Judith, the Irish Foodie

Oatmeal Cookies, perfect for afternoon tea:

Anyone for tea?

An old BBC TV commercial for a famous brand of British biscuits (or, cookies!) used to say “a drink is too wet without one”, and in my case ‘the one’ will always be an oatmeal cookie.

This week my Canadian friend, Charlotte came over to my kitchen and we spent the morning baking my two favorite Irish cookies, butter shortbread and oatmeal cookies. The recipes came from my grandmother’s handwritten, torn cookbooks and I cannot bake or eat them without reminiscing about her.
She and my grandfather owned and ran a B&B overlooking the Irish Sea in Co. Down, Northern Ireland, and afternoon tea was served every day at 3.30 pm in the parlor. Back in ‘those days’, tea-time was an occasion to dress up, pull out the china and the silver 3-tier cake stand. The savories were served on the bottom tier, scones and tea breads on the second layer and the top plate was filled with cookies, pastries and fresh cream cakes. OK, I know most of us cannot pull this off every day, but we can all enjoy the pleasures of a simple cookie and a cup of tea and think about times past.

Oatmeal cookies are buttery rich with a crunchy texture, but, to add balance, are made from oats and rice grains. So, don’t feel too guilty when you’ve discovered you’ve eaten all two dozen cookies in one session!

Oatmeal cookies:

½ cup (4oz) butter
¼ cup (1oz) all purpose flour
¼ cup (1oz) rice flour
½ tsp baking soda
1 ¼ (5 oz) cup quick cooking oats (makes 1 cup ground)
¼ cup (1 oz) organic dried unsweetened coconut
¼ cup (2oz) light brown sugar
¼ cup (2 oz) granulated sugar (plus 2 Tbsp to sprinkle)

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grind oats in food processor.
Combine flour, baking soda, ground oatmeal, coconut and set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugars in electric mixer, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bow. Continue to beat until light and fluffy.

Add all the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and mix to fully incorporated.
Lightly flour surface and roll out the dough using a floured rolling pin to a thickness of about ¼”.

Cut cookies using a 1 ½” round cutter.

Place on cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes. Sprinkle with sugar and allow to cool for a few minutes before transferring to a wire wrack to cool.

Enjoy!