For lots of us, this time of year is all about the baking. Growing up, once school went on Christmas break, we went into cookie overdrive. I’ve talked about this before on my blog and it’s one of my happiest memories. My mom, my sister and I would bake dozens and dozens of cookies for holiday gift giving. About 15 years ago, my mom compiled all those favorite recipes into a book for each of the kids for Christmas. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that one of those old favorites was actually vegan! Since then, it’s become my go-to Oatmeal Raisin Cookie.
The background on this cookie is a little sketchy, meaning that the recipe sometimes came out flat, crisp and wafer-like, so much so that we always knew them as Lacy Raisin Wafers. Colorful name, isn’t it? Other times, they came out like a more traditional oatmeal raisin cookie. Since I’ve been making this recipe obsessively the last couple of months, I’ve never gotten the wafer version, so I’m renaming them. Either way they turn out, they are perfectly sweet with just-right-spices.
Awesome Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Makes 2 dozen
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (fresh is best)
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 to 1/2 cup water
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, oats, brown sugar and raisins. Mix together with a wooden spoon or spatula, breaking up any clumps of brown sugar. Add the canola oil, vanilla and 1/3 cup water. Stir together, adding additional water if needed to make a cohesive but soft drop cookie dough. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or longer.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cover 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, or lightly oil them. Drop the cookies onto the sheets using 1 heaping tablespoon for each cookie. Place them about 3 inches apart. Bake 15 to 17 minutes until lightly browned and the edges are crisp. Let rest on cookie sheet 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to finish cooling.
I know there are some old photos with the mountains of cookies we used to bake for Christmas, but of course I can’t find them. But it was fun to flip through the old photo albums far longer than I should have today. If I end up unearthing one, I’ll be sure to add it here.
In the meantime, hope your baking is going great! New cookbook contest coming soon.
