Peanut Butter, Oatmeal and M&M Cookies

My cookie sheet doesn't fit in my new oven.

It turns out the oven in my new apartment is smaller than I thought. At least the fridge is full-sized. You wouldn't believe how many over-priced Brooklyn apartments have mini-fridges, the kind it's really only appropriate to have in a college dorm or next to your desk at your office.

This would not have been a problem had I noticed in advance or had I decided to make cookies when cooking stores were still open. But no, I only noticed when I was trying to shove a cookie sheet full of cookie dough (that had already been chilling for 5 hours, as per Matt and Renato's instructions) into the oven. It didn't fit. Either direction. It wasn't even close.

Yes, I could have given up and decided to just eat the raw cookie dough.

I won't lie.

I did do a bit of that.

But instead, I decided to get creative.

I used my toaster oven's baking try. It holds two cookies at a time for 12 minutes of baking and 8 minutes of cooling on the pan immediately after. I made about 20 cookies before I gave up and decided to freeze the remaining dough.

I'm glad I went ahead with baking. These cookies are incredible. They're moist and chewy, a fantastic combination of chocolate chip, peanut butter and oatmeal cookies loaded with chocolate.

These are not your mama's cookies. One cookie is about the equivalent of two normal-sized cookies, but I won't tell if you decide to have more than one.




Peanut Butter, Oatmeal and M&M Cookies
recipe adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

My recipe yielded about 32 cookies, each made with three tablespoons of dough. The dough froze beautifully, and I simply put it in the fridge to thaw a few hours before baking. When I forgot to thaw the dough in advance, the cookies still turned out, they just spread a bit more.

I cut an entire cup of sugar out of the recipe (1/2 cup of dark brown sugar and 1/2 cup of granulated sugar), and I didn't miss it at all. The cookies were definitely still sweet, but the sweetness wasn't overpowering.

Ingredients
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
5 3/4 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups creamy peanut butter
2 cups M&Ms

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl, whisking well. Add the oats, and stir until ingredients are combined.

Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter. Add the sugars, mixing on low speed until the sugar and butters are just incorporated. Scrape down the bowl and add the eggs one at a time, beating for about 20 seconds after each addition. Add corn syrup and vanilla, beating for about 20 seconds more.

Add the peanut butter, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and mix until the mixture is just combined. Add the oats in three portions, mixing on low speed, until the oats are fully incorporated.

Fold in M&Ms. Cover the dough with plastic wrap, and transfer to the fridge for at least 5 hours to chill.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Scoop 2-tablespoon-sized rounds onto a baking sheet, placing them about 2 inches apart. Flatten the rounds a bit (they do not spread much while you are cooking). Bake the cookies for 12 minutes, removing them from the oven when they just begin to brown. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 8 minutes, and then remove the cookies from the pan, transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.