Chocolate Oatmeal Biscuits or Cookies

 

These Chocolate Oatmeal biscuits are everything that I love about a biscuit. When I made this latest batch with the addition of Dutch Chocolate powder, I realised they are perfect to also enjoy for breakfast, and I don't usually eat cakes or biscuits at the start of my day. 

Who doesn't love a good chocolate biscuit? These aren't too sweet, and have cereals and nuts within which are the perfect addition for breakfast on the go. They are also perfect with a coffee or cup of tea at anytime of day. I stumbled upon using cocoa powder in these when I realised that the dark chocolate chips had disappeared from our refrigerator.  The gremlins had been again. However, I think these would be chocolatey and gooey, just perfect for afternoon tea when combining chocolate powder and chocolate chips into the mixture. 

I also love the salty chocolate flavours that these add to the tastebuds. Sprinkling flaky sea salt to the dough before cooking them is the jewel in the biscuit crown. 

I first saw this recipe @Smitten Kitchen ages ago. This is my version of that very popular cookie. I have since seen that this cookie has become very popular with  many home bakers, with lots of substitutions being suggested.

Let's bake:

Ingredients:

Makes 10 biscuits

2 tablespoons (25 grams) raw sugar

1/2 cup (95 grams) dark brown sugar

1/2 cup (115 grams) butter chopped into chunks

1/2 cup Dutch Cocoa Powder

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 large egg

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup (95 grams) whole grain flour

1/4 cup finely chopped very fresh walnuts or pecans,  or you can use wheat germ, or oat bran

1 1/2 cups (120 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats

Flaky sea salt to finish off (optional)

Method:

Heat oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F and line a baking tray with baking paper.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the sugars, the butter, and the salt together until fluffy. 

Add the vanilla and the egg to the bowl, and beat until all mixed together.

Sprinkle the baking powder and the bicarb soda over the batter and beat until the mixture is very well combined, scraping down the bowl as well to include all the mixture.

Add the flour, walnuts, oats and cocoa powder and mix until flour just disappears.

Using an ice cream scoop, place mounds equivalent to 3 tablespoons, on the baking paper, about 8 centimetres or 3 inches apart,  and sprinkle with a few flakes of sea salt. 

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until golden brown all over. At this point they will still be slightly soft so transfer the tray to a cooling rack and allow to cool. Remove the baking tray from the cooling rack onto a cutting board, and place the biscuits carefully back onto the cooling rack to really crisp up.

Store in an airtight container.

Cook's notes:

• It can be a balancing act with ingredients sometimes with biscuits, and with this recipe the nuts can even be substituted for healthy products such as wheat germ or oat bran. The cocoa can be replaced with dark chocolate chips or why not add them to the mixture which already contains chocolate powder. There are some days when I think that extra chocolate is necessary.
• Unless I start baking  early, the days are very warm when I am cooking now. The heat is on. If you are baking biscuits in the Aussie Summer, the butter will soften enough in about 15 minutes to beat with the sugars. There's no need to leave it out overnight to soften.
• Because the biscuit mixture was very soft after I had finished mixing it and gooey to handle, I placed the whole bowl of biscuit mixture in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes, and then it was really easy to work with. Using the ice cream scoop to place chilled mounds of biscuit mixture onto the baking paper was a fast, effective and easy process. If you are working in Winter temperatures, or have the air-conditioning running, you shouldn't need to chill the biscuit mixture, however it does stop the biscuits from spreading on the tray. This is a personal preference.
• Extra dough will keep in the refrigerator for 3 days, and even longer if you freeze it for later. Freeze the biscuit scoops onto a tray, and when solid, pack them tightly in a freezer bag. Cooking them straight from the freezer, only takes 1 to 2 minutes longer, and they won't spread as much. Crispy on the outside and softer in the middle is the result. However allowing them to spread on the tray, results in a crispier biscuit. 
• Check out my Anzac biscuit recipe, which is also oaty and delicious and I chill this mixture in the frig as well.
• I used roughly chopped dark chocolate in the first batch of these I ever made, which was delicious and resulted in larger threads of melted chocolate throughout the biscuit. Then I used dark chocolate chips in the next batch, chilled the dough as well, resulting in a neater looking more uniform biscuit. However it really doesn't matter, choose the look and style you want. I promise you though they will still taste delicious. That's the wonderful thing about making these biscuits, they are very versatile.

 Warm wishes,

Pauline