Raisin' Hopes Across America
Could an oatmeal cookie recipe bring unite the country?
Kurt Andersen, wonderful author and former host of Studio 360, declared raisins in oatmeal cookies and oatmeal “a must.”
My brother David believes oatmeal cookies with or without raisins are a waste of our precious time on earth, because: chocolate chip cookies.
Even beyond these professional pundits, there’s a lot (a lot!) of opinions out there about what belongs in an oatmeal cookie and what doesn’t.
And since my readers are a savvy, worldly-wise bunch, I pay attention.
People have strong opinions about whether a raisin belongs in an oatmeal cookie. You’d think Bill Gates had hooked up with the Sunmaid Sun Maid and slipped tracking devices into raisins.
I worry, be happy
Yet, like the people-pleasing kid sister that I am, I want everyone to be happy. I’ve come up with a ever-so-crisp at the edge, chewy oatmeal cookie.
Truth be told, when I was less wise (imagine!), if you said oatmeal cookie to me, my heart would sink a little. I’d look like a dog lured by a beefy bone, only to have it switched out at the last minute for flea medication. With so many cookies in the world, why eat oatmeal?
My guest this week on The Secret Life of Cookie podcast was Marjorie Ingall, co-author of Sorry, Sorry, Sorry: The Case for Good Apologies. She asked to make oatmeal cookies and suggested dried cherries and chocolate chips as additions. This drab little cookie was all of a sudden sounding like a cookie I’d want to hang out with. All it needed was a cookie make-over with the addition of nibbles of crystallized ginger, orange zest, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Now that is more than a cookie, it is an event.
And not a raisin in sight.
You do you
For the cookie purists—no judgements!—you can pare this recipe down to the basics and add whatever you wish, whether it’s raisins, walnuts, butterscotch chips or Chinese 5-spice powder (try it if you have it. It’s surprising and fab). Conversely, remove anything that offends, be it crystallized, dried cherries or (Kurt, I’m looking at you) chocolate chips.
This here flexible cookie recipe will produce a chewy cookie you can make into your own personal masterpiece.
Notes:
The melted butter, honey and cooking time ensure a chewy cookie that stays chewy days after it’s baked. Store the cookies in an airtight container.
Don’t want to bake all the dough off at once? Roll the dough into 2-inch size balls, freeze in a single layer, wrap them in foil and then pop into a freezer bag and bake them when you want/need them. They will need a minute or two longer if baking from frozen.
I use whole wheat flour. If you are whole wheat flour-shy and worry you’ll taste the difference, you won’t in this cookie. I am a fan of whole wheat flour, not just for the nutrition it adds, but the nutty, warm flavor.
Hint for measuring honey: Lightly oil the inside of a liquid measuring cup before you pour in the honey. When it’s time to add the honey to the batter, all of it will slip out with ease.
Hate chopping sticky crystallized minced ginger? Oil your knife blade with vegetable oil.
Chewy Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Cherries and Chocolate Chips
What You Need:
2 sticks (8 ounces/226 grams) butter, cut into pieces
1 cup (220 grams) light brown sugar, packed
Zest of one orange
1/2 cup (170 grams) honey
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (180 grams) whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 to 3 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup (about 150 grams) dried cherries
2 cups (320 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
What You’ll Do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, spices and crystallized ginger if using in a small bowl.
In a large, microwavable bowl, melt the butter. Let it sit for 5 minutes before adding the other ingredients.
To the melted butter, add the brown sugar, orange zest and honey and stir by hand until the mixture is uniform and no longer oily looking.
Add the eggs and vanilla and stir until combined.
Stir in the flour mixture in two additions.
Stir in the oatmeal.
Add the dried cherries and chocolate chips (or raisins, nuts, etc) and stir until evenly combined.
Roll the dough into 2-inch balls and place on the baking sheets with 2 1/2-inches between cookies. These guys spread. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes until light brown and still a tad soft looking in the middle. They will continue to cook a bit once out of the oven. Don’t overbake.
Cool. Eat. Share.
Are you on Team Raisin? Does the phrase “dried plums” really make prunes sound sexier? Have you even processed the Bill Barr revelations from this week?
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Bake along and listen to this week’s Secret Life of Cookies podcast
Um, no you haven't. But I did make an error and have since corrected it in the recipe and the pdf of the recipe. 2 cups.
I had work to do this afternoon, but now I'm baking cookies