As soon as I picked up a copy of the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Cookbook, I knew I had to try the Chewy Oatmeal Decorating Cookies recipe. I love to make rolled cutout cookies, but had never tried a recipe with oatmeal. So, with Valentine’s Day coming up, I decided to make some heart-shaped cookie sandwiches.
I made a few substitutions when making the recipe, mostly to accommodate what I had on hand. Because I was using white whole wheat flour instead of traditional whole wheat flour, I figured I could get away with a bit more whole wheat flour and a little bit less all purpose flour, so I changed the proportions around a bit.
Overall, I was pretty happy with these cookies. I only baked half of the dough (the rest went into the freezer for later), baking for only 12 minutes (as indicated in the recipe). My cookies did not come out chewy, though. In fact, the cookies almost reminded me of a shortbread. Either way, they tasted fantastic. To make little cookie sandwiches, I used some of my leftover vanilla bean Swiss meringue buttercream (from my Vanilla Bean Cupcakes) and sprinkled with pink sugar. You could use just about any frosting, though. My cream cheese icing and cinnamon brown sugar buttercream icing would be fantastic, too!
Oatmeal Cookie Sandwiches
(Adapted from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Cookbook)
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
- Swiss meringue buttercream (or your favorite frosting)
- Pink sanding sugar
Cream the butter with the sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add in the egg and vanilla extract and beat until well incorporated.
In a separate bowl, combine the baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, oats, whole wheat flour, and all purpose flour. Gradually add the dry ingredients, beating just until incorporated. Divide the dough into two discs, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, lightly grease baking sheets and preheat the oven to 350°F.
After the dough has chilled, roll each disc out (individually) on a floured surface (the recipe says to roll to a 14-inch diameter, but I just went by thickness – about 1/4 inch). Use cookie cutters to cut shapes out of the dough and place the cookies on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake for about 12 minutes, until the cookies are golden. Cool on wire racks.
To make the sandwiches, pipe some frosting onto one cookie and top with another matching cookie. Sprinkle the colored sugar onto the exposed edges of the icing. Enjoy!
Super cute. I love the hearts and pink frosting. Glad you had such a fun time in NYC! Loved your photos!
LOVE that bright pink frosting. SO cute!
Very pretty. Can I have a box? Love your photos on your NYC trip.
How adorable are these!? And they sound delicious to boot.
Mmmmm these look great! I don’t think I have ever rolled out oatmeal cookies either. I need to give this a try. Since I’m snowed in there is no better time to bake :)
Oh my, these are gorgeous!! Love the sparkle of that pink sugar! :)
I’ve been wanting to try that recipe from the King Arthur book for a long time. You’ve just made up my mind that it’s time to try it!
Cute cookies!
I love oatmeal cookies! But it’s never occurred to me to make oatmeal cutout cookies before. Thanks for the inspiration! The sandwiches look delicious.
Those cookies are gorgeous! They look like they’re straight out of a magazine =) And the only thing that makes cookies better is FROSTING. Yum!
I love how the pink sugar just calls out to you saying “Eat me now”. Perfectly cute Valentine’s treat!!
I love that these use oatmeal cookies! I’ve seen several variations of these sandwich cookies for valentines, but the oatmeal really makes these unique! thanks for sharing!
Adorable! I love the heart shapes and the sprinkles.
those cookies are so stinkin cute!
Stunning pics n delightfull cookies…cant get any better!!!
LOVE IS IN THE AIR ,SO IS ROMANCE…WISH U LOADS OF IT @ 365
These are super duper cute!
Absolutely adorable. Bet they taste great, too!
the look gorgeous Jen :)
I just discovered your blog, and boy, am I happy about it! these cookies look soo GOOD! I love King Arthur, so I’m def gonna try these!:)
btw, I’d love to invite you to send these in for my Valentine day giveaway on my blog:) details at:
http://www.funandfoodcafe.com/2010/02/valentine-super-bowl-recipe-carnival.html
Glad they were good even though not chewy. They’re gorgeous as well!
Mmmmm, I like the sound of the oatmeal–the flavor if these must be wonderful!!! The ones decorated with pink sugar are so pretty!!
so cute and festive!
i love this idea! i bet it can work with other shapes, like easter eggs, shamrocks, etc…how fun. :D
thanks for sharing.
These cookies are gorgeous and so happy!! Love the pink filling, I bet they taste great.