Ogre Cookies (Combo Smitten Kitten and Jill Saunders)

Why Ogre Cookies?

They have layers.

I am starting to be a bit adventuresome with online recipes, and I add or subtract things to see what happens.

I also combine recipes sometimes, and that is what happened here.

I was craving a soft cookie that had a couple of different flavors, and a bit of chocolate. I found Brownie Roll-out Cookies by Smitten Kitchen and The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies by Jill Saunders, and I decided to put them together to make something a little like both.

I made the dough separately, and it looks like there is a lot more vanilla sugar cookies than chocolate (if you follow this to the letter).

So, I made the Brownie ones first (and with only a few minor changes):

Choco Layer

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup margarine, softened
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

Don't preheat the oven, because this is going to have to chill for at least an hour. Soften the butter by nuking it for a short time (like 15 seconds).

1. Whisk flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl.
2. Mix butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and cocoa in a different bowl. Use a mixer instead of a spoon, or you'll get the same stupid chunks in your dough that I did. That cocoa is insidious stuff that likes to create balls of powder in otherwise nice dough.
3. Mix the dry stuff into the wet stuff slowly. I used my hands to really mix it up, and then I wrapped the dough in plastic wrap and shoved it in the fridge.

Vanilla Layer

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup margarine, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt

Don't preheat the oven, because you will have to chill this for an hour. Soften the butter by nuking it for a short time (like 15 seconds).

1. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together.
2. Mix butter and sugar together in a different bowl. 
3. Add eggs and vanilla to butter/sugar bowl, and mix together.
4. Stir the dry stuff into the wet stuff, slowly.
5. Mix with your hands, until the dough looks pretty good. Then wrap it in plastic and stick it in the fridge for at least an hour.

Chocolate and Vanilla Ogre Finger Sugar Cookies (Not exactly catchy, is it?)

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Grab about a third of the vanilla dough, and roll it out between wax paper.
• Grab a similar amount of  chocolate dough, and roll it out between wax paper.
• Remove the top pieces of waxed paper on both flattened pieces of dough, and then carefully lay the choco layer on top of the vanilla one.
• Remove the wax paper on the choco layer completely.
• Roll the dough into a long cylinder
• Cut the cylinder into 1/4 inch cookies. (I smooshed mine, so that they became long finger cookies.)
• Place them on cookie sheets that are lined with parchment paper. (I'm a huge believer in parchment paper. It makes clean up SO nice!)
• Cook for about 12-14 minutes. Check at the 12 minute mark by sticking them in the center with a toothpick. If you pull it out and it looks like the toothpick isn't wet, and there isn't dough sticking to it...it is done!

This makes a boatload of cookies, and leaves you with a bit of leftover vanilla dough.

The Verdict:

This was a bunch of stuff to go through, and it left me feeling sort of "meh". My daughter felt the same way about them. The two men in the house devoured them hungrily, and raved about enjoying them. These are GREAT cookies to be served with coffee. I've had requests to make them again.

Layers...like an onion.

These are long finger cookies, and that is totally on purpose. It has nothing to do with smooshing the dough when I was trying to cut it into circles. Nope. I'm sure that wasn't the case. *cough*

Modular Oatmeal Cookies Recipe

I tinker with stuff, as that is how I learn.

So, I started off looking at the Thick, Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Recipe by Deb at Smitten Kitchen. I liked her style, as she basically wanted to take the Quaker's Best Oatmeal Cookies by Quaker Oats recipe and make it her own.

I love oatmeal cookies, and I like them chewy. I do not like raisins in them though, and I like them sweeter.

I have come up with a modular recipe that I have adapted into several kinds of oatmeal cookies now.

Basic Modular Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) margarine
1/2 stick butter (softened in the microwave for about 15 seconds)
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups Quaker Oats (or similar)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In one bowl mix butter, margarine, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla.
(If you are making Module One, add syrup. If you are misguided and making the horrid Module Three, make adjustments to vanilla and add extract.)

Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in another bowl.
(If you are making Module Three, just stop and think about how much you have to live for and how good other things are to eat. If that hasn't convinced you to stop and re-evaluate your life, keep going and make adjustments to cinnamon.)

Combine these bowls and mix them. Add oats and mix. (If you are making Module One or the amazing Module Two, add the nuts or white chocolate chips now and fold them in.)

Bake at 350 on cookie sheets with parchment paper. Check at 9 minutes. Take out around 10.5 minutes. Let the cookies sit for 5 minutes on the warm sheet, and then remove to cooling rack.

Module One plus Module Four

Module One: White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Oatmeal Cookies (with additional Module Four Icing)

1/3 cup crushed raw macadamia nuts

A "splash" of Torani White Chocolate Syrup (or similar). I hear that the sauce is better than the syrup, but I had some around and that is what I used.

These are fairly yummy. I recommend the nuts. I am on the fence about using Torani syrup.

Add icing, or not.

These are the stuff! Make Module Two!

Module Two: White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Up to 2 cups of White Chocolate Chips

These are my favorite cookies, hands down!

Module Three: Image Too Horrid to Share
(This is my sense of humor showing, so if it bothers you...jump ship now!)

Module Three: White Chocolate Rum Oatmeal Cookies

Go with the 1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract and 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon options.
Add about 1/4 teaspoon of rum extract.

I found these to be horrid. My ex husband described them like this, "These have some kind of strange taste in them."

 Module Four: You Can Totally Do Better Than This Icing (Cinnamon and Huckleberry Edition)

 

Powdered Sugar
Milk
Salt

You pick about how much powdered sugar you think you'll need, then add milk until it turns into something that will be a glaze. Add a touch of salt. Add Cinnamon or Torani Huckleberry Syrup.

Drizzle this over oatmeal cookies and wait for glaze to set up.

Verdict:

Make Module Two, or riff off of the Basic recipe and make something a heck of a lot better. The White Chocolate Oatmeal cookies are AMAZING.

~ Patty :)