Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Haha!  The posts just keep coming!  Can you keep up? It's summer, and until I find new hobbies... the blitz will continue. 

Another new summer activity has been watching lots of TV-on-laptop.  Most recently, I have been watching
Dexter.  In one episode, everyone's favorite serial killer took a Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pie out of his desk, and I thought... I want that.  And then I thought, I can make that.

Well, I haven't yet, but I got as far as the cookie part.  A Google search for oatmeal (raisin/nut/spice) cookies turned up a recipe on smitten kitchen, which is itself apparently based on original recipe on the Quaker Oats can.  I guess there's a reason that some of these recipes survive so long--my favorite basic chocolate chip cookie recipe came off the back of a bag of chocolate chips (Guittard). 

I veganized this oatmeal cookie recipe, and my baking partner Devon and I used fewer raisins, and after the dough tasted a little...meh... we also added some cloves, as well as more cinnamon, more vanilla, and more salt. 

First thing out of the oven, these cookies were amazing.  There's a lot of butter in them, so the outside got crispy while the inside remained soft.  Overnight, though, in a sealed container, they got a lot harder.  I'm fine with this (and they are great for dunking), but if you want soft cookies you should probably cook them for a slightly shorter period of time.  I love how much of this cookie is just oats and walnuts.  I'm guessing my grandma Shirley would have said it was okay to eat these for breakfast... which I just did.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

(adapted from smitten kitchen)

Ingredients

1/2 c earth balance
2/3 c light brown sugar, packed
1 "egg" (ener-g egg replacer prepared with water)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Instructions

1) Preheat oven to 350* and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2) In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar, then add "egg" and vanilla.
3) In a second bowl, mix together flour, soda, spices, and salt.  Add this dry mix to the other bowl and mix well.  Then stir in oats, raisins, and walnuts.
4) With hands or spoons, form dough into little balls and place on baking sheet, flattening slightly.  Bake about 12 minutes or until bottoms have started to brown--they will appear too soft to be done, but they just need to sit out for 10 minutes or so after baking in order to firm up.  Makes about 2-3 dozen small cookies.