Since we are feeding a family of six now, wasted food makes me cringe. Our grocery bill is high enough without also being wasteful. Unfortunately feeding toddlers with finicky palates means food gets wasted far more than I’d like. One day they’ll scarf a bunch of bananas then refuse bananas for six weeks straight. I do what I can to reinvent leftovers so we waste less. For instance, leftover taco meat becomes spaghetti and meat sauce, grilled chicken is great in quesidillas, and pot roast is perfect for French dip sandwiches. Some leftovers pose a greater challenge.
One of my favorite go-to breakfast meals poses such a challenge. The quads typically devour crock pot oatmeal. In fact, they love it so much I double the recipe to make sure we have enough for second, third, and sometimes fourth helpings of it. Yet, sometimes there is leftover oatmeal, which doesn’t keep and reheat well. Yesterday, I decided to try using it to make cookies. I searched Pinterest for such a recipe, but came up short. I ended up creating my own recipe, and ended up with rich, chewy cookies. The quads demolished them during afternoon snack- a clear indication of a keeper recipe.
Leftover Oatmeal Cookies
2 cups cooked oatmeal
1 stick of butter softened
1/4 c. brown sugar
4 eggs (the cookies turned out a bit fluffier than I prefer so I think I’ll try fewer eggs next time)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking soda
freshly grated nutmeg
2 c. chocolate chips (raisins would work to create a healthier version, but we LOVE chocolate here)
4 c. flour (I added flour gradually until I had a soft dough, you may need more or less depending on the consistency of your oatmeal).
bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes until cookies are golden brown
Serve with cold milk!
Do you have a favorite way to reinvent leftovers?
Hugs!
Amber
Four to Adore 
What a great idea! I’m going to send on the recipe to Carrie in Papua New Guinea.
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I hope she likes it! The crock pot oatmeal is linked if she wants to try it too. I hope they are doing well over there!
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Brilliant!!! I find I’m always left with extra oatmeal! Totally doing this. Thanks for sharing
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You’re welcome! Enjoy 🙂
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Great idea. But…..moundy puffy cookies are signs of temp changes and or overbeating. Make sure your oven is calibrated! Also, don’t be fooled into thinking raisins (or any dried fruit) are “healthier” than chocolate chips. It truly depends on the quality and source of each. But a dark (88%+) chocolate chip with no additives is going to be more nutrient dense than dried fruit (which is essentially pure sugar, or fruit with all of the vitamins/minerals dehydrated out of it)…..any day of the week.
Great way to use leftovers but I think the article leaves out some important fact checking and information.
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Thanks for the feedback! My main goal of this was to share that you CAN make cookies using leftover oatmeal vs a baking lesson, and HOW I did it. There are actually many reasons cookies can be fluffy and cake-like (one is too many eggs).
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Actually, with iron, B-6, magnesium, calcium, fiber and 322mg of potassium, raisins are a healthy choice. I’m looking forward to trying this recipe with our leftover oatmeal! Thanks for sharing this 🙂
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Great recipe. Everyone in my house really liked them! Without the chocolate chips they would not be so sweet, and could be used as a breakfast cookie. I think the eggs are needed for loft, as most cookies with only butter as the shortening end up becoming too flat and crisp for me.
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So glad you liked them! I agree, they could be a breakfast cookie. I like crisp, flat cookies, lol but I a lot of people seem to prefer thick, fluffy ones.
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