Dad’s Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Did you hear about the brutal storm that has been hammering the west coast for the past few days? Lucky for us we made it to Tofino before they cancelled ferries and flights – there have been plenty of Easter travellers stranded this weekend. My dad was one of them.
He was here when we arrived, but was supposed to leave last week – long story – so yesterday, as he was packing up to take the bus to Nanaimo to catch a flight to Vancouver, then Calgary, I decided to make him a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies to sustain him on his 9 hour trek. It occurred to me as I pondered my limited baking supplies (that includes several bags of oats) that a) I haven’t made oatmeal raisin cookies for a mighty long time, b) he loves oatmeal raisin cookies, and 3) I in fact have never posted a recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies here.
So I made some. Because I don’t have my old recipe with me I flipped through a few websites, then winged it – for my dad, I used half canola oil and half butter, and only half a cup of packed dark brown sugar (compared to the up to two cups I saw in some recipes) and truly -they were plenty sweet, moist and chewy, buttery without being greasy, heavy on the oats and raisins. You could, in fact, cut it back further – to 1/4 cup total (2 Tbsp. each butter and oil) – I’ll never make them any other way.
But- back to the story of my dad’s extended journey home. Have you ever seen Planes, Trains and Automobiles? He lived it last night, minus the loveable John Candy character. The bus broke down en route to Nanaimo; he managed to get a ($70) cab to the airport, where it was announced that his flight was cancelled. In line for some food when the call was made, he was at the end of the line to try to get on another flight. He managed to book one for this morning, so needed to find a hotel. He hopped on a shuttle and arrived at one just as he realized his checked bags were still at the airport. He went back to the airport as the highway closed due to a vehicle rollover. He eventually made it back to the hostel (did I mention it was a youth hostel?) and there were no rooms left – being the long weekend and a few hours after the ferries and flights had been cancelled.
He eventually got a room when someone happened to call and cancel theirs as he stood there with his bags.. but when he got to the room there was no alarm clock (nor wake-up service) to get him up early enough to catch his 6:30 am flight. He walked to find a store that sold alarm clocks and bought one, plus batteries. Last I spoke to him he had just arrived back to find there was no soap nor shampoo; he was heading out again on a quest for some.
And I thought all he’d need to survive the trip was a bag of cookies.
Dad’s Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
AuthorJulie
Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl beat the butter, oil, brown sugar and cinnamon until creamy; beat in the egg ad vanilla.
Add the flour, oats, baking soda and salt and stir until almost combined; add the raisins or other dried fruit and stir just until blended. Drop large blobs on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes, until set around the edges but still soft in the middle.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl beat the butter, oil, brown sugar and cinnamon until creamy; beat in the egg ad vanilla.
Add the flour, oats, baking soda and salt and stir until almost combined; add the raisins or other dried fruit and stir just until blended. Drop large blobs on an ungreased baking sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes, until set around the edges but still soft in the middle.
Just put Carrot Cake in the oven and wondered how your Dad was doing – hope he eventually made it home safe & sound. 🙂
Oh, I’m so sorry your Dad got caught in all of the craziness! Unbelievable storm! The wind screamed around the house, and shook the windows so hard that it unlatched one and hurled it open. Thumps from the back yard, but the wind was too fierce for me to open the door and find out what was being wrecked. My cats slept with their arms around each other. Today there are tree bits everywhere, signs blown to pieces, breakage all over the place.
I do hope you get some nice weather!
my brother had a similar experience. he spent the night in nanaimo in someones dads trailer after the ferries were all cancelled. he arrived at 4am the next day to find rescue workers going into the bay to rescue people who had capsized during a sailing race. after getting back on the road he was then waylaid in Rogers Pass with an avalanche. all this after spending a day in the Gale forces winds on the water in the bay off ucluele. when he finally arrived home in calgary, he discovered that his wife had turned off the water due to a leak, before she left for las vegas, and so he had no hot water for a shower. : (
What a story! Not sure if it matters, but your dad may want to check his credit card to see if any of these additional expenses are covered… Thank you for another delicious recipe. Chewy Oatmeal raisin cookies are my all time favourite. I’m thinking of trying some browned butter in place of the canola oil.
I made these cookies by 7 a.m. this morning! Yummy! They might not win a beauty contest but the taste more than makes up for it. The sweetness in the raisins more than makes up for the reduced sugar. I replaced the butter/oil with 2 tbsp browned butter and 2 tbsp butter, and only used 3/4 cup raisins. I made 18 cookies. The nutritional analysis on this version (per cookie) is 123 kcals, 3.6 g fat, 10.1 g sugar, 1.2 g fibre.
What a weekend for your Dad.
I’m glad he had a bag of these marvellous-looking cookies to sustain him, though: with the oats and raisins, and the cinnamon to lower their GI level, these WILL be sustaining!
Happy Easter, Julie– and Happy Easter to all the friends who hang around here in the comments at DWJ.
-Carol SB
Un freaking believable! Good thing you have it in writing now. A terrible trip but it makes for a great story.
Oh Julie, you’re poor father! What a disaster. I bet he was happy to have those beautiful cookies. My favourite Oatmeal Raisin recipe is yours from One Smart Cookie. These look beautiful too. Will have to try them. I hope your Dad is safe & sound.
wow what a twist of events! but your dad should be fine with such awesome looking cookies with company hahah they even sound healthy! 😀
Yum. I made these last night to take to a get together. I didn’t have raisins, so I substituted with 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips. They were excellent. The 1/2 cup seemed like enough, so I wonder how raisin-y these are with a full cup.
OMG Julie…what an experience, your poor Dad!
You know life has a funny way of testing us at times.
Hope you all make it back home safe.
Take care.
MFO
What a trip! I can’t believe what you (and your Dad) have been experiencing lately. Thank goodness for your good food…
I made these today and they were wonderful! I have been searching for the perfect Oatmeal raisin cookie recipe and this is it. They don’t spread out and get too thin and crunchy…and yes, they are very raisin-y.
Yum, just made these. These are also my idea of the perfect oatmeal raisin cookie. Thank you for posting the recipe. Sorry about your lost wallet and your dad’s travel troubles. Hope your trip back to Calgary goes smoothly.
P.S. Love the Blog Aid cookbook – it turned out so well and the recipes are wonderful. Congrats again.
I made these yesterday and they are great. Its my new favorite oatmeal cookie recipe! I used 2 T ea butter and oil plus about 2 T of applesauce. I added raisins, walnuts and dried cranberries… yum! Thank you so much… they are perfect not to fattening or sweet. I feel like I am eating something healthy!!
These cookies have made me a hero! Thanks! (and given me a big bum cos I made so many cos I loved the praise, but it was worth it)
Thanks Julie your prologue is so cool to read. I was also looking for cookies with less sugar for my grandkids. keep up your fantastic adventures in cooking and sharing
Ciao for now
Sue
These are great. The only sub i did was coconut oil instead of canola. and did little bit sized cookies for the kids. These cookies are exactly what i was looking for . a keeper!
These cookies are just wonderful. I have made them at least 5 times in the last year, and they never disappoint. I do decrease the sugar a wee bit, depending on my mood.