Thick, chewy cookies: 2 ways

My mom is chocolate-chip-walnut-cookie fiend. She loves them. Every time I come home from school she pretty much doesn't let me go back until I've whipped her up a batch. She leaves a few out, and then wraps the rest individually in saran wrap and places them in the freezer: that way, every night she snatches one out, pops it in the microwave and then devours it with a glass of cold milk. It's pure genius. And I always get to bring a few back with me as well :)

While my sweet tooth and I love any cookie, I have to say that oatmeal raisin might be my new favorite. Unfortunately, I'm the only one in my family who feels this way....well, at least until they tried this batch of cookies.

There's something about soaking the raisins in egg and vanilla that leaves you with perfectly sweetened and plump raisins that make and already amazing cookie exponentially better. That, plus freezing the dough before popping them in the oven ensures a thick, chewy, almost gooey cookie that's perfect both fresh out of the oven or later on that day.

I wrote up this recipe the exact way I made them: half for me, and half for the rest of my family...that is, until they daringly tried the oatmeal raisin and fell in love. I guess that just means I need to make more, always a good thing.

Thick, chewy cookies: 2 ways

For cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1/2 + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups oats (not quick cooking)

1/2 cup golden raisins*

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Make cookies:

Preheat oven to 350F and line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract: add in the raisins, stir to evenly coat, and set aside.

In the base of a standing mixer, or a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Add in 1 egg and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and cream until smooth. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture and mix only until just combined. Stir in the oats, and then transfer half of the dough to a medium sized mixing bowl.

In one of the bowls, stir in the chopped walnuts and chocolate chips. In the other bowl, stir in the raisins (try to separate them as best as you can from the excess egg/vanilla mixture), cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Here, I find it best to wrap the doughs in saran wrap and place them in the freezer for 30 minutes to ensure a super thick and chewy cookie, but if you can't wait that long scoop them out by the tablespoon full and bake them for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 3 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire wrack, or to your belly :)

*Of course you can still use regular raisins, but I prefer golden raisins as they are a tad sweeter.