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Oatmeal Cookies with Rum-soaked Raisins

by:
June  6, 2010
4.7
3 Ratings
  • Makes 6 - 7 dozen
Author Notes

This recipe comes from back in the day when panty-hose were invented because skirts got so short! It was shared by my friend, the late (sadly) Barbara Cooper, who made these cookies for all her special friends. This recipe is part of her legacy. I added the rum. The cookies stay soft because of the cooked, soaked raisins, and the raisins also stay soft. —ChefJune

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Ingredients
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 1 cup dark rum
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
  • 1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 2 extra large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I use Nielsen-Massey)
  • 2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon Rumford's baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon Saigon cinnamon (I use Vann's)
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground mace
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
  • 2 cups rolled oats (not the quick kind)
  • the previously prepared raisins
  • 1/2 cup chopped, toasted walnuts
Directions
  1. Simmer raisins and rum over low heat until raisins are plump (about 20-30 minutes). Drain liquid into measuring cup. Add water (or rum) to make 1/2 cup of liquid
  2. Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
  3. Cream butter and sugar. Stir in eggs and vanilla until well mixed. Stir in the raisin liquid.
  4. Mix all the dry ingredients except oats and nuts together and add to butter mixture:
  5. Stir in the oats, raisins and nuts. At this point, you can refrigerate the dough overnight, but be sure to let it warm up a bit before making the cookies.
  6. Drop rounded teaspoons of dough about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake in the preheated oven for 8 - 10 minutes. Cool on cake racks.
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30+ years a chef, educator, writer, consultant, "winie," travel guide/coordinator

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8 Reviews

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AdventureGirl February 14, 2021
Delicious, moist cookie. Did not use mace, none on hand, so replaced with cinnamon. My raisins did not yield any extra syrup after simmering, so just added the 1/2 cup of rum. Baked dough right from mixer without refrigerating for 9 minutes. They did not spread and baked into lovely mounds of deliciousness. Would recommend.
mstv February 25, 2019
I made these today and they are wonderful. I made a half recipe and used dried currants instead of raisins. I found I only needed to bake them for 8 minutes to get them nicely browned (on the upper middle rack). I made a half recipe and it made 20 cookies so perhaps mine were a little bigger than intended but they seemed quite petite (rather domed and just under 2 inches across). I highly recommend this recipe. One note: I was looking forward to the rum flavor and I wasn't disappointed but these don't have much of an alcohol flavor, just the rum flavor (if that makes sense). So don't hold back on making these if you were concerned they would be too boozy (they're not). I think these would make a marvelous holiday cookie because of all the festive flavors!
ChefJune February 25, 2019
So glad you like them!
Ryan February 18, 2017
Made them tonight and they were excellent! Soaking the raisins gives a pleasing rum flavor and makes the raisins juicy. Great cookies all around.
ChefJune February 19, 2017
so glad you like them. :-)
AntoniaJames August 10, 2010
I made these on Sunday. They are, quite possibly, the best oatmeal cookie I've ever eaten. The combination of the rum flavor (pleasantly noticeable in the raisins) and the spices called for make a cookie best described as luxurious. I reduced the cloves to 1/4 teaspoon, added the tiniest pinch of ground ginger, substituted 3/4 cup of dark brown sugar for the white sugar, and used light instead of dark rum, because that was all I had on hand. I also used Mexican vanilla. These cookies are divine. ;o)
ChefJune August 11, 2010
so glad you like them. Yes, I think they taste much better than they describe. ;)
ChefJune June 6, 2010
I would like to enter this recipe as a Wild Card for Week 52.