Rainy Day Cookies

Will the deluge ever stop?  Endless rain means endless hours indoors.  I can only watch so many movies before I go nuts (although The Birdcage is on and that never gets old).  With all the chilly, wet gloom outside I needed to warm myself up in a different way.  My Mom's oatmeal cookies did the trick.  Sudy's chewy, fruity, chocolate-ly cookies never fail to spread a warm, fuzzy feeling to all who indulge in them.  The best part is, you can find the recipe on the Quaker Oatmeal box!  Mom has jazzed it up a bit and I like hers better :)  Here is Sudy's recipe.  I made the cookies with all of her modifications except the almond meal.  My final cookie was Oatmeal Chocolate Cherry with Chopped Walnuts.

I really need a better camera- this picture detracts from the magnificence of the cookies

"Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookes," from the inside to label of a container of Quaker Oats

1/2 pound, 2 sticks margarine or butter, softened (Have used all low cal margarine, but best results -1 stick of low fat margarine, 1 stick unsalted butter)
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar (use about 2/3 cups)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (use about 1/4 cup unbleached cane sugar)
2 eggs (one egg +two egg whites)
1 tsp vanilla (I use about 1 1/2 tsps)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (have used both unbleached organic and whole wheat organic)*
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon (use roasted cinnamon!)
1/2 tsp salt (optional - so I use about half)
3 cups quick or old fashioned, uncooked oats
1 cup raisins (I use dried cherries, no extra sugar added -- soak them in just enough Grand Marnier to cover the cherries -- Boulevard Bakery trick)
I sometimes added about 1/4-1/2 cup of small dark chocolate chips. When I did that, I adjusted the amount of cherries so the combined amount of cherries and chocolate chips to total 1 cup.

* I also have substituted 1/2 cup of almond meal for 1/2 cup of the total 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour. Makes them delicious and moist. If you want them to be crunchy but still want to see what impact the almond meal has, might limit it to 1/4 cup of almond meal.

Preparation of recipe:

Heat oven to 350 F.
Beat together margarine and sugars until creamy.
Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well.
Stir in oats and raisins; mix well.
Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to wire rack.

Makes about 4 dozen. If you want to try these as bar cookies, bake 30 to 35 minutes in ungreased 13X9-inch metal baking pan.

The perfect rainy day cookie!