Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

YUM!!! These are perfect! I've tried a few different oatmeal raisin recipes, but these are so good that I'll probably never try a new recipe. Okay, well, that's unlikely, but they're still awesome.

I found the original recipe at Smitten Kitchen and I really haven't diverted much from the original recipe. The original makes a few dozen small cookies, and is technically a half recipe. I'm going to write the whole recipe, as I like to make it, which makes something like 50 or 60 cookies--so long as you keep them small. I freeze them, and they taste great right out of the freezer.

Ingredients
  • 1 c oil (or butter, but then you'll need to melt it for the way I put it all together)
  • 2/3 c brown sugar
    • You can easily reduce this amount since the raisins/craisins are so sweet
  • 2/3 c honey
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 t vanilla extract
  • 1 t baking soda
  • 1 t cinnamon
  • 1 t salt
  • 1 1/2 c flour
  • 3 c rolled oats
  • 1 1/2 c raisins or craisins
  • 1 c chopped walnuts, optional
Preparation
Mix the oil, sugar, honey, eggs, and vanilla in a bowl. I don't have a mixer, so I do it all with a wooden spoon. Once it's fairly homogenous-looking, sprinkle the baking soda on top and mix until it's homogenous again. Repeat that process for the cinnamon and salt. Do the same for the flour, mixing 1/2 c in at a time. Pour in the rolled oats, raisins/craisins, and walnuts if you're using them. (I never actually have.) Mix well.

Now here's the key: Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour or more!!! Smitten Kitchen makes a big deal about this step, and I think it really works. It's what makes the cookies chewy.

Pre-heat your oven to 350˚F/175˚C.

Use 1 T to scoop the cookie dough onto a baking sheet, 2" apart. Bake 7-8 minutes, and remove when they are brown on the edges but are still under-cooked looking in the center. Leave the cookies on the tray for 5 minutes before removing them. 

Enjoy!

I got a little over-zealous with cookie dough placement
These cookies are 4-year-old approved!
"Mama, do they have sugar in them?!"
Here you can see how they need to be browned on the edges but under-cooked in the middle when you pull them out of the oven 
After 5 minutes on the baking sheet they have browned pretty much all over

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