>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~
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Your dough is too dry. I would either cut back on the amount of oatmeal, 3
cups is an awful lot considering you only have 1 1/4 cups of butter and 1 egg
for your wet ingredients, or you could try adding another egg to the recipe.