy as it is, it is also TONS of fun. And, this week, when I told the kids that they would be making a Valentine treat, there were smiles all around.
Me: What holiday is coming up this week, kids?
Kids: Valen-TIMES!!!
The treat we made for these Valen Times? Cookies based on a new family favorite, the Chocolate-Oatmeal-Walnut Cookies from San Francisco’s divine Tartine Bakery. We supplemented the cookies with flaxseed meal (you’d never know if, well, you didn’t know), some whole wheat flour, a jot more molasses, and added bright red dried bing cherries with white chocolate to take them to the next level.
Who needs an electric mixer when there are energetic Yummies all around? We mixed these up by hand like it weren’t no thang.
Mon Cheri Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
*1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
*1 1/4 c. all purpose flour
*2 T. flaxseed meal
*1 t. baking soda
*1 t. baking powder
*1 t. salt
*2 c. old fashioned rolled oats
*1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
*1/4 c. blackstrap molasses
*2 eggs, room temperature
*1 T. vanilla
*1 c. dried cherries, chopped if you like
*6 oz. bittersweet chocolate chips
*6 oz. white chocolate, cut into chunks
Together: In a large bowl, measure out the flours, the flaxseed meal, the baking powder and soda, salt, and oats with your Yummy. Whisk these together.
In another large bowl, help your mini-chef beat the butter very well till it is light yellow and fluffy. Add the sugar and the molasses and beat some more, and scrape down the sides of the bowl. This is a fun skill to teach your Yummy. Have them scrape down the different colors on the side of the bowl so that everything makes one color in the bottom of the bowl. Then, add the eggs, one at a time, beating the mixture after each one. Stir in the fragrant vanilla.
Using a cup measure, add the flour mixture gently in, cupful by cupful. Now the best part: Show your mini-chef how to fold the chocolate and the cherries into the dough.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or overnight.
When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
We always use the tiny ice cream scoops, but you could just as easily use a spoon or your hands to scoop up small bits of the dough. have your mini-chef shape this into a ball and then smash that ball flat so that it becomes a pancake. Put each pancake onto a silpat or parchment lined baking sheet.
Big Person: Slide the baking sheets into the oven and bake 10-15 minutes. Cool, and share them with all the sweethearts in your life. (We prefer these cookies a little on the crispy side, but you could also undercook them, let them cool for several more minutes on the sheet, and they’d be delicious in a different way.)
