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Grandma's Oatmeal Cookies

Grandma's Oatmeal Cookies

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Submitted by juanita100

Grandma’s oatmeal cookies plump raisins in baking-soda water, then fold them into a buttermilk-spiced oat dough with walnuts. Five-plus dozen warm-spiced cookies for the cookie jar.

YIELD

60 servings

PREP

20 min

COOK

12 min

READY

40 min

A grandmother’s recipe scaled for the cookie jar that never empties. Five cups of flour, three cups of oats, and a full pound of raisins put this firmly in the make-a-batch-and-share-with-the-block category. The yield comes out to about 10 dozen cookies, which is the right amount for a holiday gift run, a school bake sale, or a freezer stash for unexpected guests.

The plumping step is the technique that makes these different from average oatmeal cookies. Pouring boiling water over the raisins and adding a teaspoon of baking soda softens them and pulls some of their natural sugars and flavor into the soaking liquid. Drained and tossed in flour, the plumped raisins distribute through the dough as juicy bursts instead of leathery dried beads.

Buttermilk in the dough adds tang and reacts with the baking powder for extra lift, giving the cookies a slightly cake-like texture rather than the dense, chewy feel of a butter-and-sugar oatmeal cookie. Cinnamon, cloves, and allspice form the warm spice base; vanilla rounds it all out.

Pro Tips

  • Coat the plumped raisins in a tablespoon of flour as the recipe specifies. The flour coat keeps them from clumping and helps them suspend in the dough.
  • Use quick oats as called for. Old-fashioned oats stay too distinct in the cookie and change the texture.
  • The dough is thick and stiff. Use a heavy wooden spoon or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
  • Bake until the bottoms are golden and the tops are dry to the touch. Underbaked cookies turn doughy in the center as they cool.

Variations

  • Swap walnuts for pecans or skip the nuts entirely for nut-allergy friendliness.
  • Substitute raisins with dried cranberries, currants, or chopped dates for different fruit profiles.
  • Add the optional flavored chips (chocolate, butterscotch, cinnamon) the recipe mentions for sweeter, candier cookies.

Ingredients

1 ½ 355
4 4
LARGE LARGE EGGS
5 1.2
3 710
2 473
CUPS ML BUTTERMILK
1 237
CUP ML SUGAR
granulated
1 237
CUP ML BROWN SUGAR
firmly packed *
5 25
TEASPOONS ML BAKING POWDER
1 237
CUP ML WALNUTS
chopped
1 237
4 20
TEASPOONS ML CINNAMON
½ 2.5
TEASPOON ML CLOVES
½ 2.5
TEASPOON ML ALLSPICE
2 10
TEASPOONS ML VANILLA EXTRACT

Directions

Pour 1 cup boiling water over the raisins and add 1 teaspoon baking soda.

Stir well and set aside.

Bring the shortening to room temperature then cream well.

Add the sugar one cup at a time and cream well after each addition.

Add the eggs in the same manner.

Sift together the cinnamon, cloves, allspice, flour and baking powder.

Add the vanilla to the creamed mixture.

Drain the raisins and sprinkle one tablespoon of flour over them and shake to coat.

Alternately add the flour mixture, the milk and the oatmeal.

Mix well after each addition.

There will a lot of dough and it should be fairly thick.

With a heavy wooden spoon stir in the walnuts and the raisins and the flavored chips--you can use any amount of the flavored chips you want.

Grease the cookie sheet.

Drop the dough by teaspoonful on the cookie sheet.

I usually get about 20 per sheet--but then I have very, very old cookie sheets and they are larger than my new ones.

Bake at 350℉ (180℃) F for 10 to 12 minutes.

They will be golden on the bottom and dry on the top.

Remove and place on wax paper until cool.

Keep in an airtight container--Tupperware is great.

Makes about 10 dozen of cookies.

* not incl. in nutrient facts Arrow up button

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Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 32g (1.1 oz)
Amount per Serving
Calories 1309 20% from fat
 % Daily Value *
Total Fat 28g 44%
Saturated Fat 4g 20%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 216mg 72%
Sodium 211mg 9%
Total Carbohydrate 77g 77%
Dietary Fiber 12g 47%
Sugars g
Protein 79g
Vitamin A 6% Vitamin C 6%
Calcium 38% Iron 68%
* based on a 2,000 calorie diet How is this calculated?
Trans-fat Free, High Fiber
 

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