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1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup honey
2 large eggs
1 tsp finely grated orange zest
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup raisins
1 cup pitted chopped dates
1/4 cup chopped walnut pieces
Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C) and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream the butter, brown sugar and honey in a large bowl until smooth. Add the eggs and orange zest and beat well. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and spices. Stir into the butter mixture to combine. Stir in the oats, then add the raisins, dates and walnut pieces. Drop by tablespoonfuls (15 mL) onto the prepared baking sheet 2 inches (5 cm) apart and bake 1 sheet at a time for 18 to 20 minutes, or until slightly browned.
I like to keep my chocolate chip cookies simple and add nothing more than chocolate chips, but oatmeal cookies are different. I'll stir in a little bit of everything I have in my baker's cupboard. The combination of dark brown sugar (which is very moist) and honey is your guarantee that your cookies will be chewy. The recipe is from Anna Olson's new book In the Kitchen with Anna. This recipe has not been tested by the Chatelaine Test Kitchen.
While I may pretend I am making these for Michael or for company coming over, I'm usually making them for myself.
In all my years of baking, I've never bothered to transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. I find it easiest to cool cookies on the cookie sheet - and also, you're not moving them while they are fragile. The carry-over heat on a baking sheet is virtually nil - the pan cools so quickly that it doesn't impact the cookies.
These are superchewy, packed-with-good-stuff cookies. Switch the raisins, dates and walnuts with whatever favorites you may have: white chocolate chips, dried cranberries, sliced almond, hazelnuts - it's totally up to you.