Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Reposted from my old blog archive from December 2009 – I am reposting some recipes and old food stuffs so everything is in one place.

I had a request from my husband for oatmeal raisin cookies, which are is favorite, so I set out and found a great recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Her trick for thick, chewy cookies is to refrigerate the cookie dough before baking so it doesn’t spread as much when baking, genius! I followed her recipe to the T except for that I added dried cranberries in with the raisins and didn’t add the walnuts. I baked my cookies for 10 minutes (probably because I only let them sit in the fridge for an hour…I got impatient). I doubled the recipe so I would have plenty of cookies to distribute between the workplaces and leave a few at home. Next time I think I may try a bit of nutmeg, cocoa or small chocolate chips added into the recipe.

 

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

 

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

3/4 cup raisins

 

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Stir this into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the oats, raisins and walnuts, if using them.

At this point you can either chill the dough for a bit in the fridge and then scoop it, or scoop the cookies onto a sheet and then chill the whole tray before baking them. You could also bake them right away, if you’re impatient, but I do find that they end up slightly less thick.

The cookies should be two inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake them for 10 to 12 minutes (your baking time will vary, depending on your oven and how cold the cookies were going in), taking them out when golden at the edges but still a little undercooked-looking on top. Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for five minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool.

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Orange & Gray Cookies

 

Reposted from my old blog archive from December 2009 – I am reposting some recipes and old food stuffs so everything is in one place.

I was browsing the Twinings website for recipes the other day because I enjoyed the Earl Gray cupcakes so much and I found a recipe for Lady Gray Cookies. I modified it slightly and used Earl Gray tea and Orange Zest, turning them into Orange & Gray Cookies. This recipe is done in two parts, the dough needs to be refrigerated for a few hours or overnight before baking. I found that the cookies were a bit dry for my liking because they are meant to be served with tea, so I made a subtle orange buttercream frosting for them. This makes them perfect for solo eating.

 

Orange & Gray Cookies

(Modified from Twinings)

 

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 hot cup water

4 Earl Gray teabags

1 large egg

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp fresh orange zest

small squeeze of fresh orange juice

 

Take the 1/4 cup of hot water and add the four Earl Gray teabags. Let that steep for 3-5 minutes allowing the teabags to absorb the water making a tea concentrate. Squeeze all of the liquid out of the tea bags and allow the concentrate to cool. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg and then the fresh orange zest and then the tea concentrate.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and the baking powder. Add half of the flour mix at a time into the wet ingredients, mix until incorporated and a dough forms. Gather the dough into the center of a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough overnight or at least a few hours.

Once the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Flour a board and form it into a round circular roll so you can slice off 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick pieces.

Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 12 – 15 minutes. (Mine needed 13 minutes.) Once completely cooled, make the icing.

Made 30 cookies.

 

Orange Buttercream Icing

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

1/2 tbsp fresh orange zest

1/8 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of salt

1 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

 

Mix together the powdered sugar, butter, orange zest, vanilla, salt and orange juice until smooth. Add orange juice as needed to make it spreadable.

This made just enough icing for me to put a light coat of icing on each of my 30 cookies. If you want heavier icing, I suggest doubling the recipe.