Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

A chewy, soft traditional cookie with a spin. Made with bourbon soaked raisins and comforting cinnamon, these cookies make for an elevated, delicious trip to your childhood. 

Yield: makes about 14-16 cookies

Time: 30-35 minutes  

Ingredients 

• 1 stick + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1⁄2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1⁄4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1⁄4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 3⁄4 cup raisins
• 2 tablespoons bourbon

Instructions 

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In a small bowl, mix raisins with bourbon. Set aside. Be sure to do this first thing to allow time for your raisins to soak up the bourbon.
• In a Kitchen Aid using the paddle attachment, cream room temperature butter with brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla extract and cinnamon. Cream mixture until light and fluffy. 5-10 minutes on medium speed.
• Add room temperature egg and mix. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl to make sure everything mixes seamlessly together. If your egg is too cold, it will not mix seamlessly into the batter because it will cool down the room temperature butter. (Trick: add cold egg to a bowl of warm water to bring the egg to room temperature faster.)
• In a separate medium bowl, whisk together all purpose flour, baking soda, salt and old fashioned rolled oats. Add these dries slowly to the butter/sugar mixture in 3 additions. Scrape down sides and bottom of the mixing bowl between each addition. Do not over mix.
• Mix in bourbon soaked raisins with all the non-absorbed bourbon into the bowl. Finish mixing by hand with a spatula to make sure raisins are incorporated evenly into the batter.
• Using a cookie scoop, scoop cookies onto a parchment lined baking sheet, 8 per sheet. Bake cookies at 350°F for 6 minutes. Tap baking sheet on counter to flatten the cookies. Rotate and bake for another 6-8 minutes.
• Allow cookies to set up on the cookie sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes: 

As the cookies cool, they will slightly deflate and you'll start to see the texture of the oats and raisins. You can add icing and sandwich the cookies together to make cream pies, or, I prefer these with cinnamon ice cream to make an ice cream sandwich. But, cinnamon ice cream is hard to find.