Genius Hour: Week 1

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

This week I kicked off my genius hour project by baking a fresh batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies...not a bad start! My parents came down to visit for my Dad's birthday so I decided to make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies as they are one of his favourite desserts. I also wanted to start off the project by baking something relatively simple.

I found the following recipe on Pinterest that I was eager to try out:

Ingredients:

1 and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 

3/4 teaspoon baking soda 

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

3/4 cup unsalted butter (melted and cooled to room temperature) 

3/4 cup packed brown sugar 

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon honey  

1 tablespoon vanilla 

1 large egg 

2 and 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats 

1 and 1/4 cups chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate chips) 

1/2 cup chopped walnuts 

Instructions: 

1. In a large bowl wisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. 

2. In another bowl use an electric mixer to beat together the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Add in the honey, vanilla, and egg. Continue beating until combined. 

3. Using the electric mixer add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and continue beating until combined.

4. Add in the oats and beat until combined. 

5. Stir in 1 cup of the chocolate chips and all of the chopped walnuts. 

6. Form the dough into balls and place them on a sprayed cookie sheet about 1- 1.5 inches apart (I used an ice cream scoop for this part). Refrigerate for 2 hours.

7. After the 2 hours is up, preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Bake for 12-14 minutes, do not overcook we want the cookies to be soft and chewy. 

8. Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool. Press the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips into the tops of the cookies.

Results: 

Overall, I am pleased to report that my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies were a success!! They were easy to make, and tasted good too. Aside from a few minor adjustments I would make next time I bake these cookies, I was pleasantly surprised with the end result of my first baking attempt. My friends and family also agreed that the cookies turned out well, and most importantly my dad enjoyed the cookies for his birthday!

The middles of the cookies were soft and chewy just as the recipe promised. Also, adding the chocolate chips on top of the cookies after they had been baked made them look more appetizing. I will definitely use this trick next time I bake cookies! Although I did not like the walnuts all of my taste-testers said that they were one of their favourite parts about the cookies. One of my main critiques about these cookies were their size. In order for the middle to cook properly the outsides were more crispy than I would have liked. The recipe said that the dough should make 18-22 very large cookies. I aimed for this amount which meant that my cookies were very large and thick. The next time I try out this recipe I would suggest making the cookies smaller so that they cook more evenly and the outsides are soft and chewy as well. 

Overall I am pleased with my first genius hour product and now I have delicious cookies to enjoy for the rest of the week. I look forward to sharing my next baking adventure with you all next week!