Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (Vanishing)

One Friday afternoon, I had walked into Jeanne’s kitchen and was knocked over by the wonderful aroma of oatmeal cookies baking in the oven. I was reminded of just how amazing our brains are to be able to store some of those nice, treasured memories that are triggered by smell alone. And, it’s somewhat tantalizing, too. Like a taste in a smell and a sight in a touch, these cookies, of which a batch was lovingly being put on foil to cool, took me back to my childhood and to the grandparent and maternal kitchens of my young life where fresh-baked cookies were a normal activity. (I’m not much of a boycotter, but if you haven’t made a batch of fresh, tasty, warm homemade cookies in a while, you ought to put the packaged stuff down and do so…)

Jeanne, my genie, my muse, my dearest friend, and most significant, will tell you that if you have made the oatmeal cookie recipe that is on the inside of the lid of the oatmeal container (most likely with a famous colonial Quaker emblazoned on the front of the container), then you have most likely come very close to the recipe below. However, this writer is here to say that this is a time, and taste, tested customization of that standard recipe that elevates the cookie to a whole different level. I will, as I hope you know by now, often advocate flexibility and the willingness to consider a recipe a dynamic roadmap that you don’t necessarily have to follow all the time. However, baking in general and this cookie recipe for sure, usually dictate that you don’t stray too far from the original. To do so, can often yield disappointing results. So, don’t mess with this one. If it says butter, use butter. Don’t worry about too much cinnamon. Follow closely and you won’t be disappointed.

And thank you, Jeanne. You are the best!

Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

½ pound butter softened

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 heaping teaspoons cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

3 cups Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)

1 cup raisins

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Heat oven to 350 degrees .

Beat together butter and sugars until creamy.

Add eggs and vanilla; mix well.

Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well

Stir in oats, raisins and nuts; mix well

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to aluminum foil on counter top (this keeps them slightly chewy)

Makes about 4 dozen