Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

"Some of the most beautiful places in the world, your true soulmate, or obvious answers are staring you right in the face, and you don't even notice them." On a gorgeous unseasonably warm day in November, a friend and I went hiking in Starved Rock State Park. A first for me, a second return trip for her. With no knowledge of the terrain or trail conditions, we embarked on an ambitious 5 mile "catch your breath, break a sweat, took only one wrong turn" hike. Not sure if we felt more accomplished or ravenous when we finished. How or why it took me so long to discover the incredible canyons, bluffs, rock formations, waterfalls, views of the Illinois River, and multi-layered landscapes of a place only the eight-four miles away from my home is the proverbial '$64,000 question'. If I hadn't spent all but about three years of my semi-long life in Illinois, maybe I could come up with a credible answer. If I was someone who didn't drive hundreds of miles to hike through parks in surrounding states, maybe I would be able to put forth a plausible reason why I overlooked the one located in my own backyard. If I didn't own two pairs of hiking shoes, a set of hiking poles, and more outdoor running/hiking gear currently in inventory in any number of athletic stores, I could hide behind having a lack of gear. Well, the simplest answer is I wasn't able to see what was almost right in front of me. With my 'virtual' blinders now off, I am already planning a return trip as well as an overnight stay in one of the rustic cabins. I need to make up for all of the years of lost opportunities of embracing all of the park's wonders. Although I could do without another getting lost experience.

Which brings me to talking about this "on a scale of 1 to 10, it's a 38" Oatmeal Raisin Cookie. With my nephew returning home for an extended Thanksgiving visit, I texted him to ask if there was a cookie he wanted me to make. I thought or was rather pretty certain he would request Irish Shortbread. What he texted back was 'oatmeal raisin'. My first thought was 'yikes, I don't think I have a really great oatmeal raisin cookie recipe'. Seriously. With his plane set to land twelve hours after the text exchange, I didn't have time to go on a down the rabbit hole Oatmeal Cookie recipe hunt. But I did have one for a killer Oatmeal Currant Cookie. Which meant the over the top Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe was almost staring me right in the face. Cookie crisis and failure to live up to the best aunt in the universe reputation averted!

All I needed to do was to gather up the ingredients and make a few minor tweaks to a cookie recipe where, fortunately the dough didn't need to chill for several hours or overnight. It's also one of those recipes where all of the ingredients are almost always in your refrigerator and cabinets. 

A simple cookie needs simple ingredients. Save the fancy raisins and imported steel cut oats for something else. These Oatmeal Raisin cookies want, need, must, have to be made only with Thompson Seedless Raisins and Quaker Old-Fashioned Oats.

If you are seeking Oatmeal Raisin Cookie perfection, use pastry flour. This high starch, low protein flour creates a fluffy, meltingly tender, crumbly texture in cookies. Most bakeries use either cake flour or pastry flour which may explain in part why bakery cookies usually are nothing short of beautiful deliciousness. With whole wheat pastry flour now readily available, we all can now create our own bakery perfect cookie confections! 

After sifting the dry ingredients (pastry flour, baking soda, cinnamon and kosher salt), the butter and sugars are beat until light and fluffy. This usually takes at least 5 minutes. Don't be tempted to shorten the sugars-butter beating time. Eggs are added one at a time. After adding the vanilla, the sifted dry ingredients are added in eight additions until just incorporated. With the mixer on low, the oats and raisins are added. Be careful to not over beat the really, really thick batter. 

There is almost a 2 to 1 brown sugar to white sugar ratio in these cookies. However, dark brown sugar accounts for the majority of the 'brown sugar' used. Dark brown sugar has a slightly more complex flavor than light brown sugar resulting in a toffee or caramel like finish to a baked good. I might even go so far as to say the molasses in the dark brown sugar adds a kind of nutty flavor to this Oatmeal Raisin cookie.

Like a bakery cookie these Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are ginormous (approximately 3" to 4" in diameter). Containing slightly more than two tablespoons of dough, the cookie dough balls are golf ball sized. Before putting the baking sheet in a preheated 350 degree (F) oven, the cookies are slightly flattened. You will slightly flatten them again when you rotate the cookie sheet after they have baked for 7 minutes. Total baking time for the Oatmeal Raisin Cookies ranges from 17-20 minutes.

If you love a crunchy, slightly chewy in the center Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, cookie delirium awaits you. Allowing the baked cookie to cool on the baking sheet for about 2-3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack further contributes to their crunchy texture. For a slightly less crispy texture, transfer the baked cookies to a cooling rack immediately after they come out of the oven. 

Another dominant flavor in these Oatmeal Raisin Cookies is cinnamon. If I tell you there are three tablespoons of cinnamon in these cookies, you might think I be sending you down the wrong cinnamon path. But I wouldn't do that to you. I am reluctant to suggest backing down the amount of cinnamon to two tablespoons (if you aren't the biggest fan of cinnamon in your oatmeal cookies) as the three tablespoons is what further differentiates these Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from all others. 

You can reduce the amount of cinnamon if you want to, but would encourage you to stay the course on this recipe and use the three tablespoons. It's what a '38 on a scale of 1 to 10' Oatmeal Raisin Cooking needs.

The next time I want to bring a batch of cookies to a gathering, make a welcome home treat, assemble a gift for friends, put life sustaining snacks in a hiking backpack, the decision to make either Tara's Chocolate Chip Cookies or these Oatmeal Raisin Cookies is going to be a really difficult one. Although, if I had to make that decision today, these throw down worthy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies would win out. 

If there is room for only one bold, spicy, crispy, soul satisfying, addictive Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe in your life, it should be this one. Quite possibly after one bite of these cookies, they may be the only ones you will ever want. With this amazing recipe now staring you in the face, what will you do?

Recipe
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (slight adaptation to the Corner Bakery Cafe Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe)
Makes 40-46 large 3" to 4" sized cookies.

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
4 teaspoons baking soda
3 Tablespoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
2 cups dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
Scant 4 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats (Recommend Old-Fashioned Quaker Oats)
2 to 2 1/2 cups Thompson dark seedless raisins

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Line two  baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and kosher salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
3. In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy (at least 5 minutes). Do not rush this step.
4. Add eggs in one at a time, beating until fully incorporated.
5. Beat in vanilla.
6. Add sifted flour mixture in 8 batches, just until incorporated.
7. Slowly mix in oats and raisins.
8. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop up the equivalent of 2 generous tablespoons (approximately the side of a golf ball). Place on prepared baking sheet (no more than 9 dough balls to a tray). Flatten balls slightly.
9. Bake for 17-20 minutes, rotating the sheet after 7 minutes and slightly flattening again, to ensure even making. Bake until cookies are golden and set.
10. For a crunchier cookie, allow the cookies to cool on baking sheet for at least 2-3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. For a slightly softer cookie, immediately transfer baked cookies to the cooling rack.
11. Store cooled cookies in a tightly covered container or package in cellophane bags tightly tied.

Notes: (1) For a less molasses flavored cookie, use 1 cup dark brown sugar and 1 1/3 cups light brown sugar, firmly packed. (2) I used 2 generous cups of Thompson seedless raisins, but may want to increase to 2 1/2 cups to ensure each cookie has a greater raisin presence. (3) These cookies have a great cinnamon flavor. If you desire a more subtle cinnamon flavor, reduce cinnamon to 2 Tablespoons. But you may be sorry for making that decision. (4) Recommend placing baking tray in the center of the oven and baking one tray at a time.

Views of the Illinois River and changing/falling leaves seen from the trails at Starved Rock State Park in Utica, Illinois (November 2016)

Hot Macadamia Dip

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend." (Melody Beattie) More so than at any other time of the year, the Thanksgiving season encourages all of us to reflect on and openly share the things in life and people we are most thankful for. Many of us include on this list friends, family, and those guardian angels who have come into our lives for sometimes not immediately known reasons. Some of us extend our gratefulness out to those we may not know, but whom we value for their sacrifices, contributions, or heroic actions. Shifting to the 'things' in life, what comes to mind may be somewhat dependent on our age, perspective, values, and/or life experiences. Maybe our health, running water, access to education, our freedom, and open spaces make the list of those things we openly admit to being most grateful for. Secretly our list might include things like chocolate, ice cream, and Netflix.

For a myriad of reasons, I find focusing on the more substantial and thoughtful aspects of gratitude in the days leading up to Thanksgiving to be a bit challenging this year. As at the moment, my gratitude short list is nothing short of what might be considered somewhat superficial. And what might be on this ostensibly half-baked list? Well, movies, books and wine. More important than the 'things' on this list, are the reasons, or rather reason, why. Not only do they happen to be much needed distractions, albeit temporary, from all of the angry rhetoric expressed in the months prior to and days after the recent Presidential election, they are enabling me to keep my sanity as well as the ability to remember all the things I really do like about the people I call friends. My over the top immersion into books, movies and wine is not so much a means of escaping from reality or putting my head in the sand, but rather the means to enable me to regain some perspective on who and what matters to me, on who and what I am genuinely grateful for. By the time Thanksgiving gets here, I want to be in a place where it feels good to be able to count all of my blessings. Call me naive or call me Pollyanna, but I continue to have faith that sooner rather than later we all will give ourselves the opportunity to take a deep breath, to take pause, to decide how to contribute to the greater collective good, and to take some solace in remembering there are endless possibilities in life when we decide to live a life filled with hope. And maybe for some of us, it will only take a few bottles of wine for this to happen.

Rather than drink alone, I convinced some of my friends to be my partners in crime at a wine tasting event this past weekend. Being a 'good, not a completely bad influence' friend, I planned to make sure my potentially 'tipsy' friends had the opportunity to sober up with a yummy follow-up dinner at my house. Fortunately for me, this is a somewhat adventurous group of food and wine friends. So I always know I can try some new recipes. Of course in addition to food, there would be more wine. What kind of hostess would I be if I didn't keep the wine theme going? (Not a very good one.)

The first time I tasted this Hot Macadamia Dip was a lifetime ago (okay so it was a few decades back and that's as specific as I am going to be) at the home of a friend who taught me many things, including how to set a beautiful table. It immediately turned into one of those appetizer regulars. And then it became one of those recipes put on extended hiatus. A few weeks ago we had dinner at the home of some friends. And lo and behold the Hot Macadamia Dip reappeared like a divine intervention. There were only four of us but we devoured it. When planning the post wine tasting dinner I knew this dip had to make a reappearance.

They key to this dip's creaminess is starting with softened/room temperature cream cheese. I usually take the blocks of cream cheese out before going to bed to ensure it will be the right consistency for beating it with a hand held mixer.

Once all of the ingredients are blended together, the dip is spooned into an 8 inch ceramic dish or pie plate. This is one of those dips you can make the night before or early in the day making entertaining seem slightly effortless when guests arrive.

Macadamia nuts take the flavor of just about everything up a notch or two. It's definitely the icing on this cake.

A half cup of chopped macadamia nuts are mixed with 1 1/2 tablespoons of melted butter and then spread evenly over the top of the dip. 

In a preheated 350 degree (F) oven, the Hot Macadamia Dip bakes for 25-30 minutes or until bubbling hot on the sides as well as hot through the center. Because this is one of those hot dips served in the container it is baked in, use a ceramic dish or pie plate you love. On my recent trip to Michigan I saw a piece of pottery at the Khnemu Studio of Fernwood Farm in the town of Fennville and immediately thought it was destined to be the container for this Hot Macadamia Dip.

Served hot/warm with buttery crackers or cocktail rye breads, it is one of those appetizers winning the 'most likely to disappear' award. It's the perfect hot appetizer to serve at any gathering. It's creamy yet has a bit of crunch from the green peppers, onions and macadamia nuts. Especially ones where there wine or cocktails or both wine and cocktails are being served.

Recipe
Hot Macadamia Dip

Ingredients
11-12 ounces cream cheese, softened/room temperature
2 Tablespoons milk
2 small packages (2 ounce size) of Buddig's beef (thinly sliced and cut into 1 inch pieces)
1/3 cup finely chopped yellow or sweet Vidalia onion
1/3 cup finely chopped green pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
1 1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Cocktail rye and/or pumpernickel bread and/or butter/Ritz crackers

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F).
2. In a medium sized bowl, blend the softened cream cheese and milk together until smooth using a hand held mixer.
3. Fold in black pepper, ground ginger, garlic, green pepper and onion. 
4. Mix in sliced, cut beef.
5. Fold in sour cream. Transfer mixture to an 8 inch ceramic dish or pie plate. Smooth top.
6. Mix together the chopped macadamia nuts and melted butter. Spread evenly over the top.
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until completely heated through. Serve hot/warm with assorted crackers and/or small rye breads.

Notes: (1) The dip can be made the night before and/or hours before. Cover and chill in the refrigerator. To prevent the chilled ceramic dish and/or pie plate from breaking, put it in oven and then turn on oven temperature to 350 degrees (F). (2) Instead of the Buddig's beef can use the dried jarred beef. Rinse and dry before slicing and adding to the dip mixture.

Starved Rock State Park, Utica, Illinois (November 2016)

Thanksgiving Round-Up: The Desserts

"Begin with the end in mind." Desserts making an appearance on my Thanksgiving table are generally very different than the ones made for Christmas. However, there are two exceptions in this year's Thanksgiving Dessert Round-Up (the Chocolate Mousse Cake with Raspberry Sauce and the Mocha Chocolate Chip Icebox Cake). Because most anything chocolate are favorites on pretty much any holiday. Not surprisingly, no one in my family wants to see anything pumpkin in December (more than likely the culprit is pumpkin spice overload). So Thanksgiving is the last holiday of the year for everyone get their pumpkin fix. Although pie may be the quintessentially classic way to celebrate the pumpkin on the dessert table, pumpkin bars and cakes may actually be more sweet tooth satisfying. No one says you can't have both. It is actually Thanksgiving, the one day a year where we turn a blind eye to over-indulgence.

Whittling a Thanksgiving Dessert Round-Up down to eight satisfying, sumptuous, eye-candy gorgeous desserts wasn't easy. I could have easily added a couple more. Like the Brown Butter Caramelized Apple Crisp or the Stone Fruit and Mascarpone Tart with Triple Ginger Crust) to create a top ten list. But sometimes enough is enough and the more choices there are, the harder it is to choose.

Almost all of these desserts can be made the day before, although a couple need some Thanksgiving Day finishing touches. If you need to bring a dessert to a holiday gathering, the Pumpkin Squares are the best for traveling. All of them are delicious the day served. And if leftovers are available, maybe even tastier the next day (when we all have more room in our stomachs). There is something for everyone here. Except there are no cookies. If one cookie is Thanksgiving worthy it would be rolled, cut-out sugar cookies in the shapes of pilgrims, turkeys, and/or cornucopias decorated in royal icing. Regardless which dessert you decide to serve to your family and friends this holiday, give them with something homemade with love.

Brûléed Pumpkin Pie with Caramel Swirl 

Lemon Meringue Tart

Brown Butter Pumpkin Spice Cake

Pumpkin Squares

Chocolate Mousse Cake with Raspberry Sauce

Applesauce Spice Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Mocha Chocolate Chip Icebox Cake

French Laundry's Cranberry and Apple Kuchen with Hot Cream Sauce

Lighthouse along the shore of Lake Michigan in South Haven, Michigan (November 2016)

English Oat Crackers

Last week's three day girl's getaway trip to southwestern Michigan was a much needed reprieve from all of the deafening political noise dominating every form of media for the past several months. From waking up and walking along the shore of Lake Michigan, to driving in landscapes rich with the deepest, most vibrant autumnal colors, to looking for treasures in antique stores, to enjoying some amazing food, to have some time to take photos of an iconic lighthouse, to staying up in the wee hours to watch the Cubs clinch the World Series, these busy from morning to night days were actually more relaxing than exhausting. More than likely this was due in large part to the graciousness of the friend who opened up her home to us and served as travel guide extraordinaire. Although I don't know whether to love or hate her for introducing me to Salt of the Earth, a restaurant in Fennville, Michigan, serving some of the most amazing food I have ever eaten. Seriously, the food is so unbelievably incredible it is almost worth making a five hour round trip drive just to have a dinner there. Or maybe, worth spending the night to squeeze in stops at Virtue Cider and Crane's Pie Pantry after spending the day photographing the lake and woodland landscapes. I can hardly wait to go back.

One of the first recipes in Ina Garten's new cookbook, Cooking for Jeffrey, to catch my eye were the English Oat Crackers. They reminded me of my favorite so hard to find crackers I don't even think I remember who made them. Before leaving for Michigan, I made them to go with some cheese and wine I had packed for us. If there were ever a cracker to create a best ever cheese platter, it would be these English Oat Crackers. Crisp and deeply flavored they are a cross between a cracker and cookie. We have all known that Ina Garten is a genius. But now we are further indebted to her for helping us realize we should be giving as much to the crackers on our cheese platters as we have been giving to the cheese.

Having given all but one of these English Oat Crackers away (well I had to make sure they were good), I made them again when I returned home. I could say it was all in the spirit of making sure they were as good the second time around. But I would be lying. These crackers are as beautiful as they are addictive. One of the more lethal combinations in the food world.

One of Ina Garten's most enduring qualities is creating 'simple' recipes using easy to find ingredients (albeit sometimes on the expensive side) as well as ones always delivering in taste and presentation. These English Oat Crackers more than deliver and just happen to be on the relatively inexpensive ingredient side. The only ingredient variable is the butter (unsalted of course). Because there are very few ingredients in these crackers using a high quality unsalted butter is even more critical. However, there is no need to splurge on high end oatmeal. The Old-Fashioned Quaker Oats work perfectly.

There were a few changes I made to this recipe (I know, who am I to mess with perfection). But these changes were due more to not paying close attention to the recipe (I was multi-tasking the first time I made them). Instead of using a half-cup of lightly packed light brown sugar, my brown sugar was more on the semi-firm packed side. And instead of baking them at 375 degrees (F), I baked them at 350 degrees (F). More on what I think the difference in these two temperatures might be later on. 

For some reason I had difficulty pressing down the cracker dough balls down by simply flouring the bottom of a drinking glass (the dough kept sticking to the glass, resulting in an unbakeable mess). Putting a small piece of parchment paper between the dough and glass worked perfectly when carefully peeling the paper away from the flattened cracker. And it wasn't necessary to add any more flour to the cracker.

Baking time for these English Oat Crackers ranged from 22-24 minutes. For the crispiest cracker, your baking time will be closer to 24 minutes.. However, the thickness of your cracker will also influence how long these crackers remain in the oven. My crackers may not have been flattened as much as Ina's. Mine were a little thicker. Personally, I liked the substantialness of them. The higher oven temperature (375 degrees F) would also contribute to the cracker's crispness. If you bake them at the higher temperature, begin checking them at 20 minutes.

Once removed from the oven, the crackers should be allowed to cool on the cookie sheet for at least five minutes before being transferred to a cooling rack.

They can be served either warm or at room temperature. If making them earlier in the day or day before, make certain they have completely cooled before being put in a tightly sealed container or placed in a tightly tied cellophane bag.

So now let's talk about the cheese. While there are many cheese pairing options to go along with these crackers, the French Triple Cream Cow's Milk cheese Delice de Bourgogne would be amongst my favorites. The combination of flavors is head-spinning.

If you were going to serve only one appetizer at a cocktail party or dinner party, then serve English Oat Crackers paired with a great cheese and some fruit. It's really all you need. And this is coming from someone who is finds it difficult to stop at making just one.

With the holiday entertaining season quickly approaching, consider making these English Oat Crackers your must-serve cracker. Additionally, they make for a great hostess gift. Just be sure to make some for yourself as it may be difficult to let them go.

Recipe
English Oat Crackers (an ever so slight adaptation of Ina Garten's English Oat Cracker recipe from her newest cookbook 'Cooking for Jeffrey')
Makes approximately 22-24 three inch sized crackers.

Ingredients
3 cups (8 1/2 oz/240g) old-fashioned oats (recommend Quaker Old-Fashioned Oats)
1 cup (130g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (100g) light brown sugar, semi-firmly packed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 sticks (8 oz/226g) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch dice (recommend Kerrygold's Unsalted Butter)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup lukewarm water
Sea salt or Fleur de sel  (recommend Maldon Sea Salt)
Serve with fruit (sliced Honey Crisp apples and cheese)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Place oats, flour, brown sugar, and kosher salt into a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for approximately 15-25 seconds or until oats are coarsely ground.
3. Add butter and pulse 15-20 times until the butter is pea-sized.
4. Dissolve baking soda in lukewarm water. Stir to dissolve. Add to food processor. Pulse until mixture is even moistened and can be easily pressed into balls that will hold together (Note: If mixture is too wet, add a little more flour or if too dry, add a little more water.)
5. Using a 1 1/2" to 1 3/4" inch ice cream scoop, form balls. Evenly space on baking sheet.
6. Flour the bottom of a flat bottomed 3 inch drinking glass and flatten each cracker so it is somewhere between 1/8" and 1/4" thick (mine were closer to 1/4"). Note: If the ball of dough is sticking to the glass, cut a 4" square piece of parchment paper, place on dough ball, then press with glass. The parchment paper should release easily leaving you with a perfectly flattened cracker.)
7. Sprinkle with sea salt. 
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on the edges. Remove from oven. Allow crackers to cool on pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack.
9. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store completely cooled cookies in a tightly sealed container or tightly tied cellophane bag for several days.

Notes: (1) Instead of lightly packing the brown sugar, I packed mine semi-firm. This may or may not have added to the moisture of cracker dough. As a result I added an additional tablespoon of flour. (2) The drinking glass method of flattening the crackers didn't work as it did not easily release from the cracker. However, placing a piece of parchment paper on top of the cracker ball and then pressing with the glass worked perfectly. (3) Use Old-Fashioned NOT quick cooking oats. (4) The original recipe recommends the crackers bake at 375 (F) degrees for 20-25 minutes. My baking temperature was 350 (F) degrees with a baking time of 22-24 minutes. (5) Highly recommend serving these crackers with the French Delice de Bourgogne, a triple creme cow's milk cheese.