Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Photo Lauren Egan Preheat oven to 375F. Let all the ingredients come to room temperature before you begin. Using the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, cream the butter, brown sugar and the salt on low speed. Note: The longer you cream these ingredients, the more air you'll incorporate, giving you a lighter cookie. If you want a chewier cookie, cream only enough to combine the ingredients. Add the eggs, vanilla and milk and mix until blended. Sift the flour, baking soda and baking powder together into a separate bowl. Combine the oats with the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until they're combined. Mix the raisins into the dough. Note: If the raisins are hard, you can soak them in a bowl of hot water for about half and hour, then drain them and dry them thoroughly in paper towels before adding them to the dough. Prepare your baking sheet pan by greasing it with butter or shortening or lining it with parchment paper. Or use a silicone baking mat, which is my favorite technique. Using a 1 oz scoop or the equivalent, drop 1 oz balls of dough onto your sheet pan, leaving enough room between them to allow for them to spread. Bake 10-12 minutes or until the edges and bottoms of the cookies are beginning to look golden brown. When the cookies are cool enough to handle but still warm, remove them from the pan and cool them on a wire rack. You can eat them as soon as they're cool enough that they won't burn your mouth. Or if you'll be storing them, make sure they've cooled thoroughly first. Makes about 60 cookies. The recipe may be halved , or you can prepare the dough through step 8 and freeze some or all of it for later. To freeze cookie dough, roll it into a tube and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Later you can simply unwrap the tube, cut the frozen dough into single-cookie slices and bake normally.