Hey guys.
I am so proud of all of you
for trying all of those healthy recipes last month.
I love seeing all of your results,
and the comments,
and all the pictures you sent me through social media.
That is so much fun.
That always makes my day.
Love the pictures!
Keep them coming.
Anyway, I thought we would all be ready
for a little bit of an indulgence
'cause we've been so good, right?
So I wanted to share with you
one of my favorite cookie recipes
for a classic oatmeal cookie.
I love recipe because they are crisp on the outside
and soft and chewy on the inside.
Let me show you how to make them.
We're first going to begin by creaming together
our butter and our sugar.
Any time you're making a cookie,
you always want to start with room temperature butter,
because it'll just help all the other ingredients
incorporate well, and you want to make sure
that that fat is well-distributed throughout your cookie.
And then we are going to add our sugars.
Now I say sugars, because to me,
it really does make a difference if you combine
two different types of sugar.
And they each will bring you something different.
So we're going to do a half a cup of white sugar.
Now the reason we want to use the white sugar
is because that is going to create that crisp exterior.
White sugar is really good for making cookies crisp.
Then we are going to use a half a cup of turbinado sugar.
If you're not familiar with turbinado sugar,
it is an actual raw sugar that has not been refined,
which means it has a lot more molasses in it.
That molasses is going to create a chewy interior.
Now where do you find turbinado sugar?
You may not have heard of it, but in fact,
it is becoming more widely available at major supermarkets.
I see it all the time.
Right next to the brown sugar in your baking aisle.
Now if you can't find it,
you certainly could use brown sugar as well,
but try the turbinado, because it really does make
for a nice delicate crumb in the cookie.
So we're going to add those two sugars,
and we're going to beat that butter up
just until it's nice and fluffy
and all of our sugar is combined.
Then we are going to add our egg.
Now here's another tip for you.
Any time you're making cookie dough,
you also want to make sure that that
egg is at room temperature.
Because again, that's just going to help
that egg distribute well through the rest of your dough.
Now if you've forgot to take the eggs out
to get to room temperature,
you can create a room temperature egg
by taking it and placing it in a cup of warm water.
Just give it five minutes or so,
and it'll come up to room temperature.
Then we're going to add one tablespoon of vanilla.
Yes, I said a tablespoon, not a teaspoon.
I feel like a lot of cookie recipes out there
will only do like one teaspoon or two teaspoons.
It's never enough in my opinion.
I think you gotta go for the full one tablespoon,
because that is going to give you
a really deep, rich flavor.
Beat that up.
Then we're going to scrape down our bowl.
And now it's time to combine the dry ingredients.
In a bowl you're going to combine a cup of flour,
a half a teaspoon of salt,
a half a teaspoon of baking soda.
And now here comes the spices.
You're going to take
an eighth of a teaspoon of ground cloves,
a half of a teaspoon of ground ginger,
and three teaspoons of cinnamon.
So go ahead and whisk that all up,
and then we're going to add the oatmeal.
Now when it comes to the oatmeal,
you want to look for just old-fashioned oats.
You don't want to get the quick oats or the steel cut oats.
You just want what they call old-fashioned.
Those really work the best for cookies I think.
You take two cups of oatmeal.
Add it to that flour mixture, and give that a good whisk.
Then we're going to slowly add that to our cookie batter.
Give it a good beat in between additions.
Scrape down the bowl if you need to.
And now we are going to add the raisins.
So I love the combination
of black raisins and yellow raisins.
I think they each provide a different level of sweetness,
and they look pretty in the cookies too.
Go ahead and add a cup of black raisins,
and a half a cup of yellow golden raisins.
Give that a beat.
And then your cookie dough is done.
And now we are going to scoop our dough out
onto some parchment lined cookie sheets.
These cookies do spread out,
so I typically will do five scoops per tray.
You're going to go ahead and pop them in a 350 degree oven
that's been preheated for about 15 to 17 minutes.
You'll know when they're done when the edges start
to turn golden brown and the centers are set.
Go ahead and pull them out.
Let them cool.
Then you'll transfer them to a cookie cooling rack.
These cookies are really delicious.
Eat warm, but they're also great the next day too.
That's why I love this recipe because they stay crisp,
and they also are chewy still on the inside.
Just transfer them to an airtight container,
and they will last you at least four to five days.
I love this cookie on a cold Winter's day.
I find that it is the perfect treat to enjoy
with a big glass of milk (giggles).
I hope you guys give this one a try,
and let me know what you think.
And I'll see you back here next week
when we are going to tackle the chocolate lava cake.
It's one of my favorite desserts and it's so easy to make.
And it's perfect timing for Valentine's Day.
You don't want to miss that.
I'll see you then. Bye.
(upbeat music with whistling)