I have a confession to make. Before trying this recipe I had never made oatmeal cookies before. That could be why I innocently pushed forward when things seemed strange. The batter was wet and loose and I couldn’t form a rounded cookie; I thought the oatmeal might soak up the liquid. Nope. They spread like crazy and I ended up with a sheet-pan sized cookie.

Upon analyzing the disaster, I made some major modifications in the recipe. The flour to oats ratio was off, so I added loads of flour and used fewer oats. There was also too much milk and too little baking soda. Generally for high altitude you add a little moisture and reduce leaveners, but in this case I did just the opposite. Then I adjusted the spices – I think all cinnamon and no cloves enhances the raisins. Ah, the sweet taste of success.

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies loosely adapted from about.com
1/2 cup vegan sugar
1 cup organic brown sugar, packed
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup vegan margarine, cold
1/3 cup plain soymilk
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup raisins
Preheat oven to 350F. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and margarine until smooth and fluffy. Beat in milk a little at a time until well combined.
In another bowl, add flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg, and stir until well mixed. Add flour mixture to the bowl of the stand mixture and blend to combine. Add oats and blend to combine. Remove bowl from stand mixer and stir in raisins.
Drop dough balls the size of 2 TBS onto cookie sheets and flatten slightly with your hand. Bake for 14-16 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Cookies will be slightly soft and chewy. Yield: 2 1/2 dozen cookies

There were leftovers because my widespread family requested cookies. On their behalf, I will freeze some and see how they fare later.

Until next time, happy baking!