An oatmeal raisin cookie is a type of drop cookie made from an

oatmeal Oatmeal is a preparation of oats that have been dehusked, steamed, and flattened, or a coarse flour of hulled oat grains ( groats) that have either been milled (ground), rolled, or steel-cut. Ground oats are also called white oats. Steel- ...

-based dough with

raisins A raisin is a dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, the word ''raisin'' is reserv ...

. Its ingredients also typically include

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

, eggs,

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

, and

spices In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...

. When the cookies were becoming prominent in the United States in the early 1900s, they came to be known as a health food because of the fiber and vitamins from the oatmeal and raisins. Nonetheless, the

nutritional value Nutritional value or nutritive value as part of food quality is the measure of a well-balanced ratio of the essential nutrients carbohydrates, fat, protein, minerals, and vitamins in items of food or diet concerning the nutrient requirements of ...

of an oatmeal raisin cookie is essentially the same as a

chocolate chip cookie A chocolate chip cookie is a drop cookie that features chocolate chips or chocolate morsels as its distinguishing ingredient. Chocolate chip cookies are claimed to have originated in the United States in 1938, when Ruth Graves Wakefield chop ...

in sugar and calorie content. Depending on how many raisins or oats are added, the fat and fiber content may not be much different either.

History

The first recorded ''oatmeal cookie'' recipe was published in the United States by Fannie Merritt Farmer in her 1896 cookbook, '' The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book''. While Farmer's original recipe did not contain raisins, their inclusion grew more common over time, due in part to the oatmeal raisin cookie recipes featured on every

Quaker Oats The Quaker Oats Company, known as Quaker, is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois. As Quaker Mill Company, the company was founded in 1877 in Ravenna, Ohio. In 1881, Henry Crowell bought the company and launched a national ad ...

container beginning in the early 1900s.

Variations

In addition to plain oatmeal cookies, chocolate chips may be added instead of raisins. Other flavorings may be added in addition to the traditional spices.

References

{{Oats Oat-based dishes Raisin dishes American cookies

History

Variations

See also

References