I’m no expert at cracking secret recipes. And those secrets are out there…the surprising ingredient, the unusual method. When someone comes up with something uniquely delicious, it becomes “the thing”. The thing that makes you drive across town to pay $2 for a cookie because you can’t get it any other way. Teaism’s Salty Oat Cookie in Washington, DC is one of those things and this cookie has a loyal following.
So when I ran across a recipe online that claimed to be that cookie recreated (or very similar), I decided to give it a try.
What happened?
NOT the Teasim Salty Oat Cookie
from DCist
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, cold
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/4 all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup rice flour
- 2 cups rolled organic oats
- 1/2 cup raisins (I like golden raisins)
Start off with cold butter sliced into small pieces and whipped in your mixer for a minute or so. Because it’s cold it will stick a bit, but don’t fret — scrape and mix (this is an odd way to start a drop cookie, but I went with it). Next, add both sugars the baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. (Again, odd to add leavener and spice directly to the butter and sugar instead of with the flour, but sometimes method is key.)
Combine at a medium speed till the mixture has a crumbly texture. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix again until combined.
In a separate bowl, combine the two flours then, with the mixer on a low speed, incorporate the flour mixture into the butter and sugar. Don’t overmix at this point or your cookies will get tough.
Gently fold in the oats and raisins. Chill the dough for an hour before dropping by the heaping tablespoon onto baking sheet lined with parchment. Lightly sprinkle with kosher salt (you will add a little more salt later, so go easy). Bake on the second rack from the top at 375 for 12-15 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. The cookie should still be soft to the touch so carefully transfer them still on the parchment to a cooling rack. While the cookies are hot, sprinkle with just a little more kosher salt (use your judgement).
Soooo…
Did it taste like the Teaism Salty Oat Cookie?
Absolutely not. Not even close. It was far more buttery and moist and far less thick and dense as the famed Salty Oat. Don’t get me wrong. This is an excellent Oatmeal Cookie recipe. Crispy, chewy, flavorful with strong emphasis on the oats. In fact, I see myself making this again because my husband is a big fan of the oat cookie genre and this is a very tasty recipe, but it isn’t THE cookie. So I don’t feel like I’m done with this project yet. Clearly, more research is needed.