Oatmeal Raisin Pecan Cookies

Regardless of how health-conscious I’ve been all semester once break hits it’s time to eat. It would be an understatement to say my family likes to do it big during the holidays. From when I came back home on December 20 until today, we have had some sort of large meal every day. Whether it’s a big Christmas party for all of our family friends or one of our four Christmas meals, there has been enough food around my house to feed a small army (which is good because when my whole family is together we literally have a small army to feed).

Christmas is when you just have to toss in the towel and say, to heck with it, I’m going to eat and I’m going to eat a lot. I will cook every waking hour for days straight and be more relaxed than I’ve been in months.  I guess entertaining is in my blood. There’s nothing better than seeing all the hard work pay off with a room full of happy people. One of these days I’ll start posting all of my cooking recipes to add to the sweets and baked goods. Despite the blog’s name I actually love to cook, I just haven’t quite figured out how to get the lighting right at night when most of the meals are served.

Ok, now I'll get to the recipes. I didn’t take pictures of everything I made, but I’ll post the ones I did. I knew I had to bake these oatmeal raisin pecan cookies after the review said they were some of the best oatmeal raisin cookies ever. That’s all I need to read to bookmark a recipe. It's way too hard to judge recipes without a review. I want someone to tell me what they thought when they made it. I loved these cookies. They may not have been the best oatmeal raisin cookies I’ve ever had, but they are definitely top three (and I’ve had a lot). I love the addition of pecans, and I also love that they’re nice and thick. They’re not the moistest cookies ever, but they’re chewy so I’m willing to let that slide. My whole family loved these, and I will most certainly be making them again soon!

Oatmeal Raisin Pecan Cookies 

Recipe from Jonesing for..

Based on the recipe from Ina Garten’s “Back to Basics”
Ina always calls for extra-large eggs in her recipes which frankly, I never have. I read somewhere that an extra-large egg usually has 1-2 tsp. more weight than a large, so to make up the difference I’ll crack an extra egg, scramble it up, and add in the difference. Or you could, yknow, just buy extra-large eggs.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Ingredients

• 8 oz. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 3 cups old-fashioned oats (not quick cooking)
• 1½ cups raisins
• 1½ cups pecans, toasted and roughly chopped

Directions

1.) Preheat oven to 350° F. Line 3-4 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2.) In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer with a large mixing bowl), beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Turn the mixer down to low and add the eggs one at a time, letting each one completely incorporate before adding the next. Stir in the vanilla extract.
3.) In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. With the mixer running on low, add the dry ingredients a little at a time. Stir in the oats, raisins, and pecans at the end until just combined.
4.) Using a large cookie scoop, drop 3 Tbsp. sized mounds of dough onto sheet pans about 2 inches apart. Slightly wet your hand with cold water and press lightly down on cookies to flatten. Bake 14-16 minutes or until lightly browned. For chewier cookies, let cool completely on sheet pans. For crisper cookies, transfer cookies from sheet pan to cooling rack after about 5 minutes.