Oatmeal cookie experiment

For quite a while, I've been wanting to try to make oatmeal cookies. I like the chewy-ness of an oatmeal raisin cookie a lot, and it's one of the basic cookies I'd never tried to make before. I was also itching to bake something since I feel like it's been forever since I've cooked something sweet for fun. And, so, the story:

One of my husband's favorite treats is what his Grandma calls "Cowboy Cookies"- basically, oatmeal-chocolate-chip cookies. Because a friend-of-a-friend posted a recipe for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies recently, I thought I'd give it a try.
I mixed up everything as the recipe said, but thought there was quite a lot of flour for what I had in my mind as an "oatmeal cookie". I followed the directions anyway, rolled the cookie into balls, and set the first batch in the oven to cook. They weren't spreading out like I would have expected, so I rolled them into balls then flattened each cookie in the last batch, to give those cookies a head start (I'm SO unscientific when cooking!)

In the end, they weren't as oatmeal-y as I expected, and, according to my husband, Cowboy cookies need to be more oatmeal-y. This doesn't mean, however, they weren't delicious. The cinnamon in the chocolate chip cookies was a nice touch.
From Beth:

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 Tbls molasses
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup quick cooking oats (I use regular oats; they work fine)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (6 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar. Beat in molasses, egg, and vanilla. Combine the flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt: gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.

Roll into 1 1/2 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack. Makes ~1 1/2 dozen cookies

So, I was still craving a proper Oatmeal Cookie, and I remembered that a couple weeks back, there was an entry in Make it From Scratch for Cinnamon Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, so I thought I'd give it a try, minus the cinnamon chips. I cut the recipe in half, because I DID already have 2.5 dozen cookies, I didn't need 4 dozen more. Two would be enough.

I mixed up the dough as directed, but I became wary when the first step, which said "Cream butter and sugarS together." There's only one type of sugar in the directions. Was I supposed to be using white sugar too? Or is the plural of sugar a typo? I stuck with the ingredients list and hoped it was a typo... Something I did differently than the directions: I read somewhere that soaking raisins in water for a few minutes before mixing them into a dough- whether a bread, muffin, cookie, whatever- will keep them moist during cooking, rather than drying out and getting chewy. I gave it a try.
I put both cookie sheets of oatmeal raisin cookies in the oven at the same time, and they, like the first batch of the other cookies, didn't really spread out during cooking either. When they cooled, I tasted them, and they were definitely chewy and oatmeal-y - the goal - but I still wonder if there was some sugar missing from the recipe.
From Heather (cut in half by me, without the cinnamon chips):

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
1/2 C butter or margarine, softened
1/2 C packed light brown sugar
1 eggs
3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 C flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1.25 C quick oats
1/2 C raisins (or more)

- Heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cream butter and sugars together. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Combine flour and baking soda; add to butter mixture beating well. Stir in oats, cinnamon chips and raisins (batter will be stiff)
- Drop by heaping teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack.

Makes about 2 dozen.

For a size comparison, the cookies with raisins are on the left, the chocolate chip cookies are on the right:


So, after making all these yummy cookies, what did I do? A lot of dishes. (Eating them's for an event tomorrow!)