One of Daisy Arthur’s favorite snacks is homemade oatmeal raisin cookies.  Why?  Because I love those lovely, chewy, reduced-guilt goodies myself.

This photo by Janet Hudson sums up my love of the world’s best cookie.

I’ve been eating oatmeal raisin cookies since I can remember.  My mom, then sisters made them while I was growing up, and later, the box-top recipe for them was the first I followed to any degree of success.  When I think of that Quaker Oats man on the round containers, my mouth immediately begins to water.

Thing about cookie recipes is that no matter how good or bad they are for you, they always seem to taste good at every stage of the making.  Yes, I admit, both Daisy and I are spoon and bowl-lickers from way back. Can’t you just taste that lovely sweet-salty flavor of butter mixed with brown sugar?

And the oatmeal itself is a treat for me.  My grandfather had a small kitchen of his own when he lived with us. I remember going to his “apartment” for breakfast sometimes, and he would serve me oatmeal in a tea cup.  The grayish-white goop was made so much better when he stirred in a little red box of raisins.  But the best part of all was how he would allow me to cover the top of my oatmeal–and I do mean cover it–with a thick layer of brown sugar.  Probably half-inch–maybe an inch–of brown, delicious, melting sweet flavor, that sat there until I made pretty swirls in my breakfast cup.

I don’t remember Grandpa laughing at me, or scolding me for using too much sweetener.  He would just sit across from me and let me explore breakfast with my four-year-old ideas of what tasted good, and use a non-stop stream of consciousness talk to his much older, quieter and most generous spirit.

Over the years, I came to think of oatmeal cookies as “reduced guilt” treats, because after all, they had oats in them that were good for you.  And lets not forget about the raisins.  Those are good for you too, right?

I don’t make these goodies too much anymore. My special man has diabetes and doesn’t need any more sugar in his diet.  Besides, he never liked those cookies, preferring the English butter cookies or Indian gulab jamun. But whenever I think of oatmeal cookies, I can’t help but smile.

Heading off to breakfast.  Having my usual bagel.  But I taste a bit of heavenly memory each morning with the kind of bagel I have–cinnamon-raisin.  I think Grandpa is somehow with me for this meal.

THE RECIPE

I never “improved” the original recipe from the folks at Quaker Oats, so there is nothing “special” about the recipe I use, except for the memories. Please click this link to see how the folks at Quaker Oats suggest how to make my favorite oatmeal cookies.

Photo by Janet Hudson.