Baking Adventure: Hagrid's Rock Cakes from Harry Potter

My mom's been requesting oatmeal cookies since my aunt gave us a huge Costco-sized bag of old fashioned oats. After looking around for a good recipe, I decided to just try the Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies recipe under the lid of the Quaker oatmeal container. Since we didn't have raisins and my parents don't like super sweet cookies, I made a few modifications to the recipe. Well... those modifications resulted in a total oatmeal cookie FAIL! My cookies didn't spread at all! They looked like... well, little rocks! That's when I realized this wasn't a fail... It was a total WIN! I had inadvertently made my own version of Hagrid's Rock Cakes from Harry Potter!!

Hagrid's Rock Cakes from Harry Potter (Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies)

Fortunately, these little gems weren't hard as rock. They were actually rather cakey and scone-like. They reminded me of those healthy cookies you'd find at Whole Foods. Here's the recipe with modifications:

HAGRID'S ROCK CAKES (CRANBERRY OATMEAL COOKIES)
Adapted from Quaker's Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Yield: approx. 57 Tablespoon-sized rock cakes

Ingredients

• 1/2  cup (1 stick) butter, softened
• 1/8  cup vegetable oil
• 1/2  cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/4  cup granulated sugar
• 2  eggs
• 1  teaspoon vanilla
• 1-1/2  cups all-purpose flour
• 1  teaspoon baking soda
• 1  teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4  teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2  teaspoon salt
• 3  cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
• 1  cup craisins (dried cranberries)

Directions

1. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a small bowl and mix well.
2. In a large bowl, beat butter, oil, and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. 
3. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. 
4. Add combined flour mixture; mix well. 
5. Add oats and craisins; mix well. 
6. Cover cookie dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
• Note: I refrigerated my cookie dough overnight because I wasn't going to bake it the same day. I think the chilled dough (along with this version using less butter) played a roll in my cookies not spreading, but you might not have to chill the dough. Let me know how they turn out if you did or did not chill them! :)
7. Heat oven to 350°F. 
8. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.
9. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. 
10. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets.
11. Remove to wire rack. 
12. Cool completely before storing tightly covered. 

Fun Fact: Rock cakes are actual things served during teatime in Britain! They're not just a treat from the magical world of Harry Potter. I've never tried them in real life so I can't compare my version to the traditional British rock cake, but I'm sure you can find authentic recipes online. :)