Blizzard bites: Salty oat cookies

I don’t know about you, but we’re in the middle of a minor blizzard here in NYC, which makes me want to spend the day sipping coffee and baking. I may not have all day to lounge around–bad weather or not, deadlines loom–but I am going to make a batch of some of my favorite salty oat cookies.

My sister-in-law first introduced me to these wonderful concoctions, which, with their perfect ratio of sweet-to-salty, are sheer joy for the palate.

The recipe below is adapted from my S-I-L’s recipe and a few that I found online. Unless you’re on a low sodium diet, don’t be worried about their salt content–use unsalted butter and sea salt for the topping and these are actually very reasonable. (That is, of course, if you can limit yourself to just a few).


Salty Oat Cookies

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 tablespoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 cups oats (I prefer non-instant)
2/3 cup raisins
Crushed sea salt

Preheat the oven to 375º.
Whip the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar together. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until you have a smooth mixture.

In a separate bowl, combine the baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and flour. Add this to the butter mixture above and stir or blend using a hand blender well.

Add the oats and raisins. Stir until well-combined.

Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes.

Place heaping spoonfuls of the dough on cookie sheets, about 1-2 inches apart.

Then, sprinkle the cookies with well-crushed sea salt or a bit of kosher table salt. You should be able to see the salt, the same way you would if you sprinkled sugar on top.

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes (the cookies will look golden brown when done), then transfer to a rack or plate to cool before eating. Enjoy!

–Camille