Chewy Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies (with chocolate)

Well, hello there, dear friends! Last night's debate gave me hives. Today is my birthday. And while oatmeal cookies might not seem super-festive, trust me: they are good. Maybe not birthday good. But chewy, delicious, and packed with wildly wholesome ingredients that add to, rather than diminish, their decadence (I promise there's nothing dusty or powdery about them).

Also, don't you love that I'm posting what might literally be my first-ever public recipe with raisins in it, even though I'm not actually the Raisin Ambassador? What is wrong with me? Besides the pathological compulsion to be a good kid, I mean. Maybe nothing.

Craney celebrates people in his own unique way.

But back to my birthday for a second: I could not help noticing this in my Google browsing history today: "origami scallop." 

That's a sure sign that Ben has been working on a card for me. But when I looked at the images, I could see that he must have been sorely disappointed: it was all ruffle-edged scallop shells--when I'm certain that what he was searching for was something more along the lines of what you'd get, fried, in a scallop roll. I can't wait to see what he came up with. Mum's the word, on the snooping.

Chewy Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies (with chocolate)

Makes 3 cookie-sheets' worth 

These are adapted from Smitten, who herself adapted them from the Quaker canister. The coconut oil is my addition: it makes the cookies that much chewier and just slightly fragrant, in a way that we all love, plus it's wicked healthy. I'm going to try them with all coconut oil next time, but feel free to use all butter, as per the original recipe. The spelt is me too, natch. As, um, are the chocolate chips. I make these pretty small for lunchbox treats, but you could biggen them up a little--just increase the cooking time to compensate.

¼ cup butter, softened


¼ cup coconut oil

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 large egg


½ teaspoon vanilla extract


¾ cup spelt flour 
or a mix of spelt and whole-wheat (or, sigh, white flour)

½ teaspoon baking soda


½ teaspoon ground cinnamon


¾ teaspoon kosher salt

1 ½ cups rolled oats


¾ cup raisins


¾ cup chocolate chips

3/4 cup pecan (or walnut) pieces, toasted @ 350 for 4 minutes

Heat the oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, coconut oil and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla, and mix until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir this into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the oats, raisins, chocolate chips, and pecans.

Space cookies two inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet (I use my handy spring-loaded cookie scoop). Bake them for 10 to 12 minutes, taking them out when golden at the edges but still a little undercooked-looking on top. (Try not to overbake them, or you will lose the chew, and then what's the point, really?) Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for five minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool.