Crunchy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Can we talk? (< homage to Joan Rivers)

A crunchy oatmeal raisin cookie is one of the few cookies I can easily turn down. A chewy oatmeal cookie, a soft oatmeal cookie, a chocolate chip oatmeal cookie...sign me up, but crunchy? No.

These cookies, however, are not for me. They're for my dad. Remember for Christmas I promised to make him one batch of oatmeal cookies each month?

For these cookies, I started with a recipe I knew would be good...it's from King Arthur Flour, and I find I can always count on their recipes. I played with the amount of oats, and added in some oat flour for extra oat-iness. I also traded some of the brown sugar for white to make these extra crunchy.


As I was making them, I nibbled on quite a bit of the cookie dough. Practically like eating a bowl of oatmeal, right? The cookies, I wasn't so sure about. Like I said, crunchy oatmeal raisin cookies are not my cup of tea.

The day I made them, Mr. E and I were like ships passing in the night. As he was coming in from work, I was heading out of the door. I gave him strict instructions, "eat some of those cookies and tell me what you think."

When I came home later that night, he said, "those cookies? I ate 5 of them." He told me that he loved them so much that he didn't even slow down eating them to pour of cup of milk.

Well...there you go. I guess these are manly cookies. Rugged, craggy, crunchy...definitely not the puffy, soft, pretty, or gooey cookies I'd normally prefer.

Dad, I hope you approve.

Crunchy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

{makes a lot, adapted from King Arthur Flour}

2 & 3/4 cups rolled oats
1 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 cup oat flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup salted butter, cut into chunks
1/2 cup shortening
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 325. Line cookie sheets with parchment.

Stir together the oats, flours, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the sugars, butter, and shortening until combined and creamy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

On low speed, add in the flour/oat mixture, then add in the raisins and pecans. Mix on low just until combined.

Scoop onto cookie sheets and flatten the dough using the bottom of a juice glass. (Dip the bottom of the glass in flour first.) For 2-teaspoon scoops, bake for 18 minutes. For 2-tablespoon scoops, bake for 20 minutes. (I made some of each.)

Remove to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Are you a fan of the crunchy oatmeal raisin cookie?

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