Fatherly Cookies

Father’s day is this weekend. I always have difficulty thinking of an appropriate gift for my dad, whether it is his birthday, Christmas or any other gift giving event. When I was young, ties were a good bet. Dad’s wear ties to work every day. Now, that isn’t so much the case. I’ve gotten him various manly tools, like hammers, allen wrench set, and an axe to replace the broken one. But you can only buy so many tools until you realize they just sit in the basement or garage rusting. Food items are a popular choice but as Dad gets older you figure a case of beer or a subscription to monthly red meats delivery is not the best choice. If you get something too healthy then it is quietly placed to the back of the fridge or kitchen cabinet. This year I decided to meet my Dad half way. The one thing that my Dad always enjoys that isn’t too terribly unhealthy is oatmeal raisin cookies.

Oatmeal cookies are my Dad’s favorite cookies. Not that we home bake them often but oatmeal cookies are the ones he picks at the grocery store for lunch on our way to a Father-Daughter “adventure”. When I was young these adventures usually included viewing college football games in the rain or hikes along cliff faces (I was told they no longer allow people on that hike. It was pretty scary.). Adventure lunches usually included an apple, potato chips, oatmeal raisin cookies and a hoagie sandwich: roast beef, provolone cheese and margarine usually on a hotdog bun. For me Oatmeal cookies (and the crazy Husky hoagie sandwiches) are associated with memories of doing fun activities with my Dad.

Next to chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal raisin cookies are the second most popular cookie in my opinion. The traditional home baked variety use the Quaker Oats recipe. But I know that rolled oats, even the Old Fashioned kind are still over processed. Recently I have been eating steel-cut oatmeal for leisurely breakfasts. Instead of steamed and flattened like Old Fashioned or pre-cooked like the instant, steel-cut oats are just cut up into small pieces from the original oat seed. Aimee from Simple Bites has more information about the different oat processes. Steel-cut oats take longer to cook so I had imagined that baking them in cookies would take longer if not an impossible task. It ended up being about the same process and the cookies are delicious and crunchy!

Steel-cut Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 cup steel cut oats

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1 cup raisins

10 tbsp. butter

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Whisk  the softened butter and the sugars together in a large bowl. Mix in the egg and vanilla. In a medium brown mix all the dry ingredients including the raisins. Slowly add the mixed dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture mixing thoroughly after each addition. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill the cookie batter in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Spoon the batter onto the cookie sheets  with 2 inches between each. Bake at 375 °F for 13 to 15 minutes.