Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies swirled with dulce de leche

Oatmeal Cookies Swirled with Dulce de Leche - made dough April 9, 2016 from Milk & Cookies by Tina Casaceli

I've thinned out my collection of baking books somewhat but still have a goodly number of them so I still feel the need to keep trying recipes from them just to get some use out of them. It's just been so easy to troll for recipes on pinterest that I have to keep reminding myself to use the recipes on my bookshelves too.

I went with this one from Milk & Cookies as it was supposed to be the "base dough" for oatmeal cookies. That means it was intended to be versatile for add-ins to make different kinds of oatmeal cookies. I decided to fancy it up with dulce de leche. My initial plan was to "stuff" dulce de leche inside a cookie dough ball so when the cookies baked, I hoped they would stay thick so that when you bit into one, creamy dulce de leche would be in the middle of the bite. I laid out a little cookie dough inside a mini muffin cavity, dropped a scoop of dulce de leche in the middle, covered with more cookie dough and sealed into a ball.

Ah, the best-laid plans. It turns out "stuffing" dulce de leche inside an oatmeal cookie works fine when you're working with the dough. But come baking time, the oatmeal in the dough doesn't make for good walls to keep the dulce de leche trapped inside. When I baked them, not only did the cookies spread more than I would have liked, the dulce de leche also leaked out and settled on the bottom of the cookie. Alas, cookie fail.

But it was only partial failure as the cookies caramelized nicely thanks to the brown sugar and the dulce de leche ended up more swirled than stuffed inside the cookie. Which still made for some yumminess in the cookie itself. So although they didn't adhere to my original vision and they may not be all that to look at, these were still pretty delicious.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) unsalted butter
1 cup (7 ounces) light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups (9 ounces) old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups chocolate chips, optional but recommended

1. Combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
2. Cream the butter in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment. Gradually add the brown sugar then the granulated sugar. Beat at medium speed for about 4 minutes or until light and creamy.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat just to incorporate, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat in the vanilla to combine. Gradually add the dry ingredients and the oats. Do not overmix. Mix in chocolate chips with wooden spoon.
4. Portion dough into 1/2-golf-ball-size balls, flatten slightly, place a scoop of dulce de leche in the center, cover with second 1/2 ball of dough and seal, rolling into ball. Repeat with remaining dough. Chill or freeze, covered, for several hours or overnight.
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper and evenly space dough balls about 2 inches apart.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until light browned at the edges and middles no longer look raw or shiny. Remove from oven, let cool for 2 minutes then, using a small metal spatula, transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.