Apple Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

This Apple Raisin Oatmeal Cookies recipe is sponsored on behalf of #AppleWeek. Our generous sponsors, Swiss Diamond, Envy Apples, Imperial Sugar, Nordic Ware, Rodelle Vanilla, Flahavan’s Irish Oatmeal, Nairn’s and The Spice House have provided us with products for recipe creation and a giveaway for our readers. All opinions are my own.

When you bake a batch of Apple Raisin Oatmeal Cookies, your kitchen fills with the seasonal aromas of sweet apples and cinnamon. When you take your first chewy bite full of oats, apples, and raisins, there is a good chance that this cookie will become an instant favorite.

Fall has officially begun! The temperatures, here in St. Louis, are even acting fall-like! To start the season with a bang, I am joining 40 other bloggers to celebrate #AppleWeek! All this week, September 23-29, participating bloggers will be posting over 200 different recipes using apples. That’s a lot of recipes and a lot of apples! I’ve seen the proposed recipe titles and am amazed at the mouthwatering variety. I’m excited!

I am a fan of oatmeal cookies in general. There are Monday Box recipes for crunchy oatmeal cookies with toffee, Golden Syrup, dark chocolate (gf), and coconut. Apple Raisin Oatmeal Cookies are a soft, chewy treat that stand out from the rest. Each ingredient goes so well together: creamy vanilla, spicy Vietnamese Cinnamon, nutty oatmeal.

Then, there is the cinnamon icing. Apple Raisin Oatmeal Cookies don’t need icing to be scrumptious. Icing is completely optional, however, it does serve a purpose even beyond adding a tasty bit of sweet crunch. Icing Apple Raisin Oatmeal Cookies helps to seal in the moisture, keeping the cookies soft longer. For cookies that will be traveling in a care package, those extra couple of days of softness can be quite helpful!

Why are Apple Raisin Oatmeal Cookies special?

High quality ingredients produce high quality baked goods.  Apple Raisin Oatmeal Cookies are full of high quality ingredients that create a delicious chewiness and warm, spicy flavors. The result is a special cookie. Beyond adding flavor and texture, these are ingredients you can feel good about using. You know that I make a special effort to support companies who source their products ethically, sustainably, and using fair trade practices.  If you feel the same way, Flahavan’s, Rodelle, and The Spice House are companies you should know about!

• Flahavan’s Irish Oatmeal is sustainably grown and milled in Co. Waterford, Ireland by the Flahavan’s family since 1785. Flahavan’s oats are milled in small batches and minimally processed according to 230 year old milling tradition and double kilned. They are non-GMO and naturally gluten-free.
• Rodelle believes ingredients makes all the difference. Rodelle works with a farmer-owned co-op in Madagascar, Sahanala, to craft a farm-to-table vanilla that benefits the vanilla farmers and their families.
• The Spice House has been sourcing premium spices since 1957. They provide the freshest and most flavorful ingredients possible via small, weekly batch grinding and blending.

Baking Notes for Apple Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

• The type of oats used in a recipe makes a difference. Quick cooking oats are precooked, then dried. The shorter the cooking time required (1 minute, 3 minutes, 5 minutes) the more processed the oats. In baking, quick cooking oats produce less texture than rolled oats or steel cup oats, and create a softer cookie. Flahavan’s three minute quick cooking oats were used in this recipe to give Apple Raisin Oatmeal Cookies a moist, softness with a bit of chew.

• Until I started doing a lot of baking, I had no idea that there were different types (origins) of cinnamon. Cassia or Chinese cinnamon is the most common. Vietnamese Cinnamon from The Spice House, the strongest, richest, and sweetest of the cinnamons, was used in Apple Raisin Oatmeal Cookies. Vietnamese Cinnamon is for those who truly adore cinnamon!

• Vanilla. Use the real thing. Whether the primary flavor in a recipe or a background flavor, as in these cookies, only real vanilla can fully enhance the other flavors with it’s rich warmth. The premium quality flavor of Rodelle vanilla is responsible for the premium quality flavor in Apple Raisin Oatmeal Cookies.

Here is my suggestion. Bake a batch of Apple Raisin Oatmeal Cookies. Put a dozen or so in the cookie jar and pack up the rest to send to someone special. Then sit down with a cup of tea or coffee and a few cookies to look through the list below of #AppleWeek posts, to start your fall off with a bang!

5 from 1 vote

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Apple Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

Adapted from The International Cookie Cookbook by Nancy Baggett

Makes 42 cookies

Author The Monday Box

Ingredients

Cookies

• 1 cup raisins
• 2/3 cup dried apples finely chopped
• 1/3 cup apple juice or cider
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup 3 minute quick cook oats
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon Vietnamese
• 1 cup butter room temperature
• 1 ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Icing

• 1 ¾ cups confectioners’ sugar
• 3 tablespoons apple juice
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon Vietnamese

Directions

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the raisins, chopped apples, apple juice, and lemon juice. Set aside for 20 minutes.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together both flours, oats, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar until fluffy.
5. Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.
6. Mix in half of the flour mixture.
7. Stir in the raisins and apples.
8. Add the remaining flour mixture and mix to combine.
9. Use a medium (2 tablespoon) scoop to portion the dough about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
10. Bake for 10-14 minutes or until browned around the edges.
11. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

To ice the cookies:

1. Mix the confectioners’ sugar, apple juice, and cinnamon in a bowl until smooth.
2. Use a butter knife or offset spatula to spread icing over top of cookies.
3. Set iced cookies on a wire rack set on top of wax paper to catch icing drips.
4. Allow the icing to dry completely (about 2 hours) before storing the cookies.
5. Store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to one week.

Packing Tips

Wrap pairs of cookies, bottoms together, in plastic wrap. Stack wrapped pairs in columns in a freezer weight ziplock bag or airtight storage container.

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