Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Ingredients

1 3/4 c flour

3/4 t baking soda

3/4 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1/2 t ground cinnamon

1/2 t ground nutmeg


1 c vegan margarine

1 1/2 c turbinado sugar

1 T egg replacer

1/4 c water

2 teaspoons vanilla


3 1/2 c oatmeal

1 c raisins (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Make sure the oven door is all the way closed or it'll never get hot enough, sweetie.

Combine flour and whatnot in a bowl and whisk together thouroughly. Don't forget the salt, otherwise it'll come out like those chocolate chip cookies you made where the flour's all white and lumpy - it prohibits the activity of various enzymes in flour that weaken the gluten.

Fun food fact: Did you know that you've been lied to all your life? Small example: that reddish brown stuff marked cinnamon you bought at the store is not cinnamon at all but a related spice called cassia. Real cinnamon is a milder, fruitier spice that's tan in color and harder to come by. This spice conspiracy goes all the way back to the dawn of Corporations and the East India Company if you follow the money. At any rate, I usually leave the cinnamon and nutmeg out.

In a separate bowl, thoroughly cream cold margarine and turbinado with the back of a spoon. This part's a pain in the ass. If you're using a wooden spoon, grip it near the bottom otherwise you'll snap the spoon in half like a chopstick and feel like an idiot. It's important to do this step quickly - the edges of the sugar cut into the margarine and create the air pockets that make the cookies soft.

Combine margarine and liquid ingredients and then fold in oatmeal and raisins. Make sure your girlfriend doesn't have some weird "issue" with raisins first. And don't go putting the oats in the blender - that defeats the WHOLE POINT of making oatmeal cookies now doesn't it? Ideally, you now have a batter that's just wet enough to combine in all the oats without becoming gooey. Too dry and they'll be crumbly and burned when they come out of the oven, too wet and they'll be undercooked or tough. Add a small amount of flour or water to compensate.

Put tablespoon-sized cookies on cookie sheet. Don't make a big heart-shaped one for your girlfriend or she'll tell all your friends and they'll laugh at you.

Bake for 6-9 minutes or until nicely golden.

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