Back in the early ’90s, King Arthur sponsored two baking contests, and I played a very important role in one of them: Julia Child was a judge, and I got to trail in her wake with a paper cup, so she could “taste and spit” with aplomb, as befits culinary royalty. But that’s a story for another day. (One clarifying thought, though: Julia was one of the friendliest, most down-to-earth, just plain nicest people I ever met.)
The junior grand-prize winner of King Arthur’s 1991 WinterBake (apropos; it’s almost always winter up here in Vermont) was Sarah Nist of Montpelier, Vermont, whose Chunk Wild Cookies took the blue ribbon. Her recipe has held up very well over the years. If you like to bake—in the finest sense of the word—you’ll love these kid-friendly cookies.
First, the usual suspects: butter, sugar, salt, and leaveners.
“Cream” them together. If you don't know what “cream” means, in a baking sense—this ain't it! It's a good start. But for something to be fully creamed, it should look like this:
Smooth, no lumps. One even color. That's creamed.
Notice how beating in two eggs makes it even creamier—more satiny, richer looking.
Next, we grind some oatmeal in a food processor (I've use a mini processor here), till it's pretty finely ground. Then add white chocolate chunks or chips, and grind again, just till the large chunks have disappeared.
A few small chunks are OK; don't over-process just to grind down every last little chunk of chocolate.
Here's the dough with the oats, white chocolate, and flour added; that white chocolate is going to add a certain “mmm-MMM!” to the finished cookies.
Once you've added the chips, scoop the dough onto parchment-lined or greased baking sheets. A tablespoon cookie scoop works well for this task. Be sure to leave 2” between the dough balls.
See why you leave enough space between the cookies? They spread as they bake, and you don't want them running into each other.
Yum! All that's missing is the glass of cold milk. Enjoy our recipe for Chunk Wild Cookies, and let us know how you enjoyed them in the comments, below.
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