ISO Oatmeal Cookie/Candy Chewy Appalachia

[NoraC]

My father, who is 79, was visiting last week and we were reminiscing about food with my brother and nephew. One of the things my father mentioned wishing he could taste again was his mother's oatmeal cookies. I would love to recreate them for him, despite having no recipe and bloody little personal interest in or experience with the pastry/confectionery discipline of cooking.

What I know about these cookies is:
(1)the basis was leftover breakfast oatmeal; (2)they were chewy (3) I think they went into the oven, but were not browned, so maybe it was for drying (4) my father grew up in Appalachia, born in the Depression and formed in WWII (5) there were no nuts or raisins in them when I was a kid eating them (6) if I were to (with no confectionery skill) describe them, I would say an oatmeal macaroon.

Have you eaten such a thing? Is such a thing buried in your recipe box? My father is old, though not dying; I would love to give the gift of these cookies to him.

 

[taxlady]

Sorry, I can't help. That's really sweet of you.

 

[chopper]

I don't have your recipe, but will be checking back to see who does. They sound good, and different. Wish I could be the one to help-I hope you can make these for your father soon!

 

[NoraC]

Thanks for the encouragement, Tax Lady and Chopper.

 

[Alix]

I'd add some flour, baking powder and brown sugar to the leftover oatmeal and then scoop them and bake them. Say...1/2 flour, 1 tsp baking powder and 1/4-1/2 cup brown sugar?

Oooo! Experiment a bit NoraC and tell us if that works.

 

[tinlizzie]

When I was little, Mom would add flour to the cold, leftover, sweetened oatmeal the next day, then fry the patties in nice, hot Crisco (probably in a CI skillet, but I don't really remember that part). Depending on how much flour you can get to mix in and how thin you can make them, they can turn out kind of chewy and crispy. She never called these cookies, but she was from East Tennessee, and this would have been in the 1940's. Thanks for stirring up some of my childhood memories.

 

[NoraC]

Thanks Alix and Tinlizzie! Johnson City Tennessee was the scene of the cookies when I was a kid. I am pretty sure she didn't fry them, but I may try that. Did she sweeten the whole batch of oatmeal before serving it for breakfast? How much oatmeal are you thinking of Alix?

 

[tinlizzie]

Thanks Alix and Tinlizzie! Johnson City Tennessee was the scene of the cookies when I was a kid. I am pretty sure she didn't fry them, but I may try that. Did she sweeten the whole batch of oatmeal before serving it for breakfast? How much oatmeal are you thinking of Alix?

Sorry, I don't remember just where in the process the sweetening occurred, but I do know the oatmeal patties, as we called them, were somewhat sweet. We moved from around LaFollette TN up to Ohio when I was about 4 yrs. old.

Liz

 

[taxlady]

When I was little, Mom would add flour to the cold, leftover, sweetened oatmeal the next day, then fry the patties in nice, hot Crisco (probably in a CI skillet, but I don't really remember that part). Depending on how much flour you can get to mix in and how thin you can make them, they can turn out kind of chewy and crispy. She never called these cookies, but she was from East Tennessee, and this would have been in the 1940's. Thanks for stirring up some of my childhood memories.

My mother would threaten us with fried oatmeal for lunch, if we didn't eat our oatmeal at breakfast. One day she actually carried out the threat. She took the leftover oatmeal, that had been in our bowls with brown sugar and milk, and fried it. It was awful. She told us she would keep serving it for each following meal if we didn't finish it. We always finished our oatmeal after that.

 

[Alix]

Thanks Alix and Tinlizzie! Johnson City Tennessee was the scene of the cookies when I was a kid. I am pretty sure she didn't fry them, but I may try that. Did she sweeten the whole batch of oatmeal before serving it for breakfast? How much oatmeal are you thinking of Alix?

Um...two handfuls or so? Maybe 1.5 - 2 cups?

 

[tinlizzie]

My mother would threaten us with fried oatmeal for lunch, if we didn't eat our oatmeal at breakfast. One day she actually carried out the threat. She took the leftover oatmeal, that had been in our bowls with brown sugar and milk, and fried it. It was awful. She told us she would keep serving it for each following meal if we didn't finish it. We always finished our oatmeal after that.

Now we know why the face.

 

[NoraC]

OK - they fried patties were good, but the butter gave them a crust that wasn't right. My memory is that the consistency was the same throughout the cookie. Baking ; baking with flour, baking powder and brown sugar was too heavy. Having tried both I wonder if she didn't do something with a sugar syrup, boiled to the right stage, then mixed with the oatmeal and dried in the oven. Does that spark a memory for anyone?

 

[AnnieDrews]

I Googled "leftover oatmeal cookies" and got lots of results. You might do that and peruse the results to see if anything looks familiar to you. Hope you find the recipe your Dad remembers. I'm sure he'll appreciate your effort.