Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

More raisins!

I've discovered raisins again! :D

After that bread pudding, I realized that there were raisins in the pantry.  Raisins.  And I had no idea what do to with them.

Don't you remember when you were little and you'd get those little red boxes of raisins for a snack?  As far as snacks go, that was a so-so one, but it was infuriating to get those last raisins out of the box.  They would stick to the bottom of the box and little toddler fingers just aren't made for reaching like that.  They just aren't.

It was a great source of frustration for me.  Maybe that's why I'm a little loopy nowadays! xD I also hated the sticky feeling of raisins on my hands.  I could never wipe my hands enough after eating raisins.  So I began to not like raisins so much.  Stickiness = ickiness in my book.

But then I discovered chocolate-covered raisins at the movie theaters.  Those are seriously the best movie snack I've ever had ever ever.  They are SO GOOD.  And the dark chocolate ones?  I'll seriously buy a huge bag of those, pop on a mindless movie, and just chow those puppies down.

Well, that's what I'd like to do, but c'est la vie.

And then, shopping in the kiddie snack part of Target, I came across yogurt-covered raisins in those little red boxes.  So I had to buy them.  For myself.

And they're really good!  They're like healthier versions of the chocolate-covered raisins!  And I've found them in trail mixes and everywhere.

But back to regular raisins.

I've finally accepted them for what they are: really good in oatmeal cookies.  Normally, as a chocoholic, I'll take chocolate chip over oatmeal raisin any day, but that all changed back in June . . .

I was at a party where there were two kinds of cookies: chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin.  And after dancing my butt off, I was trying my hardest to avoid them.  Because they were very large cookies, and, despite all this baking I do, I would not like to become very large myself.

So there I was, avoiding those cookies, when they looked my in the eye and said, "Eat me."  I swear they talked.  I had no choice but to obey - to find that all the chocolate chip cookies were gone!  So I settled for an oatmeal raisin cookie and became addicted.

For serious.

And so I made Quaker's Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies - you know, that one recipe on the thing (can?  cylindrical box?) of oats that everyone knows.

I feel a Quaker history lesson on the tip of my tongue - or fingertips, since I'm typing - but I'll force it back down.  You've had to listen (or scroll past) enough of me already.

So here they are - and I promise you, it's very hard to not eat more than five.

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
REQUIRES SOFTENED BUTTER

1 3/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups oats
1 cup raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Beat well.
3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and cinnamon with a fork.  Gradually add to wet mixture, stirring well after each addition.
4. Stir in oats and raisins.
5. Drop by tablespoon-sized cookie scoop onto ungreased baking sheets.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Remove from oven and cool 1 minute on baking sheets before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling.  Store tightly covered.

The classic oatmeal raisin cookie in a nutshell:

Make your glorious batter and try not to eat it.

Plop onto your cookie sheets and try not to eat the adorable little dough balls.

Bake them and they turn into this beautiful thing:

Now you can eat it!  Enjoy!
-JJ