The other day while enjoying dinner at a friends house, he asked me, “Do you have a good, chewy, cinnamony, oatmeal raisin cookie?” and my husband Kevin quickly replies, “Nope, she HATES raisins!” It is the truth, I really don’t love raisins. I had never made an oatmeal raisin cookie before now, because…well I don’t usually enjoy eating raisin cookies. So I ventured back into the internet world to search for an oatmeal raisin cookie that I might actually enjoy, but so would the other people in my life.
I landed on a recipe from a website I have used a few times before and have been enjoying a great deal, Sally’s Baking Addiction. One of the things that intrigued me the most about her recipe was that she added a tablespoon of molasses to her cookies to add flavor and moisture. The first time I read that, I went back to searching because Kevin doesn’t like molasses. I realized later that I had some golden corn syrup in my pantry that I could use for the moisture and just added sweetness without too much flavor. I also took some ideas from other recipes I had read, such as only adding brown sugar instead of a mixture of brown and granulated sugar. I also added my own flavor touch by adding 2 tablespoons of bourbon to the hot water the raisins were soaking in before being added to the cookies for extra moisture.
The ingredients for this recipe are 1 cup of room temperature butter, 1 1/4 cup of packed brown sugar, 2 eggs at room temperature, 1 tablespoon vanilla, 1 tablespoon corn syrup, 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (fluffed, spooned & leveled), 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt, 3 cups old-fashioned whole rolled oats, 1 cup raisins, 2 tablespoons quality bourbon. This seems like quite a few more ingredients than some of my recent recipes but trust me, these cookies are worth it.
Before beginning this recipe, I followed Sally’s tip to soak the 1 cup of raisins in warm water for 10 minutes before using them in the recipe. I also added the bourbon to the mix. Then at the 10 minute mark, I drained the raisons and laid them out on paper towels to make sure as much extra moisture is absorbed from the raisins as possible.
This recipe follows the basic butter and sugar creaming method of making sure that all of the brown sugar is throughly incorporated into the butter and the mixture is light and fluffy. Then the eggs are added and the mixer is turned up high to make sure they are all whipped into the butter and sugar mixture.
Next, I added 1 tablespoon of vanilla and 1 tablespoon of corn syrup to the batter and whipped them together. After that, I mixed the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together in a small bowl and then added the dry ingredients slowly to the mixture.
After the dry ingredients were mixed in and the sides of the bowl were scraped down, I added the rolled oats and mixed them through the batter. Then I threw in the pre-soaked raisins and mixed. I covered the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes. While the dough was chilling, I lined a baking pan with parchment paper and preheated the oven to 350 F degrees.
After the dough chilled for 30 minutes, I used my large OXO cookie scoop to scoop 9 large cookies onto the cookie sheet and spread them quite far apart on the baking sheet since the dough spreads while it bakes. I recovered the bowl with the plastic warp and put the bowl back in the fridge. I baked the cookies for 13 minutes. At the 13 minute mark the cookies were set on the edges, but still quite shiny in the middle. I let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 5-10 minutes and then moved the them to the cooling rack. Then I repeated the same steps with the rest of the dough.
Slowly but surely, these cookies started disappearing. Needless to say, these cookies were so amazingly moist. They had a very, very slight crisp to the edges and the flavor was sweet from the sugar, but a little spicy from the cinnamon and had the SLIGHTEST hint of bourbon in the raisins. The oats added the best chew to these cookies. I can’t believe I am going to say this, but I think, it might be possible, that I like these oatmeal raisin cookies! I even held some dough back before I put the raisins in and added a few chocolate chips, baked it, and guess what….I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the chocolate chips, but I did like the raisins…WHAT IS HAPPENING?!?! So whatever you are doing, if you have the slightest inkling for an oatmeal raisin cookie, this is the one you should make! In fact, even if you just have an inkling for a cookie – MAKE THIS ONE!
Final Thoughts:
- These cookies are soft, chewy, flavorful, lovely and delicious!
- You can absolutely skip the bourbon in the raisin soaking if you want but I wouldn’t skip the soaking.
- You can add toasted walnuts if you would like to the dough for added crunch and flavor.
- Even after being stored in an airtight container on the counter for several days, they are still tasty & moist!
- These changed my mind about oatmeal raisin cookies, I bet they might change someone else’s mind as well!
Recipe: Game Changing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup room temperature butter
- 1 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 room temperature eggs
- 1 Tablespoon good quality vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon corn syrup or molasses
- 1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour (fluffed, scooped & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 cups old-fashioned whole rolled oats
- 1 cup raisins
- 2 Tablespoons good quality bourbon
Instructions
- In a small pan heat water till warm. Add bourbon to the water and then add the 1 cup of raisins. Soak for 10 minutes. Then drain and pat dry to remove as much extra moisture as possible.
- In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat together the butter and brown sugar until throughly combined and light and fluffy. Then add the eggs and beat on high to make sure that they are well combined. Add the molasses and vanilla and whip on high again to make sure combined. Scrape the bowl down as often as needed during all these steps.
- In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt & cinnamon. Add the dry ingredients on low to the mixture. Once combined, scrape down the bowl and then add the oats to the bowl and mix again on low until combined. Then add the raisins and mix again on low until combined.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for 30 – 60 minutes. While the dough chills, preheat the oven to 350 F degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Once the dough is chilled, use a large cookie scoop and scoop cookies onto the baking sheet and as far apart as possible from one another on the cookie sheet. Cover the rest of the dough and put back in the fridge until the first batch is finished baking. Bake for 13 minutes. Pull the cookies out once the edges are set, but the middles till look shinny. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes and then transfer them to a cooling rack.
- Scoop the rest of the dough onto the cookie sheet and repeat step 5.
- Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction
