Oatmeal Almond Joy Cookies Recipe

Oatmeal cookies are a great way to experience the nutritional benefits of old-fashioned oats while also enjoying a tasty dessert. While many oatmeal cookie recipes call for using raisins, developer Jessica Morone tells us, "I love to idea of adding different flavor combinations to cookies, so the thought of using candy bar flavors as a way to switch up oatmeal cookies seemed really fun." Here she's using a classic combo of chocolate, coconut, and almond, and yes, these cookies really do taste quite a bit like Almond Joy bars.

These cookies manage to combine that candy bar flavor with a classic oatmeal cookie texture, meaning, they're crispy at the edges, but the centers are soft and chewy. They're not a delicate, crumbly cookie, though, which means they're pretty portable. Take a plate of these cookies to a party or potluck, pack them in a lunch bag, or even wrap them up to send to someone as a care package (except in the summer months, of course, since if the temperature gets too high, the chips might melt).

The cookie dough starts with butter, brown sugar, white sugar, an egg, vanilla extract, almond extract, flour, baking soda, salt, and old fashioned oats. For the mix-ins that bring the Almond Joy flavor, you'll be using shredded coconut, toasted almonds, and chocolate chips.

One note on the oats: Make sure to use the right kind. Not only are old-fashioned oats more nutritious than the instant kind, but they're also less processed and absorb moisture more slowly (hence the longer cooking time). Even quick-cooking oats, too, will result in an end product that doesn't have that classic oatmeal cookie texture.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside.

In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugars until fully combined and fluffy.

Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract and mix until incorporated.

In a separate medium-sized bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.

Mix the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients until no streaks of flour remain.

Stir in the oats, coconut, almonds, and chocolate chips. Refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop balls of dough onto the prepared cookie sheets, at least 3 inches apart.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the centers are set.

Let cool, then serve.

If you want to make sure these cookies come out as close to perfect as humanly possible, and if you think a soft and chewy cookie is a perfect cookie, it all starts with the batter. Don't overmix it — just stir until everything is combined. If you stir too much, this will dry out the dough and dry dough makes dry cookies. Another way to make sure the dough retains its moisture is to refrigerate it for up to 8 hours before baking the cookies.

Once the cookies are in the oven, don't walk away and get involved in another activity, or if you do, set a loud timer. The longer you bake the cookies, the crispier they will become, so you can decide when they've achieved your desired crispiness.

Of course, if you do want crispy cookies, there are a few ways to achieve this that don't involve running the risk of charring. For one thing, don't refrigerate the dough before baking. For another, replace the brown sugar in the dough with additional granulated sugar since the former ingredient contains more moisture and makes for softer cookies.

If you want to change up the cookies, perhaps to make them resemble a different kind of candy bar, we wouldn't advise making any alterations to the oatmeal dough itself, but you can mix and match the mix-ins to your heart's content. For example, you could leave out the almonds, and you'd have Mounds cookies. You could also swap the semi-sweet chocolate chips for milk chocolate chips or chunks to make the cookies more like original Almond Joy bars, or skip the coconut to make a cookie that resembles a Hershey bar with almonds — you could even cut up mini Hershey bars to use in place of the chocolate chips.

If you want to try making a cookie version of the vintage peanut butter-coconut Zagnut bar, the best way to do this would be to replace the chocolate chips with peanut butter chips and the almonds with chopped peanuts. You could also use toffee chips in place of the coconut and replace the almonds with peanuts to make a Snickers cookie, or omit the nuts and coconut and use peanut butter-flavored chips in addition to the chocolate ones to make a Reese's version of an oatmeal cookie.