Oatmeal Walnut Craisin Cookies

We're taking Aimee to the zoo for the first time today. I am really excited. Of course, she has no idea what the zoo is, but is excited nevertheless. Toddlers are easily excited, aren't they?

All of you probably know how much packing goes into a simple day trip when there's a toddler involved. You can't forget anything. Everything little thing is crucial. So many things! And one thing you can't leave the house without is snacks. Something toddler friendly and preferably healthy. My little girl loves craisins, and while I am carrying a little box full of them for her, I thought I would also make something with craisins that she, and the adults on the trip could enjoy.

I went back to my dear friend, Ina, for a cookie recipe. I pretty much stuck to her recipe and just made a few minor substitutions. You can find the original recipe here. This recipe usually yields 36 normal sized cookies for me, but I made 24 regular sized ones, and 24 toddler sized ones, just so she can hold them firmly in her little hands.

Oatmeal Walnut Craisin Cookies
Adapted from Ina Garten's recipe on the Food Network
Ingredients
100g walnuts
1 1/2 cups (185g) all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp powdered cinnamon

3/4 tsp salt

225g (1/2 pound) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups oatmeal
100g craisins

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. You can start all your mixing while the ovens preheating.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt, and set aside.
3. Spread the walnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 5-7 minutes until toasted. Set aside to cool.
4. Cream the butter and the sugars until light and fluffy.
5. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Add the vanilla and beat well.
7. Add the sifted flour mixture and mix until combined.
8. Chop the cooled walnuts into morsel sized bits.
9. Add the oatmeal, walnuts and craisins into the bowl and stir until combined.
10. Using an ice cream scoop or two tablespoons, drop 2 inch mounds of the cookie mix on a parchment-lined baking tray and bake for about 12 minutes or until lightly browned.
11. Transfer the baked cookies to a rack and allow them to cool completely.
12. Store in an airtight container.

I really liked these cookies. Next time, I would add more walnuts. Ina's recipe does call for more nuts than I used, but all I had at hand was a 100g pack. I slightly over-baked one of the batches, and ended up with crispy, rather than chewy cookies. Those are pretty good too, but I just prefer the chewy kind. So just keep an eye on the cookies, and don't let them get crisp. Unless you like them that way, of course!

I just noticed that I have been making so many recipes with craisins lately, you would think they were going extinct. First there were those Cranberry-Orange scones, and then the Oatmeal Cranberry muffins, and now these cookies. I will lay off the craisin recipes for a while. I promise. :)

Okay, we're off to the zoo now. Woohoo! :)