Wholesome oatmeal raisin cookies

I’ve been revisiting the wholesome flavors of my childhood, and oatmeal raisin cookies have gotten a lot of attention in my kitchen.

I love the heartiness of oatmeal mixed with raisins and cinnamon, but so many recipes for oatmeal cookies turn out dry and hard. I found that adding a teaspoon of cornstarch to almost any cookie batter creates a chewier texture that stays soft and tastes freshly baked even when the cookies are two or three days old.

This combination of ingredients has produced the most consistent results and an entire batch never lasts long enough to get stale. Both children and adults love oatmeal raisin cookies.

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You can switch the raisins out for your favorite chocolate chips to make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Either way, this recipe is a winner and makes a wonderful gift from the heart.

Ingredients
Makes between 25 and 30 cookies

1¾ stick (14 tablespoons total) softened unsalted butter or margarine
¾ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
⅓ cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon good-quality vanilla extract
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup raisins (or chocolate chips)

Preheat the oven to 350 F and set the wire rack in the center.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

Whisk all dry ingredients together and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugars at medium speed with an electric mixer. Allow the mixture to cream for 2-3 minutes before adding the eggs, one at a time.

Once the eggs are well mixed, reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, one large spoonful at a time.

When the flour is well incorporated, add the oats, one cup at a time, then add in the raisins. You may need to increase the speed of your mixer to medium to finish combining the flour, oats and raisins into the batter. This recipe works well if you mix everything in the mixing bowl, so you don’t have to mix in the oats or the raisins by hand.

I use a cookie scoop so that all the cookies turn out in a uniform size, but you can use two tablespoons to scoop the dough onto the parchment-lined baking sheets. It helps to have the dough shaped into rounded balls.

You can bake this cookie dough batter immediately. Bake one tray at a time for 8-10 minutes. The key is to take the cookies out of the oven when the edges are turning a soft golden brown. The amount of dough used, your oven and your cookie sheets produce different results, so stay close to the oven when baking your first batch and start checking the cookies at the 7-8 minute mark to be sure that they are not too dark. Note the time needed and use your kitchen timer to bake the rest of the trays.

Allow the cookies to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before using a spatula to remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once cool, store these in an airtight container.

Enjoy and bless your hands! PJC

Jessica Grann is a home chef living in Pittsburgh.