oatmeal raisin molasses cookies

I never knew my great-grandmother Susu, but she made an indelible imprint on fabric of my maternal family.  My mother is her namesake, and one of her favorite stories about Susu involves cookies.  Apparently my great-grandmother and grandfather baked batches of this recipe and won baking competitions together.  I can imagine that strong-willed woman and her son in the kitchen, making cookies that look modest, but taste robust, rich and surprisingly light for something that seems so dense when it goes into the oven.

To continue the story to the present day, this recipe continues to be a favorite with my family.  My mother has been known to whip up a quadruple batch for a gathering at the house.  Then of course the cookies disappear within days.  Too much temptation!

Oatmeal Raisin Molasses Cookies

INGREDIENTS

1 cup sugar

1 cup salted butter

2 eggs

3 tablespoons molasses, generous

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 tablespoons milk, generous

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

2 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats

2 cups flour

1 cup nuts (walnuts, pecans, etc.), chopped

1 cup raisins

DIRECTIONS

Allow butter, eggs and milk reach room temperature.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Prepare several cookie sheets by covering in aluminum foil or parchment paper, set aside.

Cream sugar and butter together in a large bowl.  Add eggs, molasses and vanilla and mix until blended.  Dissolve baking soda in milk and add to mixture.  Add spices, oats and flour.  Mix until completely blended – batter should be heavy and a little sticky.  Fold in nuts and raisins.  Drop by spoonfuls onto baking sheets.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, switching racks halfway through baking.  Let the cookies rest on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to finish cooling.  Yields 3 dozen cookies (or a few more, depending on how generous you are with cookie size!).

Note: This batter turns out best when the kitchen is a little cool.  If you make these cookies in summer, I suggest refrigerating the dough for an hour before baking.

A word of warning, these are not mild oatmeal cookies that masquerade as a ‘sensible dessert.’  They’re packed with flavor and texture and will please fans of carrot cake and the occasional hearty morning muffin. In other words: don’t expect that store-bought oatmeal ‘taste.’  Also: they smell DIVINE while baking.

Recommended for: fans of spice and texture in their baked goods, and the perfect hearty cookie to finish off a workman’s lunch.

Interested in other food-related posts?  Check out Beth Fish Reads’ Weekend Cooking!

golden raisin and walnut cookies

I think there are two types of cookie-lovers in the world: those who like raisins, and those who don’t.  My sister does NOT like raisins, so I spent most of my childhood learning to bake things without raisins (my grandfather’s famous Oatmeal Molasses Cookie recipe excepted!) to accommodate her.  Once something becomes a habit, it’s hard to break.  But back to raisins!  I bought a box of the golden variety a while ago for barmbrack, and I’ve been wondering what to do with the rest.  When I found this recipe, I knew it had a good chance of success… and indeed, the cookies are delicious, buttery wonders.

Golden Raisin and Walnut Cookies (from a Bon Appétit recipe)

INGREDIENTS

1 1/3 cups golden raisins

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup (packed) brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups walnuts, chopped

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two baking sheets with baking spray. Soak raisins in enough hot water to cover until soft, about 15 minutes. Drain; set aside. Roast the walnuts in a cake pan for 5-8 minutes in the oven, then cool in separate dish (if desired).

Mix flour, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Beat butter and both sugars in another large bowl until light and fluffy (to do this without a stand mixer, make sure butter is room temperature – malleable – and beat with hand mixer. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla. Add dry ingredients; mix just until blended. Fold in nuts and raisins.

Using palms of hands, roll dough into 3/4-inch balls. Arrange on baking sheets, spacing evenly. Bake until cookies are golden brown, about 12 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks; cool completely.

Note: The recipe says to roll the dough into balls, but I found that this only worked after I'd chilled the dough in the fridge overnight.  When I first made it, the cookie batter was a little too sticky, and the cookies were more of the 'drop from spoon onto pan' variety.  They turn out the same regardless.  Expect thin cookies with crispy edges.  Oh!  And I found I got a more uniform result when I switched racks halfway through.

Recommended for: fans of raisins and nuts, and anyone who likes a buttery cookie to go with their morning (or afternoon, or evening!) coffee.

Interested in other food-related post?  Check out Beth Fish Reads’ Weekend Cooking!

barmbrack

There’s a constant clatter in my head these days, and when I slow down long enough to listen to it, it sounds like this: “I’m going to Ireland!  Oh my goodness, I’m going to Ireland!  I’m not ready!  I’m ready!!!  I’m nervous!  IRELAND!” (repeat).  In preparation I’ve been doing the usual – reading guidebooks, purchasing a new rain jacket, confirming reservations and so on… but I’ve also been reading Irish fiction and making Irish recipes.

One of those recent reads was Marian Keyes’ Saved by Cake.  Loved that book!  Full of humor and deliciousness.  For my latest Irish baking experiment I’ve made a traditional cake called Barmbrack, modified slightly from the recipe in Keyes’ cookbook (and leaving out her hilarious commentary!).  It’s usually served at Halloween and filled with surprises (a ring to signify you’ll be getting married, a penny to symbolize wealth – you get the idea), like a King Cake.  I made the cake but omitted the surprises, as I’m sure I’ll have plenty of those while traveling without wishing for more!  Oh and yes, I leave in 4 days!  So excited!

Barmbrack

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup raisins

zest of one (medium) orange

2 cups black tea, cooled

1 1/4 cups self-rising flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 egg, beaten

DIRECTIONS

Place the sugar, raisins, orange zest and tea in a bowl.  Cover and leave to soak overnight (or for at least 5 hours, like I did the first time I made this recipe!).

Grease a 1-lb. loaf pan and line with parchment paper, set aside.  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Sift the flour and baking soda into the tea/sugar/fruit mixture, then add the beaten egg and stir well.  Pour batter into the pan and bake for 1 hour 35 minutes (do a toothpick test from one hour on just to check).

Let stand in pan for 5 minutes, and then turn out onto a wire rack.  Cut into slices and serve with butter.  Serves 8-10.

OH DEAR GOODNESS THIS IS HEAVEN.  Sorry.  I didn’t intend to write that out in all caps, but the happiness that is in my mouth right now begged for an expression.  You can see the list of ingredients above – it’s nothing fancy, strange or exotic.  And there’s no magic in the preparation, either, except letting the fruit marinate in the sugar and tea.  And yet.  The two slices of cake that I just ate, slathered in butter, were sinfully delicious and absolutely lovely.  Make this cake for how it smells while baking.  Eat it for pure pleasure!  Finish it in one sitting because you won’t be able to help yourself!

Note: This cake is best just out of the oven, but reheats perfectly well in the oven 2-3 days later, too.  Probably you can freeze it, too – if you can resist eating it!

Recommended for: a moist, crowd-pleasing sweetbread, a welcome addition to autumn and holiday baking (it just smells right for those seasons!), and for the days when you just need to eat something comfortable and fragrant with your coffee/tea.  

Interested in other food-related posts?  Check out Beth Fish Reads' Weekend Cooking!

cape cod october pie

Last year I took on the job of making the pies at extended family Thanksgiving.  It went well.  I’m doing it again this year.  The problem with pie-making is that I’ll only expend that kind of energy on a ‘need to’ basis.  But knowing me, I would forget the secrets of pie dough from one year to the next.  So…I decided to host Canadian Thanksgiving this last Monday to keep my hand in.  To make life that much more interesting, I tried a NEW type of pie.  The original recipe was provided by Big A’s mother (Big A is my roommate’s boyfriend), and it says it’s from Miss Ruby’s Cornucopia.  It was a HIT.

Cape Cod October Pie

INGREDIENTS

pastry for a two-crust pie (I used this pie crust recipe)

1 1/2 cups cranberries, coarsely chopped

1 cup peeled, cored and diced apples (I added an additional 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 Tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup cranberry juice (I’d leave this out if I made the recipe again)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 Tablespoons butter

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.  Line a 9-inch pie plate with pastry rolled to 1/8-inch thickness, set aside.

Toss together the cranberries, apples, raisins and walnuts with the sugar, flour, cinnamon, cranberry juice and vanilla in a medium-sized bowl.  Spoon carefully into the unbaked pie shell and dot with butter.  Cut strips from remaining pie crust (which can be rolled a tad thicker than the bottom for ease) and make a lattice over the top of the pie.  Crimp together the edges of lattice and bottom crust.  Sprinkle lightly with sugar if desired.  Bake for 40 minutes, or until fruits are tender and pastry is brown.  Let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

I noted above that I’d leave out the cranberry juice if I made the pie again – and that’s because there was a lot of liquid in the fruit mixture even after baking.  It didn’t seem to affect anyone’s enjoyment – it was gone before I could even get a piece.  I’d say Cape Cod October Pie was a smashing success.  Besides, it’s so pretty!  Although clearly I am not the world's most expert lattice maker.  Whatever.

Recommended for: a flavorful and unusual pie at any party that requires an autumnal crowd-pleaser.

Interested in other food-related posts?  Check out Beth Fish Reads’ Weekend Cooking.