Tuesday, November 06, 2012

Scottish Oat Cookies and The Daily Cookie Book Giveaway Winner!

Scottish Oat Cookies 11-6-12

Run now to your nearest book store, or at least get on Amazon and order your copy of Anna’s (author of Cookie Madness blog) new cookbook, The Daily Cookie, 365 Tempting Treats for the Sweetest Year of your Life—it’s available today!  While you’re on your way home from the book store, go ahead and vote—it’s election day!  Get your vote on!

The Daily Cookie

You might recall, or maybe you’re dying to know if it was you—but I had a giveaway for a copy of The Daily Cookie last week.  A WINNER HAS BEEN SELECTED!  Drumroll, please……………………………………………………..

Lucky #13 was chosen by Random Generator!  Who was lucky #13!  It was Amy, from Amy's Cooking Adventures!  Yay!  Congratulations!  You’ll love having this book.  I got an early copy of it from Anna and have already made a number of cookies from it.  I wanted to pay it forward and give a book to someone else. 

Thought it would be fun to make Amy’s birthday cookie today, since that was what you had to do to enter the giveaway—tell me your birthday.  Amy’s birthday is March 10.  And here’s the scoop about what Anna chose for that day’s treat—Scottish Oat Cookies.  March 10 marks the day the First Successful Telephone Call was made by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876.  So grateful for that guy and invention!  Anna says in the book, “On this day in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell shouted one of the most famous phrases in history, “Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you,” to his assistant, Thomas A. Watson.  It was the first successful communication via telephone.  In honor of Bell’s Scottish heritage, today’s cookie is a Scottish-style oatmeal cookie.”

These are a great shortbread-like cookie with milk chocolate on top.  They are the kind of cookie I could eat too many of at a time, and moreso because they are crunchy, so Kevin won’t care for them.  I will have to force my boys to eat them. ;)

Scottish Oat Cookies 12-6-12

I played rebel here and swirled the chocolate on the cookie instead of Anna’s suggestion of making lines in the chocolate with a toothpick.  Rebel?  Lazy?  Or do the swirls signify my craziness? No matter, I’m sure you could put the chocolate on any way you’d like.  I almost drizzled it on, but ended up spooning it on and just swirling it around with the back of a spoon.  Otherwise, I followed the recipe to a tee, I find that with Anna’s recipes, she has worked hard to ensure they come out well, so no adjustments are ever necessary.    I must have laid the chocolate on a little thick because I did end up using about six ounces of melted milk chocolate instead of her suggested four ounces.

Scottish Oat Cookies, adapted by Katrina, Baking and Boys! from Anna Ginsberg, The Daily Cookie Book

1  1/4 (100 grams) cup quick-cooking oats (old-fashioned work, too, just not instant)

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (45 grams) all purpose flour

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (45 grams) whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 scant teaspoon salt

1/4 cup firmly packed (55 grams) light brown sugar

2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar

9 tablespoons (4  1/2 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1/2 tablespoon golden syrup or light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

4-6 ounces milk chocolate (I used Ghirardelli, Anna suggested Cadbury)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a food processor, pulse the oats until fine.  Add the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt and pulse to mix.  Add both sugars and pulse again to combine thoroughly.  Add the butter and process until the mixture is coarse and sand-like.  Add the corn syrup and vanilla and pulse until combined.  The mixture will but dry and not like a cookie dough. 

Transfer half the mixture to a piece of waxed paper set on the counter.  Form it together into a disk with your hands.  Cover with another piece of waxed paper.  Roll one disk to about 1/4-inch thickness.  Cut out 2 inch round circles with a cookie cutter.  Place on baking sheets about two inches apart.  Bake for 12 minutes.  Let cookie sit on baking sheet for a couple minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Melt the milk chocolate in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave in 20-30 second intervals at about half-power or in a bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water.  Spoon the melted chocolate over the cookies.  Once the chocolate is partially set, you can drag a toothpick through it and make lines in the chocolate.  Allow the chocolate to set at room temperature. or do a quick-set in the refrigerator.

Baker’s notes:  These are dense, crumbly, and crispy rather than chewy.  Whole wheat pastry flour is softer than regular whole wheat flour and can usually be found in the bulk bin at big grocery stores or in natural food stores, like Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s.  Omit the additional salt if using salted butter.

Scottish Oat Cookies 12-6-12

Before putting the icing on these, even our doggy, Chip, loved the bites I gave him of one! ;)

Congratulations to Amy!  Your book is on the way from Amazon and will probably arrive by Friday!  Everyone else, you’ll love having this book in your collection, especially in time for holiday baking or gift giving!

8 comments:

Baking Ribbons said...

Such perfect looking cookies! Congrats lucky Amy!!!

Cindy said...

Bummer, I didn't win! Congrats to Amy. I guess I'll just have to head on over to Amazon. I do love cookie recipes.
Crispy cookies covered with milk chocolate--these must be awesome.

Anonymous said...

Congrats to Amy! These cookies look good to me but, I like ones I don't have to share too...lol! ;)

scrambledhenfruit said...

So pretty! I love the swirls. :)

Sue @ Cakeballs, cookies and more said...

oh I love how those cookies look, yummy!

Cindy deRosier said...

Those look awesome! Congrats Amy! I guess I'm going to have to buy the book instead of winning it. :)

Shelby said...

I'll be looking for this today on my lunch break, hopefully I will find it! If not, I'll be heading on over to Amazon. lol. I want it in my hands today. Not 5 days from now....if I can help it! Oh, btw, you are such a rebel. ;)

JeffThorsen777 said...

Anna is a great author. I love her books!