The Best Oatmeal Craisin Cookies

I invented this recipe for the best oatmeal Craisin cookies after multiple experiments.  I figured out the perfect oatmeal cookie – hearty and sweet – a cookie with substance that doesn’t taste like a health food.  Despite these facts, these cookies hold their own, nutritionally, at a mere 60 calories per cookie.

My standard recipe includes Toll House semi-sweet chips and Craisins as the “goodies;” the nutritional value and costs were calculated using these ingredients – other recipes may vary slightly.  My favorite variation is to substitute white chocolate chips and chopped dried apricots (which amounts to slightly more fat/sugar/calories).

I also pack the dough into Glad Press-N-Seal and freeze them; each of which makes about two-dozen cookies.  It’s much better to be able to bake fresh cookies any time, as opposed to making them all-at-once and having to binge on them.

Enjoy this recipe and feel free to add to it or adjust it to suit your tastes, whether with spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, etc.) or with any variety of “goodies.”

 

Ingredients:

2 sticks melted butter*
3 large eggs
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chocolate chips**
2 cups dried fruit**
3 cups whole oats

Materials:

1 large mixing bowl

1 rubber spatula

2 cookie sheets

Instructions: 

Heat oven to 350°F (177°C)***

Whip the butter and the sugar together.

Then add the egg and vanilla and whip that together.

Combine the salt, soda, and flour.

Mix it in.  An electric mixer should work fine until the last half-cup, when you may have to start doing it by hand.

Combine goodies to the dough and mix thoroughly (by hand).

Mix in the oats a cup at a time.****

Press cookies into 1″ balls (to bake 3″ cookies); bake for 10 minutes.

Makes 120 3″-wide ½”-thick cookies.*****

Notes:

* Substitute up to 1/4 cup of shortening instead of butter for a crispier cookie

** Any mixture of three cups of fruit, nuts, candy, etc. can be substituted

*** Some ovens may require adjustments from 325°F-375°F (160°C-190°C) – I recommend doing a “single cookie test batch” to be sure of your oven settings

**** The goodies are far easier to mix in when the dough doesn’t have oats in it yet.

***** Each Cookie Contains:

Calories: 65

Fat: 2.75g (4%DV)

Cholesterol: 4mg (1%DV)

Sodium: 16mg (.5%DV)

Carbohydrates (total): 10g (3%DV)

Carbohydrates (from fiber): .5g (2%DV)

Carbohydrates (from sugar): 6g

Protein: .5g

Total Cost:

~$6US (~$180NT) per 70 cookie batch

~10¢US (~$3NT) per 3″ cookie

One thought on “The Best Oatmeal Craisin Cookies

  1. Some of the best ones I have had use applesauce. And what the hell is wrong with binge eating cookies?! I mean, they have oats in them…they’re healthy damnit!

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