Crispy Oat Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 big pinch nutmeg
• 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at softened room temperature
• 1 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. 1

   Arrange oven rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 325°F.

2. 2

   Add oats to a food processor and pulse until halfway broken up. There should still be a lot of noticeable oat flake pieces.

3. 3

   Transfer pulsed oats to a medium bowl. Add flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk to combine.

4. 4

   With a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a powerful hand mixer, cream butter and brown sugar on high speed until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute, scraping down bowl halfway through.

5. 5

   Add dry oat/flour mixture to creamed butter/sugar mixture and beat on low speed until just combined. Scrape down bowl. Add water and vanilla, then mix until just combined and the mixture clumps into a dough.

6. 6

   Scoop 1 tablespoon of dough and roll into balls; they should be about 1" in diameter. Arrange dough balls on bare baking sheet, about 2-3" apart. You should be able to fit 12 dough balls on a 13" x 18" baking sheet.

7. 7

   Press tines of a long-tined fork into dough ball to flatten into a 2"-diameter, roughly-formed circle. The tines will form distinct ridges in the top of the dough. If fork is sticking to the dough, dip tines into a glass of water and shake off excess water well; repeat this after each press.

8. 8

   Bake for about 18 minutes, or until browned and toasty-smelling. Remove from oven and let rest/set for 1 minute before transferring cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. It's helpful to have a very thin metal spatula for this.