Brown Buttercrunch Cookies

I checked out Mrs. Fields Best Ever Cookie Book! from the library.


Alayna and I went thru and marked all of the cookies and treats we wanted to try (that weren't just a chocolate chip cookie base with alternate mix-ins). Then I determined which had ingredients most likely to be on hand. From those, I had to guess which ones might be adaptable for Gluten Free flour substitutions. 200 recipes were ultimately narrowed down to 5 MUST MAKE treats before we need to return the book. Brown Buttercrunch Cookies was the first.

Brown Buttercrunch Cookies
yield: 2-1/2 dozen cookies

Ingredients
Cookies:
1 stick (1/2 cup) salted butter, softened
1/2 cup corn syrup
2/3 cup (packed) dark brown sugar*
1 cup old-fashioned oats (not quick or instant)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour**
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Glaze:
1/4 cup heavy cream
6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips (about 1 cup)
2 teaspoons light corn syrup

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Melt butter, corn syrup, and brown sugar over moderate heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high. When mixture boils, remove from heat and stir in oats, flour, and vanilla.
• Drop by half teaspoons 3 inches apart onto lined cookie sheets. Bake for 8 minutes or until mixture spreads, bubbles and begins to brown. Let cookies cool for 1-2 minutes before rolling.
• Roll around a wooden spoon handle, creating a tube. If cookies become too brittle, return to oven for 30 sec. to soften, then try again. Cool rolled cookies completely.
  

Chocolate Glaze:
Heat cream in microwave safe bowl until scalded. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips and corn syrup. Cover and let stand for 15 minutes for chocolate to melt. Mix until smooth.
When cookies are cool, dip half of each cookie into chocolate glaze. Refrigerate for 15 minutes to set.

*I only had light brown sugar, so added 2 tsp of molasses to the corn syrup
**I used 1/4 cup each of Rice Flour, Potato Starch and Tapioca Starch

Notes
I figured out to drop ALL of my 1/2 tsps of cookies onto one long piece of waxed paper. Then, when it was time for a new tray, I only had to transfer 6 of the blobs with my silicone spatula. Otherwise, my mixture was cooling off between batches making them hard to portion.

The recipe is not kidding about dropping by 1/2 tsps 3 inches apart! These puppies spread. I use half sheet pans for my baking (with a liner that I love) and only placed 6 cookies each time. That worked well, because there is not much time for rolling. I started about 25 seconds after removing from the oven and sliding the liner onto a cooling rack. While it was still too hot to want to touch, but not so hot that the cookie was too melt-y to roll. I had to roll fast, or the last one was too brittle and I didn't want to have to put it back in the oven because the next batch was already in. I only needed to bake them for 5 minutes.

Because you are only using 1/2 tsp per cookie, this makes well over 2-1/2 dozen cookies! Or maybe they are referring to the number of cookies that will actually turn out right. A fair number of mine broke,

the roll became flat,

or weren't quite a roll because of flat parts cracking and poking up.

I did get some good rolls.

Verdict
Meh. Not bad exactly, but not at all worth the effort and overheated fingertips.

I think there is WAY to much butter in these. Making them my hands became greasy and there were actually bubbles in the layer of butter left on my liner after each batch that I had to wipe off. After I finished, I double checked that it said 1/2 cup of butter and not 1/2 a stick. It really wanted the whole stick! Even the cooled cookies left my fingers greasy.

These aren't good cookies for nibbling either. Because they are so brittle, one bite seems to make the whole thing shatter. Cavell decided he needed to eat his over the garbage can.

Edit to add:
I am more willing to call this a candy, like a brittle, rather than a cookie.  And, if I am in the mood for such a candy, I would rather make microwave peanut brittle.  I'll save that recipe for a later post.  If I want a light, sweet oat cookie, I will be making the Lacy Oatmeal Cookies.