Raisin, Cranberry, and Pecan Oatmeal Cookies

A cookie recipe without chocolate?! How weird is that!

Despite not having any chocolate, these cookies are delightful.  They are packed fully of yummy raising, pecans, and cranberries.  They have a subtle cinnamon flavor and an excellent texture.  I didn't even miss the chocolate.

Not surprisingly, oatmeal comes from oats.  The husks are removed and an oat seed or groat remains.  The groats are heated and cooled to stabilize them.  I'm not actually sure what that means.  

Rolled oats, which are used in this recipe are steams and flattened oat groats.

Samual Johnson defined oats in his dictionary as "A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people."  What a condescending man!

This recipe came from the Barefoot Contessa.  I only make one change; I replaced some of the raisins with cranberries. I also halved the recipe.

The ingredients are 3/4 cup pecans, 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 granulated sugar, 1 large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 cups oatmeal, 3/4 cup raisins, and 3/4 cup dried cranberries.  As you can see, these cookies are packed with chewy dried fruit and crunchy pecans.

I mixed the softened butter and sugars together.

I mixed in the egg and vanilla.

I added the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.  I stirred these ingredients together.

I added the oatmeal, dried cranberries, raisins, and pecans.  These are the ingredients that make these cookies stand out.

I mixed until the batter was combined and all the nuts and fruit were evenly distributed.

I put mounds of dough two inches apart on a greased cookie sheet.

I baked the cookies for 12 minutes at 350 degrees.

I let them cool a little on the cookie sheet and them moved them to a rack to cool thoroughly.  

These were phenomenal cookies.  It is a great recipe to make during the holiday season.  There are so many delightful textures going on inside the cookie.  They are chewy, crunchy, and soft.

They smell amazing and remain soft even after a few days.

 Your coworkers, family, or friends will not mind helping you polish off a batch of these fragrant and sweet treats.

Even if you don't like oatmeal cookies, these might change your mind.  I'll definitely make them again.