Makes 2 dozen flats
THERE ARE ONLY A SCANT FEW PACKAGED COOKIES I HOLD IN HIGH REGARD. One is the inimitable Matt’s Chocolate Chip Cookie, a Midwest specialty out of Wheeling, Illinois, that I special-ordered by the case during my first pregnancy in San Francisco. When I bought them right after our move back to Chicago, the first thing my daughter said upon trying one was, “Why does this taste so familiar?” (Probably because Mommy ate 180 of them during the week your senses were developing and the Internet said you were the size of an heirloom tomato.)
My second most-revered packaged cookie is the Oreo (obviously—I’m not an animal!), and the last is the completely superb Archway Crispy Iced Oatmeal Cookie: thin, crisp, tweedy with minced oats, with a snowy, matte slick of icing. My version of this cookie, dare I say it, manages to be even better than the store-bought version. With a punch of nutmeg and an unbeatable crunch, this slice-and-bake dough comes together in a snap in the food processor. Plus, it’s so fun to ice these puppies with their neat dipping method, and I’m pretty in love with the way the icing settles on the topography-like surface of each cookie.
1½ cups/150 g old-fashioned rolled oats
¾ cup/170 g firmly packed dark brown sugar
½ cup/64 g unbleached all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
½ cup/113 g cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 large egg yolk
1 large egg white
1¼ cups/150 g confectioners’ sugar
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
Prepare the dough: In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel S blade, grind the oats to a flour. Add the brown sugar, flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg and process briefly to blend. Toss in the butter cubes and process until the butter is well incorporated and the dough begins to clump and pull off the sides of the bowl. Add the egg yolk and pulse until the dough comes together with no dry pockets.
Line a work surface with a large sheet of plastic wrap. Turn out the dough onto the plastic wrap and form it into log about 10 inches/25 cm long and 1½ inches/3.8 cm in diameter. Wrap the dough tightly. Chill the dough until firm, about 3 hours in the refrigerator.
Position a rack to the center of the oven and preheat it to 350°F/180°C. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a thin, sharp knife to slice the dough log into 2 dozen rounds, each just shy of ½-inch/1.25 cm thick. Transfer the rounds, evenly spaced about 2 inches/5 cm apart, to the prepared baking sheets. Bake until golden and firm on the edges with a bit of give in the centers, about 12 minutes. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely—they will crisp all the way through as they cool.
Prepare the icing: In a small bowl, combine the egg white, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, and salt. Mix with a handheld electric mixer until smooth and thick. Blend in 2 teaspoons of water until smooth. To ice the cookies, working 1 at a time, kiss the tops lightly to the surface of the icing—you want to just show the cookie to the icing, not submerge it. Let the excess icing drip off for a moment, and then set the iced cookie on a wire rack. If the icing begins to firm while you’re dipping, loosen it with a few drops of water. Allow the icing to dry completely before serving, about 1 hour. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.