Oatmeal Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Exciting Food-Bloggery News

I owe a lot of people in this world cookies (or baked goods).  It's just sort of a fact of life that you live with when you're a baker.  It's how you say "thank you" to people for being their awesome selves, and I know a lot of awesome people, so that inevitably adds up to a lot of cookies to be baked.

This week, I lived up to my word to bring my friend Reiko cookies to thank her for (1) helping me out at my visiting institution during the times I can't be there (i.e., making sure to set up Skype logistics so that I can conference-call into meetings, or grabbing handouts for me when I can't make talks) and (2) her general awesomeness.  Not knowing what cookies exactly she likes, I opted for the trifecta of cookie-age: oatmeal walnut chocolate chip cookies--everything good and nostalgic you could ever want in a cookie, and hold the raisins, please.  This recipe comes from the Tartine bakery book, and they are wonderfully thin--almost like florentines, even--and chewy from the oatmeal, and nutty and chocolate-ty from the walnuts and chocolate chips.  I opted for bittersweet chocolate chips instead of the shaved chocolate that the original recipe calls for (because who has time to shave and freeze their chocolate when you're making cookies on the fly?!), and they still worked more than beautifully.

So on to the exciting food-bloggery news that I alluded to last week.  I'm really pleased to announce that I'll be speaking on a food photography panel at BlogHer Food '11 in Atlanta with Aran Goyoaga of Cannelle et Vanille and Tami Hardeman of Running with Tweezers!  This is a panel that Tami is putting together on "Finding Your Visual Voice" in food photography, and I'm so flattered to be a part of it, especially with these two uber-talented food photographers/stylists.  At first, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to make it, which is why I held off on sharing the news, but now that it's set, I'll hopefully be seeing and meeting many of you there in Atlanta!  Trust me-- "excited" doesn't even begin to describe my... er... excitement. :-D

Tell me, will you be at BlogHer Food '11?


Read on for recipe....

Oatmeal Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies
roughly adapted from Tartine by Prueitt and Robertson
makes four to six dozen 2" cookies

2 cups (285 gr) AP flour
1 tspn baking powder
1 tspn baking soda
1 tspn salt
2 cups (170 gr) rolled oats
1 cup (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups (350 gr) sugar
1 1/2 Tbspn dark molasses
2 eggs
2 Tbspn whole milk
1 Tbspn vanilla extract
1 cup (115 gr) walnuts, coarsely chopped
2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats and set aside.
2. In a bowl, mix to combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and rolled oats. Set aside.
3. In a mixer bowl with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium-high speed. Gradually add the sugar and mix until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
4. Add the molasses into the butter and beat until combined.
5. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Beat in the milk and vanilla extract.
7. Finally, beat in the flour mixture on low until thoroughly combined.
8. By hand using a spatula, fold in the chopped walnuts and chocolate chips.
9. Scoop the dough in small rounds (using a teaspoon) onto the prepared cookie sheets, leaving ample room between each cookie as they will spread out. Dip your fingers in water and lightly spread out and press the dough into a circle.
10. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Note: the recipe in the book claims to make twenty-four 3" cookies, but I got many, many 2" cookies.

Enjoy!