My dad is the hardest person to shop for. He doesn’t want or need anything, so birthday and Christmas gifts are always a struggle of what to get him. This year, I decided to skip the hardware store and head down the baking aisle at the grocery store instead.
One of my dad’s favorite people growing up was his grandmother. She was kind and gentle and had such a loving spirit to her. She passed when I was 5 years old, so I don’t have a ton of memories of her, but in the ones that I do have, she was reading me a story or handing me a wafer cookie out of her cookie jar. One homemade cookie that was a staple in her house was her oatmeal raisin cookies. And that one cookie is my dad’s all time favorite. I think that may be too because no one else wants to eat them because of the raisins in them. Ha!
So, having never made these cookies before, I decided this was the time to do it. First of all, this cookie recipe is very different than other oatmeal cookies I’ve made in the past. It uses maple syrup and brown sugar as the sweeteners, which gives it a much less in-your-face-sweet taste to them. Also, this recipe makes about a million cookies. It’s ridiculous. I seriously stopped counting after I pulled the ninth dozen out of the oven. So if you need ALOT of cookies for an event, gifts, etc, then this is the recipe for you!
And if you need to substitute chocolate chips for raisins, I’m not going to judge you one bit about that. I would too!
Grandmother Kettler's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups light brown sugar
- 1 cup shortening
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons nutmeg
- 4 cups flour
- 1.5 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup plump raisins (soak them in water for 30 minutes or so before using)
- 1 cup pecans, finely chopped
- 1 cup pecan, halves
- 4 cups oatmeal Do not use steel cut oats. They will alter the consistency.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix nutmeg, baking soda, and salt together in a stand mixer.
- Add all other ingredients (except for the pecan halves).
- Scoop 2 tablespoon size balls and place it on a parchment-lined cookie sheet 2 inches apart.
- In the center of each scoop, add a pecan half right on top.
- Bake the cookies for 12 minutes or until browned.
Products Used
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