Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I'm a little embarrassed by the fact that I haven't posted this recipe before now; mostly because I made these cookies way back in July.  Personally, I'm not a big fan of oatmeal raisin cookies, and never have been.  I love oatmeal cookies, but don't really care for raisins.  So, I guess the question becomes "why make them then?".  Well, I really wanted to bake the builder of our new home a special treat.  He knew that I loved to bake (which is why I opted for many kitchen upgrades) and I wanted it to be a way of saying thank you for doing such an amazing job!  Oatmeal raisin cookies are his favorite, so that's what I decided to make!

Due to my dislike of raisins though, I unfortunately didn't have an oatmeal raisin cookie recipe.  Therefore, I had to search around online and hope for the best.  After visiting a lot of different food blogs, and other food sites, I ended up finding this recipe.  It's not exactly like the original, because I ended up tweaking it a little by adding a few ingredients of my own, that I thought would add more flavor!  Here's the final recipe I decided on and will definitely be using again.  I was told that the cookies were not only delicious, but very soft and chewy.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
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Ingredients:

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 egg
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¾ cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. salt
1 ½ cups old fashioned oats
¾ cup raisins
½ cup chopped walnuts, or pecans (optional, but delicious)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with a silicone mat, or a piece of parchment paper.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, set on a medium to high speed, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract until smooth.  In a medium size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.  Pour the flour mixture into the butter mixture and beat on a low speed until just combined.  (Make sure you scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.)  Using a wooden spoon, stir in the oats, raisins, and walnuts/pecans (which are optional).

Using plastic wrap, cover the bowl that contains the cookie dough and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or longer.  This will allow time for the dough to sit and firm up a bit, which will make it easier to scoop.

Scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet(s) about 1-2 inches apart.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, making sure to remove the cookies when the sides start turning a light brown, and the top looks slightly undercooked.  Remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.  When 5 minutes is up, remove the cookies from the baking sheet and place on the wire rack to cool completely.

Source: Adapted from Smitten Kitchen