Dark Chocolate & Oatmeal Cookies

These Dark Chocolate & Oatmeal Cookies deliver everything I look for in a cookie. They’re dense, delicious and not too sweet.

The recipe below makes 8-10 cookies, which is ideal if you don’t want to bake a huge batch that sits in your kitchen begging to be eaten. If you want to make more, then this can easily be doubled or tripled, and the dough freezes beautifully once rolled into balls.

Dark Chocolate & Oatmeal Cookies

If you’re making these vegan, replace the butter with coconut oil and just skip the part about browning butter. Replace the egg with a flax egg (see notes), use maple syrup instead of honey and vegan dark chocolate instead of the regular stuff. The darker the chocolate, the better!

Ingredients

• 100g butter/coconut oil
• 2 tbsp nut butter of choice
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 tbsp honey/maple syrup
• 1 extra-large egg / flax egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2/3 cups plain flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate/vegan chocolate, roughly chopped

Method

1. Place the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and allow to brown, stirring frequently for 5-8 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when it begins to foam and smells nutty. Allow to cool.
2. Combine the flour, oats, baking powder & salt in a bowl. Stir to remove any lumps and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the cooled brown butter, nut butter, sugar, honey, egg and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, along with the chocolate and mix until just combined.
5. Place dough in the fridge for around 30 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 180°C, line a baking sheet with baking paper.
7. Remove dough from the fridge and divide into 8-10 equal pieces (depending on how big you want your cookies to be), and roll into balls.
8. Place the dough balls on the baking sheet and flatten slightly with your fingers.
9. Bake for 15 minutes or until just golden brown around the edges but still pale in the centre.
10. Remove from oven, allow to cool slightly before transferring to a cooling rack.

Notes

The recipe can easily be doubled or tripled to yield more cookies.
The dough can be frozen once rolled and stored in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen for 25-30 minutes. Store for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
Your cookies might look undercooked when you remove them from the oven, but they continue baking for a few minutes.

Flax Egg: 1 tbsp ground flaxseed to 3 tbsp water. Mix and refrigerate for 15-30 mins to thicken.