In the fortunate position I hold as a chef instructor in The School of Culinary Arts at Kendall College, I sometimes marvel at how privileged I am to be in the company of such an august and diverse group of culinary colleagues. Indeed, the wealth of knowledge and experience I can tap into from a group of over 30 experts is nothing short of cornucopian, and I am doubly delighted when I have the opportunity to sample some of their wonderful signature specialties.
One such specialty, from the repertoire of Chef Renee Zonka, our esteemed associate dean and resident nutritionist, is this recipe for scrumptious, melt-in-your-mouth oatmeal & chocolate chip bar cookies that have captivated our students and faculty alike.
Pastry flour, as called for in this recipe, is a fine-textured, high-starch, soft wheat flour with slightly higher gluten content than cake flour-but lower gluten than all-purpose flour. This makes it particularly good for producing “tender” cookies, pastries, pie crusts and biscuits. Available at specialty stores such as the Home Economist and Whole Foods Market, pastry flour can be difficult to find at some supermarkets, in which case you can mix a perfectly suitable substitute by combining 1 cup of cake flour with 2 cups of all-purpose flour.
Here is Chef Zonka’s recipe for this delicious, nutritious treat.
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Bar Cookies
Yield: 18 bars
8 ounces pastry flour*
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground 8 ounces unsalted butter, softened 8 ounces brown sugar
4 ounces granulated sugar 2 eggs
3 tablespoons buttermilk ½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla extract 8 ounces rolled oats
1½ cups chocolate chunks ½ cup walnuts, chopped
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Grease a 9x13x2-inch baking pan and dust it with flour.
Turn the pan over and tap it gently to remove any excess flour.
Sift together the pastry flour, baking soda and cinnamon. Set it aside.
In an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy (or do it by hand-the way grandma would-in a mixing bowl using a wooden spoon).
Gradually add the eggs, then mix in the buttermilk, salt, vanilla and oats.
Add the flour mixture, beating just until well combined.
Fold in the chocolate chunks and nuts.
Spread the batter on the greased and floured baking pan and bake at 375°F until golden, approximately 45 minutes.
Allow the cookie mixture to cool completely.
Cut into 18 portions.
Best served the next day.
*Can use whole wheat pastry flour
Oats, erroneously considered by some as food fit only for horses, is actually the most nutritional of the cereal grasses, with benefits that help lower cholesterol and, more importantly, the risk of heart disease. Eaten regularly and often, oats may even help lose unwanted belly fat. But, of course, if that’s your goal, you may want to leave out the chocolate chips.