Thursday, October 12, 2006

Basic Oatmeal cookies

About a month ago I found a great basic oatmeal cookie. I have been reworking it to make it a little healthier and have changed a few things. I used whole wheat flour for half the all-purpose flour, I use dried cranberries instead of raisins, and raw cane sugar for brown sugar. They end up tasting so good.

This past week in daycare/preschool we were learning about the letter "A". We had a story about an alligator name Alec who baked apple pies, apple muffins, and apple cookies. I decided to make apple cookies so I just added 1 cup of diced fresh apple instead of raisins. They were so good and stayed very moist. Next week we are studding Bonny Bunny and she likes carrots so I may have to see if I can add carrots to this recipe...lol!

OATMEAL COOKIES

¾ c unsalted butter, softened (real butter makes it so much better)
¾ c white sugar
¾ c packed light brown sugar (or turbinado raw cane sugar)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ¼ c all-purpose flour (½ c all purpose flour, ¾ whole wheat flour)
1 tsp baking soda
¾ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
2 ¾ c rolled oats (quick cooking)
1 c raisins (dried cranberries, dried cherries, diced apple, etc)

1. Pre-heat oven to 375°.
2. In large bowl, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until fluffy. Stir together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Gradually beat into butter mixture. Stir in oats and raisins. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. Cool slightly, remove from sheet to wire rack. Cool and store in air tight container.

***I use a small cookie scoop to make my cookies all the same size. I also use air bake cookie sheets so the bottoms don't burn. Since we live in a higher altitude I add about ¼ c extra flour and bake my cookies for about 12-13 minutes.

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