Welcome to our series sharing Food Holidays: April 30th. Finally I have made it to May. Thank the Lord. In the meantime take a look at the Holidays and let me know which one you most would like to celebrate and why.
National Oatmeal Cookie Day
A lot of people consider Oatmeal Cookies to be one of the healthiest cookies of all the cookies. Especially the classic Oatmeal Cookie which offers sustenance to a hungry clan.
Addressing the vital needs of a sweet tooth. Oatmeal Cookies can be crispy or chewy. They can be glazed or fruity. Oatmeal Cookies can be enjoyed with a glass of milk. Oatmeal cookies are versatile. As well as fun to make and eat.
Oatmeal Cookie Day is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the delicious cookie made with yummy Oats. With out without Raisins, glaze or Fruits. For me I just want a plain Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cookie or a light Glaze on it. Charlie is just like me. David doesn’t care and would even eat a Oatmeal Raisin Cookie and ask for more.
For our #HomeschoolCookingClass Charlie is going to invite friends over to bake and decorate Oatmeal Cookie this afternoon. Would you like to join us?
History Oatmeal Cookie Day
To understand the history of Oatmeal Cookie Day, its helpful to have a better understanding of the origins of the Oatmeal Cookies. Along with the Oats themselves. Prior to the Oatmeal Cookie, there was a Oatcake, and prior to the oatcake was simply Oatmeal.
First cultivated thousands of years ago and eaten as a type of Porridge, Oats are a cereal grain that grows in temperate regions. Oats are the oldest cereal grain that has been cultivated by humans. Oats are filled with fiber and essential nutrients. Oats are useful to people who have allergies to other grains, such as wheat or corn.
Popular in Scotland since at least the Roman times, traditional Scottish Oatcakes have been relied on to deliver quick boosts of energy since the middle ages. Have you ever had a Oatcake? No, one in my family has had one or even knew about them until now.
The story goes Soldiers would carry Oatcakes with them during wartime as a snack for battle that would last. Oatcakes have been described as “little pancakes rather like communion wafers”.
Although they may have been an ancestor, Oatcakes were much crispier and less sweet than the Oatmeal Cookies most people think of today. While recipes today are far more tasty, Oatmeal Cookies are still trusted to supply a healthy dose of fiber and iron to the hungry snacker. Oatmeal is now dressed with the finest of Fruits, Nuts, Candies and Spices.
There are rumors that the first versions of Oatmeal Cookies originated in England. The creator of the first Oatmeal Cookie, or at least the first person who published a recipe for it, seems to have been Fannie Merrit Farmer in 1896 in the United States.
Farmer was the principal of the Boston Cooking School and her original recipe, appeared in the Boston Cooking School Cookbook. The cookies used milk and cream, which are not common ingredients for Oatmeal Cookies today.
This original Oatmeal Cookie recipe did not actually contain Raisins. Although, the cookies have developed over time and it wasn’t long before sweet raisins (standard or golden) became a common ingredient. In fact, in the early 1900s, Quaker Oats featured an Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe on every box.
Oatmeal Cookie Day is a fitting tribute to the taste and versatility of oats and a tasty reason to celebrate!
How to Celebrate Oatmeal Cookie Day
You can celebrate Oatmeal Cookie Day by having freshly baked cookies. Don’t forget this day is also an great time to share these Cookies with friends and family as well as neighbors and coworkers.
Consider these ideas for celebrating Oatmeal Cookie Day:
Bake Some Oatmeal Cookies which Charlie will be doing this afternoon in our #HomeschoolCookingClass
I would like to remind you Oatmeal Cookie Day can be trusted to flood the internet with ideas for baking enthusiasts on how to serve up Oatmeal Cookies.
When your picking up groceries this week make sure you have Oats, butter, flour, eggs, and sugar (both brown sugar and white sugar) which are the main ingredients in Oatmeal Cookies. With a few other spices including Vanilla Extract, Baking Soda, Cinnamon, and Salt.
Whether aiming for a basic Oatmeal Cookie with Raisins or getting creative with other ingredients like Butterscotch Chips or Nuts. Baking Oatmeal Cookies at home is easy enough for the whole family to join in.
As your preparing the mix for your Oatmeal Cookies don’t forget to bake a double batch then you will have enough Cookies to pass around to neighbors, coworkers or other friends.
Get Creative With How Oatmeal Cookies are Baked
For an easier option than rolling out the Cookies into small balls and baking them individually, try an alternative of making cookie cups by dropping a portion into the bottom of a muffin tin.Then for a delicious addition, cookie cups can be iced with cream cheese.
For those who are really looking for a time-saver, place the entirety of the cookie dough recipe in a rectangular cake pan. Then bake the cookies into bars that are easy to cut and serve. These cookies have a consistency that is more like brownies but just as yummy!
Another fun option is placing the Oatmeal Cookie Dough in a flattened round (on parchment paper) in the middle of a cookie sheet. The you bake the cookies as usual. Once they are done you will cut the cookies to look like a pie slice.
Share Oatmeal Cookies
Whether baking Oatmeal Cookies at home or purchasing from a bakery, Oatmeal Cookie Day can be best celebrated by sharing with friends, and family. Even if it’s simply buying a package of Little Debbie Oatmeal Pies and passing them around. Sounds like its time for me to go to the grocery store. How about you?
Don’t forget when your baking cookies to bake enough to say thank-you to the postman. Or to provide a treat for the kids’ teachers. Charlie and I will be taking Cookies to our Local Animal Shelter.
Spreading cheer with the simple act of giving away a few Oatmeal Cookies is a great way to make the world a better place and it’s a simple and easy gesture people of all ages can take part in.
Host an Oatmeal Cookie Day Baking Contest
Coordinate with your children friends or your neighbors or even your family tto have an Oatmeal Cookie Baking Contest. Have participants bake up their favorite recipe.
Then have a contest with judges to see which cookie is the favorite. Use the leftover cookies to create a delicious cookie buffet. This could be a great way to earn a bit of money for charity by auctioning off the cookies or having people buy them, bake sale style.
Make a New Twist on a Classic Cookie
Substitute dried Cranberries or dried Strawberries for Raisins, ors using these unique ingredients to impress friends:
- Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- Coconut Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
- Molten Lava Caramel Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Oatmeal Cookies !
When it comes to Raisins, there are two groups of people: those that love them and those that believe they ruin a perfectly good food. Which is me and Charlie.
Whether you find these Fruits irresistible, or believe they should have stayed out in the sun where people found them, it’s hard to deny the impact these sweet snacks have had on history, pop culture, and cuisine.
Raisins show up throughout history and literature as a healthy, transportable snack for everyone from the Egyptians and Christopher Columbus and George Washington.
And of course, those little red raisin boxes are a classic symbol of childhood.
Five Facts About Raisins
- In 1873, a freak hot spell withered the grapes on the vine. One enterprising San Francisco grocer advertised these shriveled Grapes as “Peruvian Delicacies” and the rest is history.
- It takes more than 4 tons of grapes to produce 1 ton of Raisins.
- The finest raisins come from Malaga in Spain.
- Raisin – comes from the Latin racemus and means “a cluster of Grapes or Berries”.
- Fresno, California is the Raisin Capital of the World.
Recipe for Oatmeal Cookies:
24 Original recipe yields 24 servings
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3 cups quick cooking oats
Instructions
- Step 1 In a medium bowl, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.
- Step 2 Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll the dough into walnut sized balls, and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Flatten each cookie with a large fork dipped in sugar.
- Step 3 Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David cates
