Spicy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

So, yesterday I was telling you about the buttery jam cookies that no one wanted at the party, right? Well, today, I'm going to tell you about the star of the party.

Who would have thought? An oatmeal raisin cookie would outshine... cheesecake, jam cookies, and brownies? That's how damn tasty this recipe is. It's everything that you expect an oatmeal raisin cookie to be... chewy with subtle hints of spice. Sturdy in texture, but complex in flavor. This is the oatmeal cookie that can go mano-e-mano against a chocolate chip cookie. Yes, you heard me.... mano-e-mano. It's that good.

These cookies were so good that people were shoving them in their pockets to take home with them. Thankfully, my mom had some cookie tins with these and other cookies in them to give to guests to take home, so that the cookies didn't have to endure the lint and used kleenex lining the bottoms of their coat pockets. This is an oatmeal cookie recipe that I'll whip up on a whim. I mean... normally that's reserved only for peanut butter cookies or chocolate chip cookies... but step aside old favorites... there's a new cookie in town...
Spicy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Originally Beth's Spicy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

The mix of shortening and butter is what gives this cookie it's chew... I know, a lot of people don't like using shortening (although I could care less), but it's important for the chewiness. So, if you like chewy cookies, definitely follow this recipe verbatim.

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup butter flavored shortening
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, butter flavored shortening, brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Stir in the oats and raisins. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes until light and golden. Do not overbake. Let them cool for 2 minutes before removing from cookie sheets to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Yield: 3 Dozen.

TWD: Buttery Jam Cookies

Continuing on with the Smorgasboard (I know I didnt spell that right) of holiday cookies... Heather of Randomosity and the Girl chose Buttery Jam Cookies for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie. And Heather, I'm right there with you... how could you go wrong with a recipe called... Buttery Jam Cookies?

These cookies are super moist and tender and very cakey. Not really the consistency of your regular ole cookie. I added cherry preserves and since these were going to be on a cookie tray at a Christmas Party, I festive-ed them up with little maraschino cherries on top.

These cookies were good, but not as good as I had hoped. They honestly didn't have much flavor at all. I added additional cherry preserves to the recipe, as I just didn't think the amount called for in the recipe would be enough for my cherry-loving self, but they didn't have an overwhelming cherry flavor. Or, even a slight cherry flavor.

I rolled and flattened my cookies out with wet hands when putting them on my cookie sheet, because I had heard other TWDers saying that they ended up looking exactly how you placed them on the cookie sheet... and I wanted a smooth looking cookie, not a biscuity, sconey cookie.

Sadly, no one touched these cookies on the cookie tray. I thought maybe they were a little too retro-y looking with the maraschino cherry and all.

All-in-all not a bad cookie at all... but nothing to write home about. Not buttery or jam-y. Hmph. Oh well...

Brown Sugar Cookies

There comes a point in your 28 years of life that you start to think that you've tried every imaginable type of cookie. I mean... especially if you've got a sweet tooth like mine. Obviously there are going to be variations of cookies that I haven't tried, but I didn't really expect to come across a flavor profile in a cookie that seemed different to me. So, I was VERY surprised when I bit into one of these cookies...

Brown Sugar Cookies.

See... I know exactly what you're thinking. You're thinking that you already know how these cookies taste without even tasting them. You can imagine in your head what a brown sugar cookie would taste like, right???

Well, you're wrong. Because this cookie is deceptively titled. You see... it should be called...

Out of this world browned butter brown sugar cookie.

BROWNED BUTTER. OH MY GOD WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE? Sweet, sweet browned butter. Wow. I mean, sure I'd heard of browned butter pasta sauces and whatnot, but browned butter in a cookie. GENIUS. I'm sorry. I don't mean to keep shouting at you... but these cookies are so DAMN good.

Originally, I think this is a Cook's Illustrated Recipe... and bless their hearts for thinking of putting browned butter and brown sugar into a cookie. These cookies are rich and interesting without being pretentious. Texturally, they're what you'd expect from a brown sugar cookie... molassey and chewy with crispy edges. But the flavor... the flavor is so deep. I feel like it could be described like a wine... it starts off sweet and then finishes with a deep, rich butter flavor that lingers on your palate. Awesomeness. I will definitely make these again and you should try them, too.

I found the recipe here

But, because I love them so much... I'm reposting the recipe for you (and me)

Brown Sugar Cookies
Makes 2 Dozen Cookies
from Cook's Illustrated

Here's a tip on browning the butter... brown it in a skillet. I first tried in a saucepan and it was taking forever. Transferred it to a skillet and voile! Way quicker. But, be careful not to burn the butter!

14 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks)
1/4 cup granulated sugar (about 1 3/4 ounces)
2 cups packed dark brown sugar (14 ounces)
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons (about 10 1/2 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Heat 10 tablespoons of the butter in a pan over medium-high heat until melted. Continue to cook the butter until it is browned a dark golden color and smells nutty, about 1 to 3 minutes. Transfer the browned butter to a bowl and stir the rest of the butter into the hot butter until it melts- let this rest for 15 min. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a baking dish, mix granulated sugar and a ¼ cup of the brown sugar until combined well; set this mixture aside to roll dough balls in. Mix flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a bowl. Add 1 ¾ cup brown sugar and salt to cooled butter and mix until there are no lumps. Add egg, yolk, and vanilla to butter mixture and mix well, then add flour and mix until just combined. Roll dough into balls about 1 ½ inches in diameter, and roll balls in brown sugar and white sugar mixture. Place balls about 2 inches apart on parchment lined baking sheets.

Bake sheets one at a time until cookies are puffy and lightly browned, about 12- 14 minutes. (It says the cookies will look slightly raw between some of the cracks and seem underdone, but be careful not to overbake.) Cool on sheet for about 5 minutes and then transfer to a rack to cool.

Masterpiece White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

There is a company here in Nashville called The Christie Cookie. They have three basic cookie recipes: Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, and White Chocolate Macadamia. Now, let me just state for the record that their White Chocolate Macadamia nut cookie is sublime. It's buttery, and soft, and the white chocolate is sweet and the nuts crunchy. It's like the white chocolate macadamia nut cookie at it's very best. But... it still has that "mass production" type of feel to it. You know what I mean? Like, it's delicious... but you taste it and can tell it's not homemade.

Anyway... any white chocolate macadamia nut cookie that I eat automatically gets compared to the Christie Cookie.

This recipe is from Anna over at Cookie Madness and this is the second time I've made this cookie. It is delicious. It has the addition of Baileys Liquor in it... and while you can't really pinpoint that flavor in the end result, it does give the cookies an additional depth of flavor. These cookies bake up thick and sturdy and are very easy to make.

My mom invited me over this past weekend for a Cookie Baking Bonanza and this was one of the recipes we made. In comparison to the Christie Cookie... these are a little different. These are not as soft and less buttery. I think sometime, I'll try this recipe with some butter flavored shortening added (in place of some of the butter) and add some toffee chips to the batter to see if I can get the consistency, crumb, and flavor profile of the Christie Cookie. Regardless, if you're looking for an awesome white chocolate chip cookie recipe... this should be your starting (and ending!) point.

Recipe at Anna's Blog for Masterpiece White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

TWD: Grandma's All Occasion Sugar Cookies

Well... not my Grandma's. More like Dorie's Grandma and Dorie's Husband's Grandma.

Semantics aside, this Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Ulrike of Kuchenlatein. Ulrike has a lovely blog and as I'm writing this post, it finally occured to me to try to figure out what the heck Kuchenlatein means... and all I can find in google are kitchen latin or dog latin? Oh well... foreign languages were never my strong suit.

Truth be told... I'm not much of a sugar cookie girl. Particularly not the type of sugar cookies that get decorated, because they always seem hard and flavorless and merely vehicles for decoration. And folks, I take taste over appearance ANY day.

So, when this recipe was announced I was like... oh great.... another opportunity for me to take something that is supposed to be decorated and dolled up and turn it into something very ugly and tasteless. Hooray.

The cookie itself wasn't bad. But... again... it's a crunchy-ish, plain cookie that needs an eye for detail to pretty it up. Better eyes than I have, that is...

Anyway... I did make some stars and christmas trees and decorated them with some food coloring added to some melted white chocolate chips... so, I can at least say my cookies are festive! Check out Ulrike's blog for the recipe!

TWD: Linzer Sables

Before I signed up for Tuesdays with Dorie, I'd never heard of a linzer sable. I mean... I'd be apt to call these cookies Jam Sandwich cookies or something equally white trashy. I'm kind of an advocate of the name of something telling you what it's going to taste like. Because, if I tell my brother, Mike... "These are Linzer Sable Cookies" he's going to look at me with a snarl and push the plate aside with a... "ummm... no thanks. Where's the chocolate pie?" So, while it sounds cool to say... "Linzer Sables" I ended up making these for thanksgiving and just told everyone... "These are Chocolate Hazelnut Sandwich Cookies." Cause that's what mine were.

I used hazelnuts for the nut in the dough and for the filling I ended up using a crunchy chocolate hazelnut spread (think... crunchy nutella. You can buy it at world market). I think all the people who actually tried the cookies, liked them. But honestly, they were a little out of the ordinary looking on our thanksgiving dessert buffet. The smell of cinnamon and hazelnuts was intoxicating and I found the dough to be very easy to work with. I ended up using a 2 inch round shot glass for the cookie cutter and the end of a decorating tip (per Dorie's suggestion) for the center. Usually, I'm not patient enough for fussy looking cookies like these. But these weren't fussy at all. They just look that way!

Next time, I will use jam in the center though. I think that the cinnamon would go better with a nice jam inside... and it would look prettier to have a glistening red or pink showing through the center instead of the dark brown. The most surprising thing to me about these cookies was that they weren't hard and crunchy. I expected them to be, but they actually turned out firm, yet soft. Not crumbly like a shortbread (although, I think technically a sable is supposed to be like a shortbread, yes?), but soft. When you bit into them, they didnt break into a million pieces like I feared they would.

Thanks to Noskos of Living the Life for choosing this recipe.

Oh and sorry for the crappy photos. I had to photograph the cookies at night in bad lighting. Ugh.

TWD: Thanksgiving Twofer Pie

First let me just preface this post by saying... I'm not a fan of pumpkin pie. Like, at all. But Pecan Pie is one of my absolute favorite things in this world. It's right up there with Cherry Pie, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Daniel Craig, Snickers, ASICS Running Shoes, and Aveda Black Malva Conditoner. I admit it. I have a love affair with Pecan Pie. (and for the record in my family... it's pecahn not pee-can pie).

Ahhhh... pecan pie, how do I love thee? Let me count thy ways... I love your sweetness, your smooth texture and crunchy top. And I'm a pecan pie purist. I'm not a big fan of throwing in chocolate chips to make a derby pie, or anything crazy like that. I don't even want ice cream or whipped cream on top of my pecan pie. Just give me the pie plate and a fork and I'm good to go.

This week, (errr... last week? we were allowed the opportunity to post late so that we could have a fresh pie for thanksgiving) for Tuesdays with Dorie Vibi of La Casserole Carree (click there for the recipe and click "English" in the Google Toolbar to the right) chose Dorie's Thanksgiving Twofer Pie. By Twofer, she means pumpkin and pecan pie all rolled into one.

At first I was like.. holy jeez, I have to destroy my beloved pecan pie by putting pumpkin in it? But the closer it got to Thanksgiving... the more I started to think that I might just actually like this pie. I mean, I have recently acquired a love for the spices in pumpkin flavored dishes and I thought that the pecan pie topping might just win me over to the pumpkin pie side.

I used Dorie's Pie Crust Recipe again (I accidently made the double crust for a peach galette awhile back and so I had a single crust already in the freezer, woo hoo) and folks, let me just say... I am the WORST pie crimper as well as the worst blind baker. For whatever reason this time my pie crust shrunk like wool in the dryer and and was just pooling butter in the bottom. But, whatever, I perserved and the crust turned out fine. Ugly, but fine.

Honestly, I wanted to love this pie. But, I didn't. It wasn't sweet enough for me. It was kind of like a light pumpkin pie with pecans thrown in. I felt like it didn't resemble a pecan pie at all. I'm glad I tried it though... and unfortunately... with so many other desserts on our thanksgiving buffett (including 2 pecan pies) I think there were only a couple of slices taken out of this pie. Oh well, at least I got to take it home and photograph it properly for my blog...
I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving!