On impluse some time back I tried out a box Sunmaid Oatmeal Raisin
Cookie Mix, primarily because it would be a quick and easy way for me to
see if my childhood boredom with oatmeal raisin cookies was still about.
I added a half teaspoon of cinnamon and a quarter teaspoon of nutmeg to
the mix and was quite surprised with how good the cookies were. Having
those put me on a quest for "building" my own recipe for the cookies,
but with using up the Hersheys mini cinnamon chips and chopped pecans I
had on hand.

My recipe for making five dozen 2-1/2" ones is below, and although good,
the cookies definately are so "cinnamony" that I will eliminate the tsp.
of ground cinnamon if using the chips next time, but I haven't a clue
what to change so that the cookies bake up chewy, rather than as crumbly
as they did. I always bake at least four dizen cookies at a time, to
share with neighbor children or to take aboard for my Marines, but these
are a bit of a crumbly mess to share well. What can be changed to this
recipe, other than the baking temp or the oven time that I did fool
around with? (I'm hoping this keryboard's return key "takes" so as not
to have this post all jumbled together.)

OATMEAL RAISIN NUT COOKIES
1-1/4 cup softened butter
3/4 cup pascked brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 whole egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
3 cups quick oats
1 cup mini cinnamon chips
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped pecans
Heat oven to 375F. and cream butter and sugars. Beat in egg, vanilla
and almond extracts. Combine flours, baking soda, salt and ground
spices. Add those dry ingredients to wet, and mix well. Stir in oats
and chopped nuts. Roll dough into four 1-1/2" logs to wrap in wax paper
and refrigerate for a few hours; cut 1/2 to 3/4" slices for then
flattening a bit to bake.

I did try them at 10, 11, 12 and 13 minutes, as well as turning the oven
up to 400 degrees to try having them bake up with just a hint of
browning 'round the edges, but each tray of these cookies comes out just
too crumbly. What can be changed so that they come out chewy,
preferrably, or at least so that they hold together?

Picky ~JA~