Secrets of a Hostess, or Making cookies in a snap

Warm baked cookies! I think if there is anything that is universally appealing, it is that. So the quest is to find a recipe that can be whipped up at a moments notice, and easily stored for future impromptu visitors.

On a recent morning, I found myself in a quandary where I had 30 minutes to pull ingredients cold from the fridge to showtime.  The recipe that saved the day, Oatmeal Raisin cookies from Gourmet magazine (1999) is below. Resident raisin connoisseurs have raved these are the best ever.

The key to successful baking of cookies is two fold, room temperature ingredients (like eggs and butter), and mise en place (everything in its place).

The first thing to do (after turning on that oven) when you are in a rush, is to get those cold proteins and fats to a state where they will incorporate into the dough properly (i.e., not cold!). Eggs placed in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes takes the chill off. Trickier is the butter - I place the butter (still in the paper wrapper) in the microwave for 8-10 second bursts at 70% (or less) power, turning over to evenly warm. It is important not to melt the butter, so if the butter stick already has some give that's enough. Ideally, a butter temperature of 67F is ideal, but who is measuring when you have 28 minutes to go?

Even if you don't have those nifty bowls with everything pre-measured before you start, it is a good idea to read the recipe through beforehand, and layout all the ingredient before you, grouping 'drys' and 'wets' together. This way, everything is at hands reach when you need it, and there is no scrambling when the clock is ticking.

Oatmeal Raisin cookies (in a snap)

1 3/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla


Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease baking sheets.
Stir together oats, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Beat together butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and beat until combined well. Add oat mixture and beat until just combined.
Drop dough by heaping tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets and flatten mounds slightly with moistened fingers. Bake cookies in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until golden, about 12 minutes total. Transfer to racks to cool.

Hostess tip: If you only want to bake a portion of this recipe, measure out remaining dough onto a cookie sheet and pop into the freezer. Once the delicious nuggets are frozen, you are a freezer bag away from instant fame as a hostess with the most-est!