Chocolate Chip Raisin Spice Cookies

It’s December 10th and you know what that means; your house is most likely beginning to look like a festive theme park; you’re spending your free time shopping; and your cooking is taking a dramatic turn towards holiday-influenced recipes. The best part of all this seasonal frivolity? The cookies!

Now, you can’t just make any cookie! You got to make a cookie worthy of this special time of the year. Of course, I’m not going to just throw my favorite cookies out the window. No way, no how. What I am going to do is spice up some of those favorite recipes, literally. This cookie recipe is a spiced up version of my chocolate chip cookies, with some raisins tossed in for good measure!

Since I typically keep a cookie jar filled in my kitchen, there is little occasion for me to bake cookies. This particular recipe does call for an occasion though and I think its just perfect for the holiday season. Since I feed about 8 mouths on average, and since I like to give cookies to friends, I typically bake in large quantities. This recipe will yield about 4 or 5 dozen cookies, depending on the size. You can cut the recipe in half if you don’t need 60 cookies.

Ingredients:
9 oz unsalted butter (10 tablespoons) at room temperature
6 ounces brown sugar (about 1 cup unpacked)
6 ounces white sugar (about 1 cup)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
10 ounces cake flour (about 2 cups)
3 ounces bread flour (about 1/2 cup)
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
8 ounces dark chocolate, roughly chopped
4 ounces raisins

Step One: Preheat the Oven to 375F. Cream the butter and sugar together.

Step Two: Add the eggs, one at a time, and then add the vanilla. Mix well.

Step Three: Mix all off the dry ingredients (flours, baking soda, salt, and spices) together in a separate bowl.

Step Four: Sift the dry ingredients into the bowl with the butter, sugar mixture.

Step Five: Add the chocolate and raisins to the batter. Mix in well.

Step Six: Line (a) baking sheet(s) with parchment/baking paper. Add the batter by teaspoon sized chunks to the baking sheets. Depending on the size of the sheet you should be able to fit about 20-25 on a sheet.

Step Seven: Bake one sheet at a time in the middle of the oven for 8-9 minutes, or until the edges of the coookies are just golden brown.

Step Eight: Let cool for about a minute on the sheet then remove the cookies from the sheet and place on a cooling rack. Let cool, or if you’re like me, start eating them right away–beware you could burn your mouth, not that it isn’t worth it for a deliciously warm, fresh out of the oven cookie.

If you’re looking for a yummy holiday cookie, that isn’t too far off from your favorite chocolate chip cookie, then I definitely suggest trying this recipe!

Enjoy.