Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I made a horrendous mistake last week: I accidentally deleted my iPhoto Library... then cleared my trash. Years worth of personal pictures, as well as pictures of four recipes I intended to share in the coming few weeks. This means I'll have to bake those recipes again. This also means I have learned my lesson and will back up my stupid files.

Anyway, I managed to at least reshoot images of the raisin oatmeal cookies I baked last week as I made another batch recently. These were quite a hit in my household, so I'm happy to be able to share this one recipe at least. One of my first few posts on this blog was another raisin oatmeal cookie recipe that I quite liked, but I tried out this recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook and I love it even more. They're chewy cookies, as opposed to crispy (which the other ones are), so it really comes down to personal preference.

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Makes 1 dozen large cookies

• 270g unsalted butter, softened 
• 160g caster sugar
• 160g soft dark brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 380g all purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 110g rolled oats
• 220g raisins

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line two baking sheets with parchment paper
2. In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and rolled oats, then set aside
3. In the large bowl of your stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure everything is combined
4. Add the eggs one at a time and beat on medium speed after each addition, then add the vanilla 
5. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined, then fold the raisins in with a wooden or rubber (or anything you like, really) spatula
6. Scoop out tablespoon sized balls of the cookie dough and place on the trays. Allow for two inches of space between each dollop so they don't merge into one giant cookie. Even though there's nothing really wrong with that concept, don't know why some people may find that objectionable. 
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until they've achieved a gorgeous tan, then remove from the oven and allow to cool on the trays for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack. Enjoy these still warm and fresh from the oven with a glass of cold milk.

Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

I recently tried my hand at baking cookies, and so I finally decided to give my favourite cookies a shot. Raisin oatmeal cookies! I used to just buy store-bought cookies (ie Famous Amos) but a colleague told me a horror story of how she saw a worker carrying a shipment of those cookies dropped a box in a dirty alley behind the store... and then scooped them back into the box and carried them in.

ARGH. WHAT IS THIS?!?!

So now if I want cookies, I'll make them myself dammit.

They turned out beautifully, too, if I don't say so myself ;) It's an easy recipe, I hope you'll give it a shot. These are REALLY good cookies!

Raisin Oatmeal Cookies recipe:

• 3/4 cup (170 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup (210 grams) packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup (105 grams) all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 cups (260 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup driedcranberries, cherries, or raisins or 1 cup white or dark
• chocolate chips (your choice)
• 1 cup (110 grams) walnuts or pecans, toasted and chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth.

Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon.

Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat until incorporated.

Stir in the nuts, oats, and dried cranberries or chocolate chips.

For large cookies, use 1/4 cup of batter and space the cookies about 2 inches (5 cm) apart on the baking sheet. Then wet your hand and flatten the cookies slightly with your fingers so they are about 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) thick.

Bake the cookies for about 12 -15 minutes or until light golden brown around the edges but still soft and a little wet in the centers. Remove from oven and let the cookies cool a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.

To toast nuts: Place nuts on a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned and fragrant. Let cool and then chop into pieces.

For presentation purposes, I thank the fact that my mother loves to collect pretty little antique tins. The one I used in the picture above (wow, I really should start taking better pictures) was acquired a good 20 years ago at a car boot sale in Nottingham. The tin itself it a Betty Butter biscuit tin from 1890. Pretty pretty.

xx NA