VINTAGE KITCHEN – OATMEAL COOKIES

I’ve tried many versions, but I thought I’d try one from a tried and true recipe book from the deco era – the Metropolitan Cook Book.  Published by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, it has reincarnated itself over the decades.  This version is probably from the 1930s (I can find no publishing date)

INGREDIENTS

The ingredients are simple. You will need:

1/2 cup fat (I used all butter, slightly softened)
1 cup sugar
2 beaten eggs
1/4 cup milk
2 cups oatmeal
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

The recipe also mentions raisins, but I despise raisins.  Off of my list of ingredients they came.  The first step was to cream the butter and sugar together.  After that was accomplished, I added the eggs, one at a time, the milk, oatmeal, flour, soda, cinnamon and salt (that’s right – you just throw it all in there.)

Next, I scooped the dough using a cookie dough scoop onto a lined cookie sheet and into my preheated 350F degree oven they went.  Of course, there is no mention of how long to cook the cookies.  I started with 10 minutes, but because my oven is terrible at holding a true temperature, wound up cooking close to 13-15 minutes.  Just keep an eye on them and judge based on the particulars of your oven.  I like them with a little color on them.  However, they don’t spread a whole lot.

THE RESULTS

 RECIPE (printable)

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OATMEAL COOKIES

Recipe from the Metropolitan Life Cook Book

This soft cookie from a 1930s edition of the Metropolitan Life Cook Book is scrumptious with milk.

Course Dessert

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 16 cookies, 1 per serving

Calories 197 kcal

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup fat (I used butter)
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 ea eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 cups oatmeal, dry
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup raisins (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Cream the fat, add the sugar gradually and work until creamy. Add the well beaten eggs, milk, oatmeal, flour, soda, cinnamon, salt, and the raisins (if you must). Drop by teaspoonsful (or scoop with a cookie scoop or roll in the palms of your hands) on a buttered pan (or use a Silpat.) Bake for 13-15 minutes. Once removed from the oven, let them set for a couple of minutes to firm up and then scoop onto a wire rack to cool further.

If you’re dying to try more vintage cookie recipes, you can sample my peanut butter balls (a.k.a. cookies – they’re not balls, but that’s what the book called them – scroll all the way down to the bottom). Hope you enjoy!