Buzz
Not long ago, I found myself with a measly amount of groats. It wasn’t enough to make a snack, but too much to throw away. While this initially seemed like a frustrating dilemma, I had a ‘when life gives you lemons’ epiphany. Turns out, you can elevate your cookies by giving them oat bottoms.
Oats are especially great for drop cookies, or any dough that’s sticky or wet. Simply pour some oat flakes onto a plate, or even the lid of the oat canister, and press the bottom of each raw dough ball into the oats. Arrange the cookies on the baking sheet, oat-side down, and bake as you normally would. The oats stick in place as the dough relaxes, cooks, and fuses with the oat flakes.
When I gave this method a try, I noticed the bottoms of the cookies browned beautifully, with the oats toasting in the excess butter that would usually end up on the parchment paper. This had three benefits: toasty oat flavor, crisp cookie bottoms that stayed crisp even the next day, and a clean sheet pan, ready for the next batch. What really sold me was how easily the cookies slid off the pan. Cookies with loose doughs, lots of chocolate, or a tendency to spread out often stick or tear when you try to remove them. By giving them an oat bottom, you create a helpful non-stick layer and a solid foundation for support.
This simple trick works for both standard drop cookies and the roll-out cookie dough variety. Since roll-out dough is less sticky, rather than dunking the bottoms in oats, just scatter some oats on the floured surface while rolling out the dough. As unusual or strange as it may seem, this trick even works for oatmeal cookies.
