Twelve Recipes of Christmas - Recipe 1:
This year I decided to attempt making 12 recipes for the holiday season and call it "Twelve Recipes of Christmas". I know what you must be thinking and yes dear reader, I am a little crazy, but hey – it runs in my family! 😊 Depending on how this goes, next year I might be a little more ambitious and challenge myself to 12 recipes based on the 12 days of Christmas - but we will see what this holiday season brings for now! This little mission started out small. My dad’s birthday was coming up and I wanted to do something special. I heard through my great-aunts that the oatmeal raisin cookie recipe in our family cookbook was one of his favorites growing up so I decided what better gift that a nostalgia node of yummy goodness in the form of a cookie!
Well, it didn't take long at all for me to already be challenged with this recipe. I began reading the ingredients and immediately ran into my first baking bump. The recipe calls for "Raisins.." and "Chopped walnuts". You already see the problem? NO MEASUREMENTS. What I don't understand at this point is the other ingredients have listed measurements for them, why leave out the nuts and raisins!? So who do I go to for advice? My aunties, of course! I believe my email was titled "Oh our lovely cookbook - HELP!" After some discussion and a little research we decided it would be best to try starting out with about 1/4 c. and add a little more each time until it "looks right" - because you can always add more you just can't take it out!
First step was to soften the raisins in hot water and then drain them. I had never heard of doing this before, but it makes sense as not only are you adding plumpness back into the raisins, I bet it would create extra moisture in the cookies itself once they are baked.
Next I beat two eggs in a mixing bowl until they were frothy. I suppose now would be a good time to iterate, if I have not already confessed, that I am not the best baker nor do I necessarily enjoy baking. I have surprised many friends and family members when I have admitted this to them in the past, but the reality of it seems to be the temperamental nature baking often has leaves me, at times, more anxious and intimidated by the process than "regular" cooking. Cooking a non-baking recipe to me seems organic and somewhat carefree - you can start out with a guideline and end up adding a bit of this or that and creating something new and inspired. Baking however can easily be non-forgiving and I don't like to disappoint! That said, I wasn't quite sure what exactly "frothy" meant and my analytical brain began to question how frothy is "frothy" and can eggs become "over-frothed" - well, too late to turn back now, the shell was cracked, I was going in!
To the frosty - I mean frothy - eggs, I added water, brown sugar and oil and mixed until the sugar was dissolved.
Once mixed, it was time to add the dry ingredients. Again, here is where I personally think a potential misprint lays in the recipe - it said in addition to the dry ingredients to mix in the raisins and nuts - but that was just silly because (again journey with me on my rabbit hole brain wave) if I add the nuts and raisins now wouldn't that make the mixer have problems mixing the mix? Even if I were to mix all together by hand, wouldn't it not fully mix together harmoniously, what if flour stuck to a raisin, would it matter for the batter? So I chose rather to add the dry ingredients (the seasonings and about a cup of flour at first) together until well mixed. Then I added the remaining flour until it too was well incorporated.
Finally I felt it was time to add the nuts and the raisins. (Don't worry the oats are coming!) Remember, I had no idea how many nuts or raisins to add because it was conveniently omitted from the original recipe - I suppose it is possible it was missed or forgotten, but not even a small conceptual "handful" measurement to go from makes this difficult for me! I mixed the nuts and raisins into the cookie batter.
Once I was done stirring it all together I could tell more nuts and raisins would be needed, along with the oats. So little by little I began adding more raisins and nuts until it came together. The other hilarious ingredient for this to me was the oats. The original recipe says "5 to 6 cups oatmeal" which if you ask me, an entire cup of an main component to a dish seems a little too large of a margin. However, I gave the process the benefit of the doubt. Maybe not all oats are created equal, many some are tinier than other, I don't know.
So into the bowl, little by little until - you guessed it - the ancestors said "that's enough". Also, the recipe does say "The secret is, when you make a ball in your hand it holds its shape." Again - another reason why baking for me is difficult. Do you know there are a lot of things that have textural differences yet still hold its shape? To my recollection, I do not believe I have ever made oatmeal cookies before in my life, or if I have, I clearly wasn't paying attention enough to know that the cookie batter becomes almost like a granola. It is super dense and definitely sticky and can get a little difficult to stir once the oats are added to the point of the batter keeping its round shape in your hand. I am not lying when I tell you I literally stood there in the kitchen hands a mess, asking my husband "um do you think this looks right?" (like he would know!?) . Finally, I found the batter holding shape to my satisfaction. Hard to tell from the picture, but I promise the glob of cookie goop was in fact spherical in nature and did not flatten out while I held it. I decided it was time to move on to the baking.
After about 10 minutes I checked the cookies and they were golden brown and ready to cool down. My aunts also told me something that was another small detail omitted from the recipe - my great-grandma used to always put a walnut right in the center of the cookie before baking them. I think this step may be optional. I wanted to get as close as my great-grandma's recipe for my dad, so I made sure the second batch I made sure to add the walnut to the center of the cookies.
Then I let them cool and it was hard to keep my husband from eating too many of them before sending to my dad! He claims it is because he is "quality control" for these sorts of things; however, I know the truth is that these cookies are positively mouthwatering!
As I was working on getting everything I needed to make these cookies, I found out my dad and my little sister had tested positive for Covid-19. My first concern was their health and safety – followed quickly by a mild panic of how awful receiving cookies, for that are supposed to bring something so special to your day, just reminding you of the inability to taste food, would be! I mean, it seemed like a cruel or mean joke. But with encouragement of my momma, I made them anyways. I’ve heard people who have had Covid say that texture is everything when you lose your sense of taste – so I was hoping that even if he couldn’t taste the cookies, the texture would be pleasant enough for him to still enjoy – - The process I went through to make them will be addressed shortly; however, I wanted to take a jump forward to after they were made – the next leg of their journey would be to travel across country via UPS to arrive safely at their home. The day they arrived, my dad wasn’t doing too well – he didn’t even feel up to eating a cookie, he was so under the weather. He ended up being admitted to the hospital with pneumonia (brought on by Covid-19). My momma kept us all updated, although my dad didn’t get to have one yet – she quality tested the cookie and said they tasted just like my Bopka’s. The next day my dad was already feeling a little better and asked for her to bring him a cookie from home. When he finally was able to eat one of the cookies, homemade with love, my mom asked, “Can you taste it?” I still am not sure to this day whether or not that day in the hospital he was able to taste the cookie or if the texture was just spot on enough for his memories to flood back and make him think he was tasting the cookie – either way, he said it was really good and was spot on. I am happy to say he recovered and was sent home, still was working on getting fully over it but we were blessed and happy he was able to go home and continue getting better there. Later we talked on the phone and he said “Seriously – the cookies were amazing – they’re gone already – I don’t know how many you sent, but there are no more of them.” One of the funniest things happened, he then told me “Oh I need to send this container back to you” – the one I sent the cookies in – I said “ No you don’t dad, it’s okay” he said “yeah, but I want more cookies so I want to send it back so you can send more cookies!” 😊 Needless to say, he will be getting more cookies, soon (and I didn’t make him send back the empty container).
Of all the lessons to have learned during these adventures, this recipe, in particular, has taught me food is truly is not only food for nourishment, but also food for your soul. It is something that transcends all cultures, all walks of life, brings people together, and can manifest feelings that exude from your soul, so many that I don’t have words to describe the depths of emotion it can convey. Regardless it always for me brings positivity, a peace, a memory, a cherished time, happiness, joy. I invite you to try recreating a beloved recipe yourselves as well, spread the cheer, because it truly has been a great medicine for me.
NEXT EPISODE - MINI SERIES CONT.: Twelve Recipes of Christmas #2 - Autumn Breakfast Cake
__________________________________________________________________________________
ORIGINAL RECIPE
GRANNY M'S OATMEAL COOKIES
Ingredients:
2 eggs 3/4 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup water 2 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup white sugar 1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Raisins, softened in hot water and drained
Chopped walnuts
5 - 6 cups oatmeal (quick preferred over regular)
In a mixing bowl beat eggs until frothy. Add water, brown sugar and oil. Mix until sugar is dissolved. Add dry ingredients along with raisins and nuts. Mix well. Add oatmeal one cup at a time, (sometimes it will take more, sometimes less). The secret is, when you make a ball in your hand it holds its shape. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly. Bake in a 350 deg. Oven until golden brown. About 10 to 12 minutes.
These cookies were a specialty of Granny M.
SCRAPPY GIDGET'S VERSION OF GRANNY M'S OATMEAL COOKIES
Ingredients:
2 eggs 3/4 c. cooking oil
1/2 c. water 2 c. flour
1 c. brown sugar 1 tsp baking soda
1/2 c. white sugar 1 tsp salt
2 tsps. cinnamon
1 c. Raisins, softened in hot water (about 10 minutes) and drained
1 c. Chopped walnuts
5 -6 c. quick oats (I used 5 1/2 c. however the amount may vary depending on the oatmeal you are using).
In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs until frothy, about 3-5 minutes. Add water, brown sugar, and oil. Mix together on medium with electric mixer until sugar is dissolved. Add the white sugar, cinnamon, baking soda, and 1 tsp of salt. Mix well. Once incorporated, add the second cup of flour until batter is mixed thoroughly and all ingredients are combined. Next, add the raisins and walnuts to the mixture and fold into the batter. Begin adding oatmeal 1 cup at a time, sometimes it takes more sometimes less. Once batter begins to become really thick and difficult to stir, check to see if when you make a ball in your hand with the mixture it holds its shape. If the shape doesn't hold, continue to add more oatmeal a little at a time until it holds its shape. Place scoops of the cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, about 10 - 12 minutes.
No comments:
Post a Comment