Thursday, April 8, 2010

Barefoot Bloggers - Raisin Pecan Oatmeal Cookies


Our first Barefoot Bloggers recipe this month is Raisin Pecan Oatmeal Cookies. I'm not a fan of raisins, nor of oatmeal raisin cookies. But I made them anyway. I kinda had to.

They were my pick.

Excuse me? You don't like raisins or oatmeal raisin cookies and you picked an oatmeal raisin cookie??

I know, I know. I had every intention of picking a savory recipe when my turn came. Like many of us, I belong to several baking groups and need recipes that can also double as dinner. But when I saw Ina Garten make these the other day, I couldn't wait to try them. Mine didn't turn out as lovely as hers, but who cares when they taste amazing? I toyed with replacing the raisins with dried cranberries but found an extra bag of raisins in my pantry. I used Vietnamese cinnamon and the flavor was fantastic. Honestly, the cookie dough was almost better than the baked cookie! And yes, they were good enough that I've overcome my dislike of raisins. Now THAT'S a great cookie.

Tips:
  1. If you love cinnamon, don't be afraid to increase it a little.
  2. I toasted my nuts, chopped them and them combined them (separating any raisins that were stuck together) in a large bowl with the raisins and oatmeal. I find this distributes the mix ins better.
  3. If you wanted to reduce the raisins and add chocolate chips it would probably be pretty yummy.
  4. I made some cookies flattened as Ina instructs and some unflattened, and thought the flattened ones were not chewy enough. If you prefer a thin, crisp cookie, flattened is the way to go. If you like chewy, don't flatten. They will flatten out some but will be chewier.
  5. If you're going for chewy, pull the cookies out when the edge seems set but the middles are still a bit soft. Let them cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Oatmeal Raisin Pecan Cookies
Printable Recipe

Makes 30-35 cookies

1 1/2 cups pecans
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
1 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups old fashioned oatmeal
1 1/2 cups raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the pecans on a sheet pan and bake for 5 minutes, until crisp. Set aside to cool. Chop very coarsely.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla.

Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together into a medium bowl. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Add the oats, raisins, and pecans and mix just until combined.

Using a small ice-cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop 2-inch mounds of dough onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper. Flatten slightly with a damp hand. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer the cookies to a baking rack and cool completely.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great pick! And I did sub chocolate chips for raisins and they were wonderful!! : )

GratefulPrayerThankfulHeart said...

Dear Leslie,

I agree... these were really delicious cookies! You picked a winner :)

I do as you do with adding the raisins and nuts to the dry ingredients rather than adding at the end.

So nice stopping by!
Kindly, ldh

Penny said...

Great Pick Leslie! I would have passed these up if you hadn't chosen them. They were they best oatmeal cookies I have ever eaten. Thanks so much.

Judy said...

Brave choice! I've finally found an oatmeal raisin cookie I like. These are truly delicious.

Future Grown-Up said...

Thank you for picking this recipe. It had to be the best Oatmeal Raisin cookie I've ever had.

Hands down, yummy eaten raw or baked!

Yogini Kitchen said...

This is so great! I love the idea of pulling at the edges of the cookies...

You picked a great recipe for not wanting to eat them. And good call on toasting the nuts - ours were delicious.

Great pick!

Unknown said...

You chose a great recipe - I love them

Anonymous said...

I'm with everybody in here, you picked a great recipe, who knew that raisins & oatmeal could taste sooo good.

Anonymous said...

I think it's great that you chose something you normally wouldn't - I felt the same way about oatmeal raisin as you, but these have certainly changed my mind!

margot said...

Those look yummy! Ina can really sell you on a recipe, can't she? I never think I like oatmeal raisin cookies, but then when I eat them, I enjoy them.

Diana's Cocina said...

Leslie, this cookie could easily become a favorite of mine!

Kayte said...

You don't like oatmeal raisin cookies???? Well, just box them up and send them here any time you like as they are one of the favs around here. These look wonderful. Always love to hear what you think of subbing and changing and doing...I learn a lot. Yep, those cookies look wonderful to me!

Chats the Comfy Cook said...

Please stop by when you have a moment to pick up something from my blog.

The Domestic Adventurer said...

Great pick! I enjoyed this recipe. I'll definitely make these again.

Susan said...

I love oatmeal raisin cookies and will definitely have to try these. :)

Anne said...

Wow I'm glad these helped you overcome your raisin aversion! My husband would absolutely love these- I think I'll have to make them! Let's be honest... we all love anything that Ina makes! :)

Unknown said...

I love that you picked a recipe for something you didn't even like Leslie! Ina has a way of making you do things like that - I want to make everything I see her prepare on the show :) These look awesome and I do enjoy oatmeal raisin cookies so hopefully I'll get to them soon.

spike. said...

thanks for the pick! I just got around to posting today and did kind of a crazy version. Your cookies look great

Anonymous said...

I'm not an oatmeal cookie fan, but everyone who had these said they were the best oatmeal raisin cookies they've had. For myself... I thoroughly enjoyed the uncooked dough. :-) Good choice!