It’s really hard to bake when you’re sick for two+ weeks straight. I woke up Christmas Eve morning with the worst sore throat I’ve ever had which left me with no energy, no voice and no appetite (imagine that?!) for four days. Just as I was starting to feel better and resume normal daily activities, I got hit with a sinus infection which is still hanging on for dear life. Luckily I had a lucid moment with no symptoms of contagion on New Year’s Eve–that gave me just enough time to throw a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies together.
After making all my favorite cookies for Christmas, I was at a loss for what to try next. So I did what bored kids all around America do every day after school—stood in front of my open kitchen cabinets and refrigerator until something popped out at me. I certainly wasn’t going to the grocery store to pick up any ingredients, so I had to make do with what I had. And what I had was oats and raisins, leftover from various baking adventures last fall. Might as well use them before they expire.
I don’t have a go-to oatmeal raisin cookie recipe, because I very rarely make oatmeal raisin cookies. Google and Sally’s Baking Addiction to the rescue! If you don’t already follow Sally’s Baking Addiction, check it out. She’s got great recipes with perfectly detailed instructions. And of course, beautiful pictures to drool over.
I decided to try Sally’s recipe for Soft & Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. Unfortunately I didn’t have quite 3 cups of oats—I had a little over 2 cups. I got creative and decided to finely chop some pecans that are also awaiting their expiration date in the back of my cabinet, and mix the pecans with the oats to make 3 cups. To be on the safe side, I added an extra ¼ cup of flour to my cookie dough because I read somewhere that oatmeal acts like flour, and I didn’t want my dough to be too sticky.
I was pleasantly surprised with these oatmeal raisin cookies! They were soft, chewy and flavorful—what more could you ask for? I loved the cinnamon and molasses—such warm and cozy flavors for chilly winter days! Maaaaaybe they could’ve baked for another minute (Sally’s recipe said to bake for 10 minutes—my cookies could’ve used 11 minutes. My recipe below says 10-11 minutes—all ovens are different, so use your own judgment).
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon molasses
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2¼ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
- 1 cup raisins
Instructions
- Place the raisins in a cereal bowl, cover with warm water and set aside. This makes the raisins nice and plump!
- Using a food processor, finely chop the pecans. This can also be done by placing the pecans in a large Ziploc bag and crushing them with a rolling pin until they are finely chopped.
- Combine the chopped pecans with the oats and set aside.
- In a large bowl beat the butter, sugar and brown sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs and beat until combined, about 1 minute.
- Add the vanilla extract and molasses and beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
- In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt using a wire whisk or large spoon.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix with the electric mixer just until combined.
- Drain the raisins and thoroughly pat them dry with paper towels.
- Add the oats, pecans and raisins to the dough and stir to combine.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill the dough for 30 – 60 minutes. If you chill the dough for longer than 60 minutes, allow the dough to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Shape dough into balls, using around 1½ tablespoons of dough for each cookie. (I use a medium cookie scoop to portion the dough.)
- Place dough balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
- Bake for 10 – 11 minutes, until very lightly browned on the sides. The centers will still look gooey—that’s okay (they will firm up as they cool on the cookie sheet).
- Let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes then remove to wire racks to cool completely.
Notes
Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction.