Wow! Snow storm on the east coast in october! We didn't bargain for that! So, to warm up the house nicely, my daughter and I decided we should bake some cookies! Oatmeal raisin cookies was the obvious choice because they are Daddy's favorite. :))
Among the zillions of other gifts, my daughter actually got a cookie book for her birthday! She feels so grown-up now! She does love helping mommy in the kitchen. :) Anyway, the book is called "501 cookies, the ultimate a-z guide to bars, drops, crescents, snaps, squares and everything that crumbles" by Gregg R. Gillespie. So, she chose a recipe for oatmeal cookies from there. I have about 2-3 other recipes that I have been using over the years and which I like quite a lot, but I enjoy trying out new recipes- you never know when you will find a new keeper! :) So, here is the recipe we used tonight:
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flower
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup (6 oz) rolled oats
1 cup raisins
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, cream the vegetable shortening and sugar (I use my KitchenAid mixer for that- thank God for that thing- it's worth its weight in gold!). Beat in the eggs. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Fold in the oats and raisins.
4. Drop the dough by spoonfuls 1 1/2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet (I personally use a small ice-cream scoop for that job- works like a charm every time!).
5. Bake for 10-12, until lightly golden brown. (I ended up baking mine 1-2 minutes longer.) Transfer to wire racks to cool.
Baking notes: you can add vanilla extract or almond extract to the dough to enhance the flavor of these cookies. (I did put 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract in mine.)
Now, although they did turn out pretty good, I wouldn't call them my favorite oatmeal cookies. I guess there were a couple of issues I had with them: 1) I thought the cinnamon was overpowering; 2) I wasn't crazy about the idea of using vegetable shortening instead of butter; and 3) I didn't feel that the recipe had enough oats in it. The other recipes for oatmeal cookies I have use more rolled oats and less flour and produce a slightly chewier and nuttier tasting cookie than these which I would expect from oatmeal cookies. Other than that, these look good, and certainly taste fine, they just wouldn't be my first choice when it comes to oatmeal cookies. But they sure did warm up the house on this freezing, snowy, windy Pctober night! :))) And hopefully Daddy will like them- which in the end is all that matters, because we decided to make them for him in the first place! :)))
Among the zillions of other gifts, my daughter actually got a cookie book for her birthday! She feels so grown-up now! She does love helping mommy in the kitchen. :) Anyway, the book is called "501 cookies, the ultimate a-z guide to bars, drops, crescents, snaps, squares and everything that crumbles" by Gregg R. Gillespie. So, she chose a recipe for oatmeal cookies from there. I have about 2-3 other recipes that I have been using over the years and which I like quite a lot, but I enjoy trying out new recipes- you never know when you will find a new keeper! :) So, here is the recipe we used tonight:
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flower
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup (6 oz) rolled oats
1 cup raisins
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, cream the vegetable shortening and sugar (I use my KitchenAid mixer for that- thank God for that thing- it's worth its weight in gold!). Beat in the eggs. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Fold in the oats and raisins.
4. Drop the dough by spoonfuls 1 1/2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet (I personally use a small ice-cream scoop for that job- works like a charm every time!).
5. Bake for 10-12, until lightly golden brown. (I ended up baking mine 1-2 minutes longer.) Transfer to wire racks to cool.
Baking notes: you can add vanilla extract or almond extract to the dough to enhance the flavor of these cookies. (I did put 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract in mine.)
Now, although they did turn out pretty good, I wouldn't call them my favorite oatmeal cookies. I guess there were a couple of issues I had with them: 1) I thought the cinnamon was overpowering; 2) I wasn't crazy about the idea of using vegetable shortening instead of butter; and 3) I didn't feel that the recipe had enough oats in it. The other recipes for oatmeal cookies I have use more rolled oats and less flour and produce a slightly chewier and nuttier tasting cookie than these which I would expect from oatmeal cookies. Other than that, these look good, and certainly taste fine, they just wouldn't be my first choice when it comes to oatmeal cookies. But they sure did warm up the house on this freezing, snowy, windy Pctober night! :))) And hopefully Daddy will like them- which in the end is all that matters, because we decided to make them for him in the first place! :)))
