When I moved out of the dorms and into my own apartment after my Sophomore year of college, I started experimenting with cooking and baking. After all, learning to cook well on my own served to both save some money and give me an excuse to procrastinate more!
That’s why this, and a few of the other recipes posted here originate from the same period—2003 to 2004. There have been many iterations in the intervening years as I’ve perfected the recipe, and the following are almost guaranteed to come out mouthwateringly well. Almost. There’s always room for improvement.
Kahlúa-soaked Raisin Chocolate Chip Spiced Oatmeal Cookies
Total prep time: 15 minutes of heating and mixing
Makes around 30 cookies, depending on how heaping your teaspoons are.
- raisins, 1 cup
- Kahlúa, ½ cup (or enough to cover the raisins)
- butter, 1 cup, softened
- brown sugar, 1 cup, packed
- sugar, white, ½ cup
- eggs, 2
- vanilla extract, 1 tsp
- all-purpose flour, 1 ½ cups
- baking soda, 1 tsp
- ground cinnamon, 1 tsp
- ground cloves, ½ tsp
- salt, ½ tsp
- rolled oats, 2 ½ cups, half blended to powder
- chocolate chips (alternately: chopped walnuts), 1 cup
- Preheat oven to 350℉.
- Pour the Kahlúa over the raisins in a separate cup, and heat for several minutes. Set aside to cool and soak while we prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown and white sugars, eggs, and vanilla.
- Add the salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves.
- Stir in the flour a bit at a time until the mix is smooth.
- Add the oats, chocolate chips (or walnuts), and Kahlúa raisins.
- Drop heaping teaspoonfuls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Keep at least 1 ½ inches apart. Bake for approximately 12 minutes, but don’t overbake.
- Let cool for several minutes before moving them into storage.