Kenan Cookies or (Super Scrumptious Oatmeal Gems)

White out conditions in Connecticut during winter storm Kenan

The weekend of January 29th I was fixated on the blizzard that was battering the East Coast, concerned that my sister was safe in her country house in rural Colebrook CT, where she spends weekends. Through texts she reported that she had been out shoveling twice already and making only slight headway; she told me that the roads aren't plowed until the storm has cleared. To keep warm and busy she decided to make oatmeal cookies, but couldn't find the excellent recipe I had sent her months ago. This required more messages back and forth.

Clear skies and plowed streets in Colebrook, Connecticut      

By Monday, when the skies were blue and the roads were plowed, she volunteered to write a guest post about her experience during the winter storm named Kenan.  Here's another of Lucia's guest posts from the East Coast:

                                                             〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰〰

"When the wind is whipping around and the temperature is frigid, there is nothing nicer than a warm kitchen. Turning on the oven makes my kitchen toasty, but in order to justify it, baking is requisite! That was the story of last Saturday with Winter Storm Kenan in full force on the east coast.

I baked what Taya and I have renamed Super Scrumptious Oatmeal Gems, from a note scribbled on the original and highly annotated, handwritten recipe card. We both love authentic recipes handed down with love."

Here's the original handwritten card. The recipe is printed at end of post

"In my Kenan version, the cookies became a kind of compost confection: I added chopped dates that were languishing in the back of the pantry; they were a little dry, so I soaked them in the last of the Christmas brandy, chopped and added them. The recipe calls for coconut, but I'm not a fan, so chopped nuts, dates, and the end of a box of raisins substituted.

The warm oven belongs to my vintage Chambers stove, Model C, circa 1948  (pictured below). Designed and built for a much more cost-conscious time, its heavy frame holds Rockwool insulation and retains heat after it is turned off. One of its claims to fame was that it continued to cook food even after the gas was extinguished. The extra-heavy iron oven floor ensures even distribution of radiant heat. Baked goods turn out superb!"

Chambers Stove  c. 1948 in my Connecticut kitchen

          Here's the recipe for super scrumptious Oatmeal Gems

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup (125 grams) light brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup sugar (scant)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 3/4 cup raisins 
• 1/2 cup coconut (optional)
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped ( or more to taste)

Set oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown and white sugars, eggs and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, bakings soda, baking powder and salt. Stir the dry ingredients into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the oats, walnuts and coconut, if using.

Drop by large teaspoons onto a nonstick baking sheet and bake 10 to 15 minutes. Do not brown too much. Place on racks and store when cool.

Here's a tin of freshly baked oatmeal gems

Maida Heatter's Key Largo Oatmeal Cookies--with Potato Chips

My faded 1977 copy of her first book

My expert hairstylist Maria, who is also a talented baker, mentioned  Maida Heatter's Key Largo oatmeal cookies last week. We then launched into a conversation about her recent death at 102 years old, and this kooky recipe with a secret ingredient. I've baked many oatmeal cookies in my life but never one with potato chips. I had to have the recipe. I hoped that it would be in Maida Heatter's Book of Great Cookies, which I own.        

My small collection of her many cookbooks

I went home and checked all of my Maida Heatter cookbooks for the recipe and came up empty. Then I went online and tried to locate Key Largo oatmeal cookies. I found nothing linking Ms Heatter to Key Largo cookies. The only recipe I found for these cookies was from a website called The Family Cookbook Project which listed Nancy Watson as the contributor. No mention of Maida Heatter.  Here's the reference:

Key Largo Oatmeal Cookies Recipe

  Tried it? Rate this Recipe: 

  

 

This recipe for Key Largo Oatmeal Cookies, by Nancy Watson, is from The McCormick Family Cookbook, one of the cookbooks created at FamilyCookbookProject.com. We'll help you start your own personal cookbook! It's easy and fun.  Click here to start your own cookbook

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I started to wonder if the  the Key Largo cookie was actually a Maida Heatter original. I suspected it was, since she lived had lived in Florida her entire baking career, so I kept searching and finally found the  attribution in a website I have come across before called  Eat Your Books. It's a frustrating site because, though it highlights the recipe you're looking for and includes all the publication details, it only gives the ingredients but doesn't include the directions. I personally am not confident enough to waste time and money on a recipe lacking such important information. At least I did confirm that the recipe is included in Maida Heatter's Brand-New Book of Great cookies which is one of many of hers that I don't own.  

Now I had the full recipe from The Cookbook Project and I knew it was included in a Maida Heatter book. All that was left was to buy a bag of potato chips and start baking. I soon made a batch and declared them winners. They are now included in my bulging file of favorite oatmeal cookies. As Maida said "Baking cookies is a great escape. It's fun. It's happiness. It's creative. It's good for your health. It reduces stress"

Key Largo Oatmeal Cookies (reprinted from The Cookbook Project)

4 oz salted potato chips
6 oz (1 1/2 C) walnuts
2 C sifted unbleached flour
1 tsp baking soda
8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 packed C light brown sugar
2 eggs graded large
2 C old-fashioned (not instant) oatmeal
10 oz (2 c) dried pitted sour cherries (raisins or cranberries could be substituted. Or a combination of all or any two. I use only the cherries.)

 

Adjust two racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat oven to 350º. Line cookie sheets with baking parchment or aluminum foil, shiny side up and set aside. Place the potato chips in a plastic or paper bag and squeeze the bag a few times with both hands to break the pieces just a bit. They should be coarse, not fine. They should measure 2 packed cups, set aside. Break the walnuts into large pieces. Set aside. Sift together the flour and baking soda. Set aside. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft.. Add the vanilla and sugar and beat until mixed. Add the eggs and beat to mix. The add the sifted dry ingredients and beat on low speed only until incorporated. Add the oatmeal and beat to mix. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Transfer the dough to a larger bowl (if you don't have one, you can do this in the same bowl, just not as easily.) With a heavy wooden spatula stir in the cherries and nuts. Finally, stir in the potato chips. The chips should still be visible. This takes a strong arm and some heavy stirring.   Each cookie should be made of 1/4 C dough. You can use two spoons and guess at the amount, a 1/4 C measuring cup or (this is best), or a small ice cream scoop (the scoop that measures 2 inches in diameter is the right size). Place a large piece of aluminum foil next to the sink and place the mounds any which way on the foil. Then wet your hands under cold water, shake them off, but do not dry them and with your damp hands roll a mound of dough into a ball, flatten it to about a 3/4 in. thickness and place it on a lined baking sheet. Continue to shape the cookies and place them 2 in. apart (no more than 6 on a 12 by 15 1/2 in. sheet. Keep your hands damp as necessary. Bake two sheets at a time for 18 to 20 minutes, reversing the sheets top to bottom and front to back twice during baking. (If you leave one sheet on the lower rack for too long, those cookies might become too dark on the bottoms). When done, the cookies should be lightly browned all over. Do not over bake. If you bake one sheet alone, bake it on the higher of the two racks and reverse it front to back once or twice during baking. When you bake one sheet alone, the cookies will bake in less time. Let them cool briefly, then with a wide metal spatula transfer them to racks to cool.   These can be stored in an airtight box or they can be wrapped two together (bottoms together) in clear cellophane, wax paper or aluminum foil. (Always store these two together, bottoms together).