BA’s Best: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
For the true oatmeal raisin diehards, there are these. Riddled with raisins and anointed with oats, everything about these insists upon the goodness of this cookie flavour with unwavering confidence. Although not someone who ranks this flavour highly among cookies, I will admit that the delightfully crunchy edges and soft, sinking centres were perfect (once you ignored the offensive clusters of raisins and instead tried to concentrate on the brilliant marriage of toasted oats and pecans). The ice cream scoop-sized balls of cookie dough bake down in a way that yields super thin, crispy golden edges yet decadently thick, soft centres that come from the puddling of the dough in the heat. These cookies are purposely intended to be over-the-top huge so keep in mind that you will definitely need at least 2 baking sheets and that ideally they should be larger than standard size. It would certainly be advisable to bake in batches should you find yourself in a position where you are deciding whether to do so versus baking the cookies closer together. As with all cookies, but especially with these I found, the texture is ideal when warm or freshly-baked. If wanting to make ahead, try doing just the dough and baking shortly before serving for maximum texture benefits.
BA’s Best: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Taken from BA’s Best arsenal, with some helpful tweaks
Makes ~1 dozen LARGE cookies
Ingredients:
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup pecan halves, chopped
1 cup all-purpose flour, measured correctly
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg (preferably freshly grated)
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
¼ cup white sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
2 tbsp real maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup raisins (or other dried fruit)
Directions:
Position both racks in roughly the centre of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F. Pour the oats through a sieve and discard any powder or oat fragments that come out (this stops the small bits from burning in the oven when the oats get toasted). Spread the sieved oats out on a lined baking sheet in a single layer and toast in the oven until lightly golden, ~5 minutes. Add the chopped pecans, toss to combine, and bake for another 4-5 minutes until the nuts are toasty and the oats are deep golden-brown (but not BURNT!) Set aside to cool. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees F.
Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Stir in the cooled oats and pecans. Set aside. Using electric beaters or a stand mixer (preferably with the paddle attachment), beat together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar in a large bowl on medium speed until light and fluffy, ~3-4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg, syrup, and vanilla. Beat until combined, ~1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, reduce the speed to low and beat in the flour-oat mixture and raisins until just combined (don’t overmix). Let the dough sit at room temperature for at least an hour (this hydrates the oats).
Line 2 large baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper. Using either a 2-oz ice cream scoop or a ¼-cup measure, portion out the cookie dough onto the prepared sheets (~6 cookies per sheet, spaced 3 inches apart and away from the sides of the baking sheets). Make sure the dough balls are formed in rounded balls and do NOT flatten. Bake the cookies until golden-brown, ~17 minutes, rotating the sheets from front-to-back and top-to-bottom racks. Cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes then transfer directly to cooling racks and let cool completely. Enjoy being the kind of perv who likes raisins.
