The oatmeal-raisin cookie cure

I was prepared earlier this week to promote oatmeal-raisin cookies as a surefire route to world peace when reminded of the raisin-o-phobes among us. And that others stray from the straight-and-narrow by substituting chocolate chips. Shocking.

So maybe not.

The urge to bake developed in early January after shock therapy --- paying $4 for eight "homemade" oatmeal-raisin cookies down at the grocery store. The cellophane-wrapped varieties, although less expensive, were hard as flat little speckled rocks.

Tried whining publicly about this a couple of times, but no one brought cookies; so no option remained other than to dust off Grandma's recipe box (Google, actually) and get busy.

This is a blended recipe, but seems to work. The results are tasty, chewy --- unless overbaked --- and relatively healthy. I eat them for breakfast, too, with fresh fruit.

Only one caution --- if using a hand-held mixer make sure you're using an oversized and heavy bowl. The batter gains in volume and becomes very stiff. Without the right bowl, you, the counter and everything on it will end up spattered with cookie dough.

Step 1: Whisk together and set aside 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1 teaspoon kosher salt.

Step 2: Cream together 1 cup softened butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 2 large eggs and 1 tablespoon of vanilla.

Step 3: Blend the flour mixture into the sugar-and-egg mixture, but don't overdo it; just make sure everything's combined.

Step 4: Add (gradually), mixing well, three cups old-fashioned oatmeal (not instant), a cup and a half of raisins and 1 cup of chopped nuts.

Step 5: Preheat oven to 350 degrees, then form dough into ice-cream-scoop sized balls and place on parchment-lined baking sheets (use a sturdy scoop). Bake 11-13 minutes, then allow to rest on the sheets for a minute or so before cooling on wire racks. Yield: 3 dozen.

All done.