Oatmeal Cookies

I don't remember ever eating oatmeal cookies as a kid. The name made them sound like an awful idea to me; I could never understand why someone would want to ruin cookies with oatmeal. It wasn't until a few years ago when someone requested I make oatmeal cookies that I realized oatmeal cookies are amazing. The oatmeal seems to melt right into the cookie and doesn't give it some weird texture like I always imagined it would. The cinnamon flavor of the cookie is my favorite part.

The only recipe that I've ever used to make oatmeal cookies is the one that comes on the lid of the Quaker Oats canister. I changed it slightly to suit my tastes better as I like cookies that don't look like a semi-melted mess (which is how it always turned out when I followed the recipe exactly). The original recipe calls for raisins, but I tend to put chocolate chips in instead. Neither are needed and the cookie tastes great with nothing added. You can replace the chocolate chips with nuts, craisins, or anything that would combine well with cinnamon and oatmeal.

Oatmeal Cookies (Printer-friendly PDF Version)
1 C unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
1 C packed brown sugar
1/2 C granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
2 C flour
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
3 C Quaker Oats
1 C raisins (or whatever else you want to add in)

Cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and beat the mixture until just combined.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until combined. Add the oatmeal and stir until well combined.

Add in any raisins or chocolate chips and stir until they seem evenly distributed. I do this part by hand (literally, the mixture is too thick for me to use a wooden spoon and I don't want to over beat the dough).

Roll the mixture into 1 inch balls and place them evenly spaced apart on a cookie sheet. The cookies won't spread very much, but place them at least an inch apart just in case!  Bake the cookies at 350 for 10 to 12 minutes.

Let cool on cookie sheet for a minute before transferring to a wire cooling rack. Cool completely and place the cookies in a tight sealing storage container.

This recipe makes 4 dozen soft oatmeal cookies.

Approximate nutrition facts per cookie (plain): 76 calories, 4.25g fat, 8g carbs, 1g protein, 59mg sodium

Adding raisins adds 10 calories and 3 carbs per cookie. Adding chocolate chips adds 24 calories, 1.3g fat, and 3 carbs per cookie.