Perfect Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (and a great gifting idea)

The recipe for perfect oatmeal raisin cookies isn’t even close to a secret. Buy a container of Quaker Old Fashioned Oats and the recipe appears under the lid. It’s one of my favorite cookie recipes. This time I used a combination of dried cranberries and raisins which I think was rather good. The great idea here is to use an empty Quaker Oats container to gift a batch of cookies. No need to wash out anything since there was only oats in there before. And you are giving something that would normally head to the trash another purpose. It’s the second R in Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

(from Quaker)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In large bowl, beat together butter and sugars with electric mixer until creamy. (I don’t use an electric mixer for this recipe and the cookies turn out just fine.) Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add to butter mixture; mix well. Stir in oats and raisins; mix well.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

Almost all the cookies fit into the large-size Quaker Oats container with a few leftover to enjoy yourself.

Funny story about an empty Quaker Oats container…. we kept one in the toy cabinet in the kitchen with various play food items in it when my daughter was just under two. It was a great toy for her. One day I caught her in the kitchen with her pants down sitting on the container. She had decided to try it out as a potty. It worked and we had a laugh about her crazy idea. So there’s that idea if you are in a pinch for a travel potty.