Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Last night my Big (Lauren Difiglia) and my G-big (Megan Nolan) and I made a pot-luck dinner together. Lauren made the apps, Megan made the din and I, of course, was in charge of the dessert. Picking out a dessert for these two was definitely a challenge because 1. they have never actually tried any of my culinary confections before, so obviously I had to impress and 2. Megan is one of those truly unfortunate people that doesn't like chocolate OR most things with dairy (aka cheesecake and all things amazing). So basically there wasn't a lot of options to choose from. Fortunately I've been wanting to try out an oatmeal raisin cookie recipe anyway because I recently discovered I actually love them now (unlike back in the day - too healthy for my chubby, candy addicted self) AND it also happens to be the favorite cookie of 3 - maybe 4 - of my 6 uncles, one of which being my godfather. Thus, these cookies seemed like the perfect solution. And they were! Granted I felt lame just making cookies (again), but they were delicious nonetheless and will definitely become a new staple in my cookie portfolio.
(another thing to make note of, my roommate even loves them - and she doesn't even like raisins soo....kind of a big deal.) 


This recipe is adapted from one I found in Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook - Martha's had coconut, which is just gross in my opinion. I can't stand coconut though, so I'm probably not the best judge. Feel free to add 1 cup of coconut if you're into that, but I definitely don't think its necessary.

Ingredients 

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

1/3 cup maple syrup (the recipe calls for pure grade B syrup aka the fancy stuff but I had Aunt Jemima so…)

1 large egg (room temp)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup raisins

Directions

1.      Preheat the oven to 325˚

2.      With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy

3.      Add the maple syrup and mix until combined

4.      Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until lighter and fluffier

5.      In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. With the mixer on the lowest setting, gradually add the dry ingredients in 3 increments. Immediately after the dry ingredients are incorporated, stop. You don’t want to over mix otherwise you will get tough, rock-like cookies.

6.      With a rubber spatula, fold in the oats and raisins until combined. 

7. 7. Scoop the dough with an ice cream scoop, making sure there are at least two inches apart on the cookie sheet. 

8.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. (I baked them for 16 – shocking I know. Rarely do I bake a cookie for more than 12, but these actually did need a little extra time to brown properly)