Spiced Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Taking a short break from all of the stone fruit this season to bring you some classic, no-fuss cookies. Soft, chewy, warmly spiced oatmeal cookies with raisins aaaaand toasted walnuts. I really must be growing up if I’m finally choosing mix-ins other than chocolate chips. What is happening. These cookies blew my mind. They have so many textures going on, so much flavour and are somehow exactly what the rains ordered, with a cup of piping hot something. Let’s bake!

The recipe is adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction. I halved it, used honey instead of molasses, added more spices because the cinnamon was begging for nutmeg and cloves, and used instant (or quick-cooking) oats because I had a ton lying around. Rolled oats are recommended but honestly, it’s not catastrophic to use the instant variety either. You need a little more of them because they are finer and more absorbent than rolled oats, but I found them to be just as wonderfully chewy.

The walnuts! Can we talk about how I’m actually excited about walnuts! They are toasted to a deep brown in the oven before being mixed into the dough, and the flavour is just AMAZING. Plus, a lot of welcome crunch. Sally’s genius tip for the raisins is to briefly soak them in hot water which makes them just plump and juicy enough that they remain interesting. If the firmer, drier kind of raisin is your thing, that’s just fine too.

The spices aren’t overwhelming, but add just enough warmth and deliciousness. Everything works together really well, and the cookies are divine from the oven. So super chewy!

Because of the rains though, there’s a lot of moisture in the air so as the cookies cool, they did lose some of their wonderful crunch on the top, so I would really advise you to dive straight in once they’re out of the oven! Oats in general soften pretty quickly, so this is sort of unavoidable in Mumbai’s weather right now, but it’s not a huge problem. Maaaaake these!!

Spiced Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Soft and chewy spiced oatmeal raisin cookies with toasted walnuts!

Prep Time: 30 minutes mins

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

Total Time: 45 minutes mins

Makes: 12 to 14 cookies

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Ingredients

  

• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
• 1/8 tsp clove powder
• 1/4 tsp salt if using unsalted butter
• 1 and 3/4 cups instant oats (see notes)
• 1/2 cup butter, at room temp (115 gms)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/8 cup caster sugar
• 1 egg at room temp (see notes)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp honey

Instructions

• In a small bowl, soak the raisins in hot water. Cover for 10 mins to let them soften and plump up. Then drain and set aside.
• If your walnuts are un-toasted, preheat the oven to 175 C. Tip the chopped walnuts onto a baking tray and bake for 4 to 5 minutes until fragrant and browned. I like mine a little extra toasty, but you can bake them for lesser time if you like.
• In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking soda and spices. Add the salt and oats and stir well. Set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugars with a mixer on low speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla and honey and beat again.
• Fold in the flour mixture slowly to make a thick, sticky dough.
• Gently press the soaked raisins in a kitchen towel to dry any remaining moisture. Add them to the dough along with the roasted walnuts. Fold to combine.
• Cover the bowl with clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 175 C and line a baking tray with a silicone mat or lightly grease the tray.
• Roll the dough into equal sized rounds, flatter rather than taller. You should get between 12 to 14 cookies. Bake in two batches if needed. Place the dough rounds on the tray 2 inches apart and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until lightly browned and puffy.
• Press down gently on the cookies if they are too puffy and let them cool for 5 minutes before digging in! Cookies will soften soon in humid environments because oats are highly absorbent, so best stored in an airtight tin in the fridge for 10 days.

Notes

*If using rolled oats, 1 and 1/2 cups is enough.

* The egg adds a lot of 'chew' and softness to the cookies, but if you'd like to substitute it, I think milk would work. Add about 1/3 cup to the dough, just enough that it is thick, but scoop-able. I can't promise the texture will be exactly the same. Let me know how it goes!

*Prep-time does not include chilling time.

*Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction

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