So a lot has happened since we last talked! I’m currently sitting in bed writing this post in Auckland! I know some of you will be like huh where’s Auckland? So quick New Zealand geography lesson, Wellington is the bottom of the North Island (so basically middle of the country) and Auckland is top of the North Island, it takes around 8-9 hours to drive between or an hour to fly. I’ve been here for around a month now and moved up to take advantage of a great job opportunity at my day job and loving it so far! The weather is much better and there aren’t any earthquakes (will elaborate on that later…) but sadly the boyfriend wasn’t able to join me yet so I’m trying to convince him to move after he finishes uni next year… Fingers crossed for me! 😉
I guess we should talk about these cookie huh? I think though, that you can already tell they’re pretty amazing. Like, raisins soaked in rum overnight amazing… Yeah, I went there! To be honest, I never thought I would post a recipe here for oatmeal cookies, to me they just always sounded too healthy and too… Not like a real cookie? I can assure you though, the fact that these are called oatmeal cookies does not necessarily make them a “health cookie”, although you can feel free to pretend they are if you’d like! I never thought I would say it, but the rolled oats in these cookies just enhances the flavour and texture, meaning you get a nice soft cookie, with a bit of extra chew and texture from the oats. Of course the cookies have some dark chocolate thrown in (milk would definitely be too sweet!), because what’s a cookie without chocolate? You could stop there too, if you really wanted because these cookies are fabulous on their own. But, they are even more delicious with the addition of the rum and raisin cream cheese filling so I would highly recommend taking the extra time to turn them into sandwich cookies.
I feel like these cookies are good any time of year, too. They are just as good in the middle of a snowstorm as a breezy summer’s day, although if you’re going to make them in the heat of summer, I would highly recommend refrigerating the filling for half an hour or so before sandwiching the cookie!
As I referred to above, 3 weeks ago there was a massive, 7.8 magnitude earthquake 15km north-east of Culverden that caused a lot of damage from the top of the South Island to the bottom of the North Island and in particular to Wellington. All of my family and friends are fine, we were very lucky that it happened around midnight meaning everyone was asleep in bed! There have been lots of buildings closed and people displaced from their workplaces and homes but in general we were pretty lucky and Wellington is very resilient! It was certainly a weird and worrying time though, especially as I wasn’t there it’s easy to worry that every text will be another earthquake!
We made it through though and of course, there are always cookies to help cheer up and stressful time. Perhaps we could rename these stress reliever cookies? In any case, they are delicious and soft and buttery and deserve a place in your kitchen this weekend. 🙂 Happy baking!
- [b]Cookies[/b]
- 230g (2 sticks) butter, softened
- 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tspn vanilla essence
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 1/2 cups plain flour
- 1 tspn baking soda
- 1/2 tspn salt
- 2 tspns cinnamon
- 1/2 tspn nutmeg
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 1 1/2 cups chocolate, chopped (or chocolate chips/bits)
- [b]Cream Cheese Filling[/b]
- 200g butter
- 150g cream cheese
- 3 cups icing (powdered) sugar
- 1 tspn vanilla paste/extract
- 1 cup raisins
- 50mL rum
- Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease and line 2-3 baking sheets with baking paper.
- Place the butter and brown sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large bowl and using a hand beater). Beat together for 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla, and maple syrup and continue beating until combined.
- Add the flour, baking soda, salt and spices and beat until just combined. The mixture will be very sticky. Add the rolled oats and mix until combined, mixture will still be quite sticky.
- Add the chocolate and beat in using a wooden spoon or spatula until evenly distributed.
- You can either roll the dough into small, 1 Tbspn sized balls using your hands, or use a small cookie scoop to drop the dough onto the cookie sheets at 5cm (2 inch) intervals along the cookie sheets.
- Bake each tray separately (unless you can fit two side-by-side) for 8 minutes, or until they are just golden brown.
- Leave the cookies to cool on a wire rack whilst you make the filling.
- Make sure to soak the raisins in 35mL of the rum overnight.
- Place the butter in the bowl of your stand mixer (or again, a large bowl and using a hand beater) and beat for 5 minutes or until pale and creamy.
- Add the cream cheese piece by piece, mixing well after each addition. Once the mixture is smooth and creamy again, continue beating for 2 minutes.
- Add the icing (powdered) sugar one cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Then add the vanilla paste and rum and beat on high speed for 3-5 minutes or until the frosting is light and fluffy.
- Add the raisins and beat until combined. If the filling is a bit sloppy, add more icing (powdered) sugar and beat on high until combined. If it’s a particularly warm day, refrigerate the filling for at least half an hour before using.
- Once the cookies are completely cooled and the filling is ready, spread a generous amount (around 2 Tbspn) on the bottom of one cookie, then sandwich together with another cookie on top. Repeat until all the cookies are sandwiched and then enjoy!
- The cookies, with the filling, will only keep for 2-3 days in an airtight container, but unfilled they will keep for up to a week.
Howdy! Do you use Twitter? I’d like to follow you if that would be okay.
I’m absolutely enjoying your blog and look forward to new posts.