Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I have been busy in the kitchen baking and cooking some new recipes up for you and I have decided to send you a new recipe every Wednesday! I'm not the best chef as far as dinner goes and I really prefer baking so I have decided to up my cooking skills and share them with you. A few dinner items I have created the kids were not buying ! I always seem to get the well, it's not as good as Dad's, but it was a good try! Peeesh!

So, I was on the hunt to make some yummy Oatmeal Raisin cookies.  The recipe that I tried was on the Quaker Oats round container under the lid and I didn't care for them. Jenna liked them but, I was not satisfied they were round and kind of puffy.... I prefer flatter and slightly crispy around the edges and soft in the middle! The colors look pretty with the red craisins and the golden yellow raisins.Try them out and let me know how you like them.

Makes about three dozen cookies
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups old fashioned rolled oats (I put mine in the food processor)
3/4 cups golden raisins
3/4 cups dried cranberries
1/2 cup of walnuts blended in the food processor

 
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl beat room temperature butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.  Add two room temperature eggs, vanilla, and walnuts blended from the food processor.  Gradually add  the flour mixture.
Spoon out cookie dough and then flatten with a fork in a criss- cross like pattern .
Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, turning them half way through. When you remove them from the oven, the edges should be lightly brown and the inside should look uncooked. Leave the cookies on the hot pan for 10 minutes where they will continue to cook a bit and firm up in the middle.

Food for thought:

Did you know that whole grains such as oatmeal are considered brain food that a contain 10 grams of protein per cup and 8 Grams of dietary fiber help to lower cholesterol and promote good blood flow through our body/organs which include our brain!

Nuts are also a mega food good for your brain! high in protein, 4 grams for a 1/4 of a cup, 2 grams of fiber which helps reduce cholesterol and diabetes and walnuts contain healthy unsaturated fats. They are high in fat so they should be limited in quanity!

While the oatmeal cookie recipe is still a cookie I am making more food from scratch to eat clean and cut back on the sugar. If you have nut allergies simply omit the walnuts.