The Three Musketeers: Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies are by far my favorite cookies.  Since Josh has gone gluten-free, we haven't enjoyed cookies because I haven't really figured out how to make any that weren't hard as rocks, flat as pancakes, or bland as crackers.  Enter the Gluten Free Goddess' website and a renewed encouragement in testing recipes.  Also, I have done some more experimentation with gluten-free flour substitutes, and I found a few combinations that I enjoy.  

The original recipe is Nestle's.  I attached it below, but you can check it out at their VeryBestBaking website.

Choc-Oat-Chip Cookies 
Estimated Times: Preparation - 15 min | Cooking - 10 min | Cooling Time - 1 min cooling | Yields - 48 cookies (4 dozen) 

Have a glass of milk with this favorite snack treat.

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
• 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups quick or old-fashioned oats
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• 1 cup coarsely chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat brown sugar, butter and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs, milk and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in oats, morsels and nuts; mix well. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 10 minutes for chewy cookies or 12 to 13 minutes for crispy cookies. Cool on baking sheets for 1 minute; remove to wire racks to cool completely. 

I decided to make the cookies for the tailgating party that Christian Challenge was putting on at CSU for this weekend's football game. I didn't want to leave Joshua out of the cookie pleasure!  So I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Baking Mix in a 1 for 1 exchange with the flour called for in the recipe.  

In order to ensure that I exactly prepared the recipes, I doubled the recipe and then split the wet ingredients before I added the flours in separate bowls. I also put bittersweet chocolate (Ghirardelli brand) in the gluten free mix and a mixture of white and milk chocolate chips (organic chips from Vitamin Cottage) in the regular cookies.  That was more out of necessity; I ran out of chocolate chips.  I used my trusty stand mixer to mix the ingredients, which really makes work fast.  

The gluten free cookies didn't spread as much as the regular cookies.  But the color was nicely dark but not burnt. They were also tender and moist, and they were firm enough to be dunked. I ran out of cookie dough and also baked a package of Betty Crocker oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  I photographed all of these cookies to show you the differences.  We'll see which ones the guests like more!