OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES
BP’s take on levain’s oatmeal raisin cookies
8 cookies, 1 hour
Ingredients:
1 cup cold butter, cut into cubes
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
1.5 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1.5 cups raisins
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional, but recommended!)
Optional: 1 tsp cornstarch - without the cornstarch the cookie will fall a bit more after it has cooked, but I personally prefer the flavor without the cornstarch
The Blistered Peppers Take:
Not gonna lie, nine times out of ten you ask someone their favorite cookie and Oatmeal Raisin isn’t it. Which is crazy because a good Oatmeal Raisin cookie is really good. Especially warm out of the oven?! And the smell? You throw vanilla and cinnamon into a pot of water and boil it, your house smells like a cozy winter day. Put it in a cookie and it’s - LIFE. (Throw them into an overnight oats recipe and your morning will be made!) A lot of people tend to be thrown off by the raisin, yet when covered in chocolate, no one can resist it.
It may be a hottake but Oatmeal Raisin cookies are my favorite type of cookie.
So, let’s change your mind people. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…give yourself time with baking (especially if you’re a newbie). I’m not saying it because it’s hard, I’m saying it because it’s worth it. And again, baking is a science so you have to make sure you’re measuring or weighing, and chilling, correctly to ensure you’ve got the optimal outcome. And when it comes to a cookie - y'all know I don’t eff around. As you may have seen on my Instagram stories, I’m an avid cookie lover and a few months back compared Chip City to Levain and a few others. Essentially, a Blistered Peppers cookie-off. I know, I’m a New Yorker and Levain is… Levain, but I wanted to check out what else there was to offer. And, not to worry, there’s a lot to offer and everyone will have their own opinion on what “the best cookie” is, but for me, there’s something about the Levain cookie that gets you. First of all, it's huge. If you’ve not seen the Levain cookie - google it. It’s literally the size of a scone. If you’ve got friends celebrating some things or going through some things - Goldbelly some Levain and it’ll make everything better for a minute.
You probably shouldn’t eat a Levain cookie in one sitting, but who doesn’t eat a cookie in one sitting no matter the size?! Fun fact: I would eat Levain’s Oatmeal Raisin cookies about twice a week before my wedding. Obviously, that’s an ideal wedding diet LOL. Anyway, I digress. After my cookie tasting, I still fell for Levain and so I had to do what I do - figure it out. No - this isn’t a Levain copycat cookie. (She could never) But it’s inspired by.
Normally I’d say that quality ingredients are key, and I’m not saying they’re not here, but I think what’s great about a cookie is that you can throw things into it that are imperfect and still get a great cookie. I’ve even thrown in instant oatmeal when I’m in a pinch and … it works. That said, my go to oatmeal is Quaker oats and you’ll always find Sun-Maid raisins in my pantry.
Steps:
Cut the cold butter into 1/4 inch cubes, then beat the butter and sugars together for about 4-5 minutes, you’ll want the mixture to become fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla extract until just combined - don’t over mix/beat because the eggs will split! Then add in the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cornstarch (if you’re using it). Using a rubber spatula, fold in the oatmeal and then fold in the raisins.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
Roll the dough into individual cookies, you’re going to use about two spoonsfuls/cookie scoop fulls for each cookie. They’re big boys!
Bake the cookies at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes. They should be a little golden, but you want the inside to still be doughy!
