Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I love oatmeal raisin cookies. Something about the hints of vanilla and spicy cinnamon combined with chewy brown sugar, oatmeal, and plump raisins just makes my mouth happy--that is, in a oatmeal raisin cookie done right! These are delicious little cookies--both easy to make and fun to eat :)

I refrigerated the dough prior to baking, which made for a thicker, chewier cookie. Additionally, I plumped the raisins before adding them to the dough. This absolutely made all the difference between a "just okay" cookie and an "oh my gosh, give me another!" cookie.

I adapted this recipe from Averie at Averie Cooks--hope you enjoy them :)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter. softened
• 3/4 cup brown sugar 
• 1/4 cup white sugar 
• 1 egg 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon (or to taste, use less if you prefer) 
• 1 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1 1/2 cup old fashioned whole oats 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 3/4 - 1 cup raisins 
• Optional: 1/4 to 1/2 cup chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, toffee bits, nuts, seeds, etc.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.  Cream butter and sugars until smooth and fluffy, then add the egg and combine well.  Add the vanilla extract, cinnamon, flour, oats, baking soda and stir.

To plump raisins, heat some water to boiling (not a lot--maybe two cups), add the raisins, and soak for five to ten minutes. This will make them much softer and so much chewier! Drain the raisins, pat them dry, and add them to the dough, as well as any other optional add-ins, and stir.

If you have time, refrigerate the dough for a minimum of 20 minutes (you can refrigerate the dough overnight as well). I refrigerated mine for about two hours. While highly advisable, this step is not mandatory; however, cold dough will prevent the cookies from spreading as much and will result in a thicker cookie.

Roll or spoon out golf ball-sized dough balls (about two tablespoons of dough) onto a cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.

Bake at 350 for approximately 9-12 minutes. Allow cookies to cool for five to ten minutes on baking sheets; move them to cooling racks for them to cool completely.