Oat and Raisin Cookies aka Biscuits

Cookies/biscuits?  Whatever, my friends.  As long as they are delicious.  This is from Emelia Jackson's opus First, Cream the Butter and Sugar (400 pages of goodness).  They are apparently her favourite biscuit/cookie.  We made these for our online Cookbook Club in July, and everyone was very happy with them.  

I liked them, but I can think of other biscuits I like more (Death by Chocolate biscuits for one).  These are definitely still a good choice though to go with a cuppa - a bit dense, a bit chewy, sweet and spicy.  There are so many recipes that I want to try from this book ...  How about Pistachio Cake with Lemon Buttercream?  I loved that there is a hefty amount of vanilla here; funnily enough, lately I keep coming across recipes with rather large amounts of it.  No complaints from me!  I love vanilla, and I like to throw in generous amounts of my homemade version, plus some delicious vanilla bean paste from our local factory.

feeling like an oaty, spicy bikkie to go with your cuppa?

Makes 20:

ingredients:

225g./8 oz butter, softened - use unsalted if you wish

200g./7 oz light brown sugar

100g./3.5 oz caster sugar

2 large eggs

1 Tbs vanilla bean paste or extract - yep, one tablespoon!

200g./7 oz plain flour

1 tsp bi-carb (baking) soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp sea salt flakes

180g./6 oz rolled oats

130g./4.5 oz raisins or sultanas  (I went for sultanas)

Method:

On goes your oven to 180C/350F

Grab 2 baking trays and line with baking paper, or use silicone baking mats (says Emelia)

Grab your electric beaters or use a stand mixer if you have one, and beat the devil out of the butter and sugars till pale and fluffy (or creamy, says Emilia)

Add the eggs and vanilla and mix till nicely (well) combined

Now gently gently mix/stir in the flour, bi-carb, spices and salt

And gently gently once again stir/fold in the oats and fruit of your choice (go sultanas!)

Scoop or spoon out (I used tablespoons) even-sized balls of the dough onto the trays, leaving lots of spreading room

Bake 'em for 12-15 minutes till golden-brown on the edges - unless you have a massive stove, you'll have to bake them in batches

Let them cool completely on the trays - or gulp one or two down if you can't wait!

Notes:

Whaaat?  No notes!?  Yep, looks like it - for the first time ever!  So I'll tell you that I did not get attacked by magpies or plovers the other day on my walk.  The crows are hanging around our backyard, preparing to nest again I hope.  Sadly, there was a report of a pair of crows having been baited in a nearby street.  They had been nesting there every year.  Both were dead.  I just hope there were no babies in the nest, though I think it's still a bit early.  You may remember there are foxes in our neighbourhood; someone put up a sad photo of one of them with a trap hanging off its foot.  So cruel!  And bloody dangerous; this is a neighbourhood with lots of pets and kids.  Grrrrr!

ingredients gathered

beat the butter and sugars together,  plus eggs

add the spices

dollop out the spoonfuls onto lined trays

baked beautifully

chewy and delicious

CookBook Club ladies!

c. Sherry M.