Oatmeal and Spiced Rum Raisin Cookies with Whole Wheat Flour

First of all I need to take a moment to show my appreciation for being Freshly Pressed yesterday.  I am completely honored, humbled, and overwhelmed by this.

If you are a new follower to my site, I want to say “Welcome!”  I also want to take the time to visit each and every one of your blogs.  Just bare with me.  It will just take me some time to get to everyone.

With that being said, here we go with installment #2 of my “Cookies Are The New Cupcake” Series.

My sous chef, Wyatt

One of the things I promised when I started this series was to be informative about the science of baking.  So I wanted to focus on different kinds of flours in this post.  In my last recipe “Soft and Fluffy Blueberry and Lemon Cookies” I used cake flour.

This brought up a lot of questions about different kinds of flours and how they can be substituted for each other.

The whole reason I used cake flour in my last recipe was to create the kind of texture I was looking for: which was light, fluffy, airy, and soft.  That being said, other flours can be used in substitution, however, the texture will be somewhat different.

All-Purpose Flour is obviously the most well known and used flour.  There is no leavening agent added (unlike self-rising flour) and it has a moderate protein content.

The reason protein content is important when determining what kind of flour to use in relation to texture is because the protein creates gluten when mixed or kneaded in the dough.  The higher the gluten content the more chew there will be to the baked good.

Bread Flour has the highest protein content of any of the flour we will talk about here.  In a recent post I developed a recipe for Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Bread flour was used here to create more chew due to more gluten.  You can substitute bread flour for all-purpose flour cup for cup.  Just remember the texture will be more chewy than with all-purpose flour.

Cake Flour has the lowest protein content which is why it is most commonly used in cakes.  Cake flour produces the tender crumb we desire in cakes.  Because of the low protein content, cake flour also weighs less than all-purpose flour.  When substituting cake flour for all-purpose flour add 2 tbsp per cup.

Self Rising Flour is nothing more than all-purpose flour with baking powder and salt already mixed in.  I once used self rising flour in my cookies because I purchased it by accident and could not figure out why my cookies tasted so salty.

After researching I learned that the salt was already in the flour and I had added salt as I normally would to the batter.  I really never use self-rising flour in any recipe because I like to control the amounts of leavening and salt in my recipes.

But for your information 1 cup of self rising flour has about 1 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt already mixed in.  With this knowledge you can make adjustments as needed.  You can also use this knowledge to make your own self-rising flour if a recipe calls for it and you only have all-purpose.

Whole Wheat Flour is flour that still has the bran and germ in it, as opposed the white flour that has been refined and the bran and germ removed.  These parts of the flour have more nutrients which is why a lot of people prefer to use them over white flour.

In baking, if you want to substitute whole wheat flour for all-purpose subtract 2 tbsp per cup.  You should also know that whole wheat flour has a more rough texture than that of soft white flour due the bran.  This is why a lot of people do not prefer it.

I often use half white flour and half whole wheat if I am wanting to up the nutritious factor instead of all whole wheat because of the texture.  Though I don’t know the science behind this, I also notice that cookies with at least some whole wheat flour in them do not get as flat as those with only white flour.  This is also a reason I often use half whole wheat, to get a taller cookie.

Gluten Free Substitutions are a hot topic right now due to the increasing number of people who are discovering they are gluten intolerant or allergic.  I have to admit that I do not have extensive knowledge at this time about gluten free baking, though I have done some of it.

I want to do more research and educate myself before I tackle this topic.  I think it is a big enough topic to have its own post.  So those of you are are gluten free, hang in there with me! You won’t be ignored!

Flour Substitution Chart 

• 1 cup all purpose flour = 1 cup bread flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour = 1 cup plus 2 tbsp cake flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour + 1 tsp baking soda + 1/2 tsp salt = 1 cup self-rising flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour = 1 cup minus 2 tbsp whole wheat flour

It seemed as though whole wheat flour was an interest for quite a few people from my last post so I decided to share my base recipe for whole wheat cookies today.

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Yield: 20-24 Cookies

Whole Wheat Oatmeal and Spiced Rum Raisin Cookies

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 14 minutes

Additional Time 1 minute

Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

• 2 cups (10.6 oz, 297 gr) raisins
• spiced rum
• 2 1/4 cups (8.6 oz, 240 gr) whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup (8 oz, 225 gr) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup (7 oz, 196 gr) white sugar
• 3/4 cup (6 oz, 168 gr) dark brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 3 cups (9.5 oz, 266 gr) old fashioned oats

Instructions

1. Place raisins in a small bowl and pour in enough spiced rum to cover them.  Let them soak overnight. Alternatively, place them on the stove and bring to a simmer. Turn off the heat and let them sit for 30 minutes. Strain them before adding to the cookie dough. You can also use, whiskey/bourbon, red wine, or fruit juice.  The liquid allows the raisins to plump up and gives them a different flavor.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C).
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
5. With the mixer still on, add the eggs one at a time.  Add the vanilla.
6. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients.  Stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl as needed.
7. Fold in the oatmeal and raisins.
8. Use a large scoop and put rounded mounds of dough onto cookie sheets lined with parchment or foil.
9. Bake in a 375 F (190 C) oven for 11-14 minutes, until the edges are slightly browned.  Slide the cookies off the cookie sheet as soon as they come out of the oven to cool.

Nutrition Information:

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 0