Oatmeal Cookies & My Intrigue with Martha Stewart’s Cookbooks

I just make the best oatmeal cookies. The cookies are full of flavorful oatmeal, chocolate morsels and raisins. Be careful, they are addictive. I owe a big thanks to Martha Stewart for the recipe inspiration. In February, CNN aired television specials on the career of Martha Stewart. To get into the spirit of the show, I dug up my two original Martha Stewart cookbooks from the 1980s and several vintage issues of her magazine, Martha Stewart Living. One of the magazines flipped opened up to giant oatmeal cookies. Only Martha Stewart would make these cookies, I mused. And, that sums up Martha Stewart to me. No one but Martha would — or could — make huge oatmeal cookies and then put them back in the oatmeal container which was decorated as a gift box.

Oatmeal Cookie Twist using Steel Cut Oats

After I had written this blog post, I realized that I had posted several other Oatmeal Cookie recipes using old-fashioned oats which are similar to Martha Stewart’s recipe. So, I made the recipe again with a twist and a baked second batch using steel cut oats. Wow! These cookies are great. Soft, yet chewy and still full of flavor.

The Fascinating Case of Martha Stewart’s Cookbooks

In February, CNN broadcast a special television series on the life of Martha Stewart. The first episode dealt with her early career. I watched it with fascination and discovered that there was alot I didn’t know about this celebrity entrepreneur. I have to admit that I totally missed the Martha Stewart “craze” happening in K-Mart stores in the late 1980s and 1990s as she attempted to “elevate” the public’s knowledge of fine furnishings, cookware, etc.

However, a catering friend extensively used Martha Stewart’s first cookbook, Entertaining, in planning her catering events. I figured that if the cookbook was good enough for my friend’s catering business, then I should have the book, too.

This cookbook was different from anything that I had ever seen. Rather than featuring one recipe and photo per page, the book was organized by catering events. Each chapter featured a catered event with multiple dishes photographed in one spread. The recipes were scattered throughout the book. You got the “big picture” of what the party, wedding, dinner or catered event was supposed to look like.

I was enamoured with the glossy pages, beautiful and creative color photo spreads of the foods detailing these elaborate catered events. The foods were cut into interesting shapes, placed in unique containers. There was a open spatial aspect to the photos which is hard to describe. And, my goodness, what kind of a kitchen, garden and backyard did Martha Stewart have? Did she do all this herself? Where did she come up with all these recipe ideas and where did all these catered events occur?

The first edition of Entertaining, published in 1982, is still available on internet sources in case you are interested. I found a copies for sale on eBay and other used book sites for $135.00 and up. The book has has definately held its value!

My second Martha Stewart cookbook, Martha Stewart’s Quick Cook Menus, which was published in 1988, featured a similar concept as Entertaining. The book detailed 52 dinners for the seasons of the year which you could prepare in less than an hour. (Of course, it might take several days to scour around and find all the unique ingredients!) Each photo contained all the dishes which were included in that dinner. Again, the creativity, striking photos and glossy pages caught my attention.

The first CNN television special answered many of my lingering questions about these cookbooks. I learned that Martha Stewart was able to pull off these elaborate catered events because she had a small army of folks working for her in the kitchen. On the televison special, we were introduced to some of the ladies of the catering staff who prepared all these wonderful foods at Martha’s Connecticut home. We met, Elizabeth Hawes, the lady who co-wrote the book and we watched interviews with Martha’s amazing food photographer, Michael Skott. And, I learned that Martha Stewart even had her own backyard orchard with over 100 apple trees. Now, that’s just crazy.

Especially poignant was the story of one lady who answered a small ad in a local paper. She came every scheduled day to Martha’s home, was given her kitchen assignments and then pre-prepped or did her part to prepare the foods for these catered events. She also supplied recipes including this one for an almond torte crust shown here. Hum, so Martha borrowed some of these recipes.

I got out my Martha Stewart cookbooks just to prove to my husband that I really had the ones being discussed on the television show. During the CNN special, flashbacks appeared with actual videos of some of these catered food spreads and events shown in the cookbooks. I was able to open my own copy of the Entertaining, look at a photo, and see the room where the photos were taken. How sureal. It was like stepping back in time into the cookbook and being in attendance at the catered party.

When I travel, I often will seek out and purchase Martha Stewart’s magazine, Martha Stewart Living. Like her cookbooks, these magazines include a wealth of novel craft ideas and recipes. Some of the crafts (and recipes) are a little far fetched, but it makes for good reading on an airplane. Who can dream up these things? Fourteen types of bagels. My goodness. The creativitity of Martha Stewart seems endless.

I browsed through several of my vintage Martha Stewart Living magazines while watcinng the television show. And that’s where I found the recipe for “Oatmeal Cookies.” As you can see, I have plenty of stickers on one of these magazines. Lots of good recipe ideas.

These huge cookies looked so tempting, so perfect. Who could resist them. I had to bake them.

Oatmeal Cookie Recipe with a new twist

Chewy or soft? How do you like your oatmeal cookies? Changing just one ingredient made an entirely different type of oatmeal cookie. I decided to modify this recipe up by using steel cut oats in the cookies. The cookies went from crisp and chewy to a soft, oatmeal cookie. Both cookies are delicious.

What is the different between these two types of oatmeal? Old-fashioned oatmeal are oats which have been rolled during processing. Quick-cooking oatmeal is just rolled thinner. Steel cut oats are — as the name implies — cut rather than rolled. Cutting the oats brings out the nutty flavor of the oatmeal. A great plus when making cookies. Quick-cooking steel cut oats are cut into smaller pieces than regular steel cut oats.

Here are the ingredients for the “Oatmeal Cookies” recipe using old-fashioned oatmeal. I used Martha Stewart’s recipe as an inspiration, but it is my own recipe.

This recipe calls for old-fashioned oatmeal — not quick cooking oatmeal. It gives the cookies crunch and flavor. Raisins give “pop” to these cookies. Please, I am learning to like raisins in cookies so lets include them. For chocolate chips, I chopped up Hershey’s Special Dark, Mildy Sweet Chocolate Bars to make uneven sized bits. Semi-sweet chocolate chips or morsels also can be used.

I mix up this recipe like many of my other cookie and cake recipes — using an electric mixer. The process of beating the softened butter and sugar (both light brown and granulated sugar) together — along with an egg, vanilla extract — just helps make an airy, creamy and smooth batter. Let’s get it right! After the liquids are creamed, add the flour mixture — flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt (not shown); mixing just enough to incorporate it. Then slowly and gently mix in the oatmeal, raisins and chocolate bits.

Scoop out generous spoonfuls of batter (about the size of walnuts). Roll each into a circle with your hands and then flatten out slightly with the bottom of a flat glass (dipped in water to prevent sticking). Space onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake these in a 350 degree oven — just until the cookies begin to brown, for 12 minutes in my oven.

Yum! Let the cookies cool for about 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then loosen and transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

If you are really in “Martha Stewart mode,” then pour out the rest of the oatmeal from the box. Decorate the oatmeal box for a gift container and load it up with the baked cookies. I’m not sure what you do with the rest of the oatmeal! Just figure it out.

Making Oatmeal Cookies with Steel Cut Oats

The recipe for oatmeal cookies made with steel oats includes the same ingredients (other than the oatmeal). I made these cookies larger — to emulate “Martha Stewart’s” idea of “giant” cookies. Since they have just a little less steel-cut oats in the recipe, the dough is softer and sticky. Scoop the batter out using two spoons out rather than trying to roll them into balls with your hands. And I used heaping spoonfuls of batter to achieve the giant cookies. These cookies spread out while baking, don’t crowd them on the baking pans!

Martha Stewart’s Creative Energy and Special Cookbooks

I turned off the CNN special television show as Martha Stewart headed off to prison. Anyway, it appears that this celebrity entrepreneur rebounded from that six-month experience and is going strong. I do marvel at the creative spirit and tireless energy of Martha Stewart. And, I have a special place on my bookshelf for those first two cookbooks.

The combination of oatmeal (either old-fashioned or steel cut), raisins and dark, sweet chocolate really give these cookies lots of flavor. A great cookie! Thanks, Martha, for the idea. Enjoy!