Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Comfort Food

It's happening on Granny Mountain, the turning of the seasons. I have to admit, I am a winter loving person. I love the cozy feeling of home once the cold winds start to blow, I think it's because I have Missouri blood in my veins! Springfield is in southern Missouri, but winter's there are cold and snowy...and long. You need flannel sheets, down comforters and a good heat source for your house! We lived in an old house when I was growing up. When Winter set in, the windows would "steam" and "sweat" from the huge difference in outside/inside temps. I'd set in the kitchen while Mom would be cooking supper and draw on those dark windows waiting for Daddy to come home. Funny how you remember things like that. But there are a lot of good memories rattling around in this old head of mine! The cooler weather makes me want to bake, bad for me since I also eat...but I love the smell of cinnamon or bread or soup...you get the idea!

Martha Stewart's Comfort Foods Cookbook has some wonderful recipes for the kind of foods that make the house smell delicious! Things like meatloaf, macaroni and cheese, potato soup, and a wonderful recipe for Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. Fall is here so let the cookie baking begin!

These cookies use both white and brown sugar to give that wonderful texture and flavor to the cookie. You can soak the raisins in a little warm rum or cider to plump them if you'd like but that's not in the recipe so I don't want to confuse you!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from Comfort Foods by Martha Stewart
3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (I used Butter Crisco)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups raisins

Put butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla.

Stir together oats, flour, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl; set aside. Add oat mixture to the creamed butter and sugar and mix until just combined. Mix in raisins.

Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly. I like to use granulated or raw sugar to give the tops a little "sparkle."

Bake until golden and just set, about 14 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks using a spatula; let cool completely. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days. They won't last that long!
Printable Recipe

11 comments:

  1. Wish I was there to have one of those yummy cookies!

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  2. I too love Autumn and Winter. I am a Nester and love being home. The cookies look luscious.

    The Raggedy Girl

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  3. I'm a comfort food kinda girl too. Potato soup sounds good, I think I will make that tonight. Happy Fall!

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  4. Hey I am waiting for your potato & veg soup ...I am not a cookie eater so I can pass on those ...But pasta ..of my...

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  5. I'd like to stop by and have a cookie with you and watch the leaves turn. Fall is a beautiful time of year.

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  6. That is my favorite cookie...I love the raisins, I would even add some choc. chips! I feel that way about cold weather too, it's my favorite tine to cook and bake! I love the holidays and all the baking. Nothing like baking cookies! Thanks for sharing. Come say hi :D

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  7. I love comfort food....love it, love it....

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  8. Yummmmm...I haven't made oatmeal cookies in a long time. I think I need to bake some, soon!

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  9. Those cookies look impossibly good. I'm trying quite hard to keep my resolve and stay away from cookies. You make it very hard for a gal to be good.

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  10. You always make me hungry for my comfort foods. Darn it. I can't have any right now. I have always loved baking cookies when it gets cold outside. That was the trouble. I'd bake and then end up eating them all myself if I didn't have any company..Ha! Ha! I'd give some away to a couple special ladies here but that was all. Oatmeal and Chocolate Chip and Molasses are my favorites.

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  11. I think I was just in your neck of the woods. My sister has a lake house on Greers Ferry? I love your site and I am a newbie blogger from the Rocky Mountains. What an awesome site this is!

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