The Best Oatmeal Cookies

I love an oatmeal cookie, but I can do without the raisins. So, when I came across a recipe for Oat and Pecan Brittle Cookies, I was so intrigued. 

I’ve made this recipe quite a few times now. But, when I first looked at it, there were so many steps. 

Would it be worth it? 

Toast pecans. Create brittle. Brown the butter. Allow brown butter to cool. Blend some of the brittle with dry ingredients using a food processor. Cream butter and the sugars in a mixer. Add all ingredients together. Break up leftover brittle and fold into the dough. 

Finished, right? 

Nope!

It’s not ready to bake, until it has been refrigerated. At the end of it all, I balanced my cookie sheet on top of various Tupperware and jars in my fridge, and let it rest overnight. 

After all that, I needed a rest too!

Was it worth it?

 It absolutely was and still is.

 Your whole home smells of caramel and toasted pecans. The cookies need a few minutes to rest once out of the oven, but then you try a bite. Perfectly balanced, salty and sweet and totally delightful. 

Funny thing is that after making them without a hitch a few times, I went back to this recipe again feeling confident. And, I ended up messing up the brittle three times. I moderated the temperature of all ingredients, but bungled it on the first attempt. Butter and sugar separated, cooked off and then hardened like stone. On my second attempt, I added less water and created consistent swirling but still ended with a less than appealing result. By the third attempt, I was determined. I ended up running into a few snags, but I just cooked it down until I got more of a caramel before quickly throwing in the pecans, salt, and baking soda at the last minute. It wasn't perfect, but it tasted great and once I added it in, the cookies came out tasting delish.  

I guess the lessons I learned in this process were: 

1) There’s no room for ego in baking. It’s a science, and there’s always something that can go wrong - but that’s part of the process. 

2) Patience pays off. It’s a damn good cookie.