25 Days of Cookies: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

These are, HANDS DOWN, the best oatmeal raisin cookies I have ever, ever, had! We got the recipe off of a family friend and they are so delicious, they will change your mind forever about all other oatmeal raisin cookies. Cookie #14: Christine McCarthy's Giant Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.

 What makes them so amazing? I've got a few reasons: 1. They're huge. Bigger than my hand. 2. They're soft and chewy where they should be but the addition of the walnuts gives them a pleasant crunch. 3. A combination of baking powder and baking soda makes them puff up ever so nicely. 4. The brown sugar and cinnamon are so warm and comforting! 5. Plenty of raisins!

 
 We've made these a number of times and family and friends think they're the bees knees. Rachel's eyes lit up when she saw that I baked these when she came home. Mom has also baked these and sent them to her work partner whenever he's been deployed overseas with the military. Since he's done mom so many favors to help with the holidays, I figured making some of these specifically for him as a thank you would be nice. :)

 Now I had a problem...no raisins. Thought we did have some but unfortunately that was not the case! We did have dried currants though! These taste very much like raisins, in fact if I didn't tell you that they're currants, you would just think they were raisins. Smaller in size, they are slightly sweeter and are very popular around the holidays.

Next time I make these I'm going to feel free to experiment though. I really enjoyed the currant for raisins swap and would love to try some other swaps. Since there are walnuts chopped into these,  you know I toasted them up before mixing them into the dough. Of course, it wasn't called for in the original recipe but toasting them makes such a huge difference.

 Christine's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Christine swears by using the brand names and organic. We can't always afford to do this and feel that the cookies taste just as good with more affordable options but I've included the brands since it is her recipe. 

1 c. unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks) [Land-o-Lakes organic]

1 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. granulated sugar [Dominos]

2 eggs [organic]

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 c. old fashioned, rolled oats

1 c. raisins (or dried currants)

1 c. walnuts (toasted)

Preheat oven to 350°

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time and then the vanilla.  Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients.

Add oats, raisins, and nuts. The dough will be heavy so don't use an electric mixer for the last part. Your hand and a wooden spoon are the best tools for this step.

On a parchment lined tray, using an leveled ice cream scoop, drop your dough by the scoop full. (I'd say it's about 2 1/2 to 3 tablespoons of dough for each cookie. I can only fit 5 cookies on one tray. Flatten the scoops to about an inch thick so they bake evenly. 

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the edges are browned.

Yields about 17 cookies.