Quaker's Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

So in our baking spree, I totally forgot that I actually had an event to bake cookies for. When it was all over, we had 4 dozen iced sugar Christmas cookies, 3 dozen cherry cheesecake cookies, 3 dozen chocolate peanutty candy cookies, 6 newly iced chocolate raspberry cookies, and nothing to bring to my event because they were all for Christmas. So about 2 hours before the event, my boyfriend came over and helped me throw these together. They came out wonderful. They're chewy and just the right balance between sweet and spice. I'm not sure but I think this recipe is a bit different than the one currently on Quaker oats, because I remember trying that one in the past and disliking it. But, for all I know, they could be the same recipe and I just got better at baking in the last 5 years hehe. Anywho, these cookies are great and I didn't change a thing. The blog I got it from added toasted walnuts (which sounds wonderful) but again, with the whole college budget thing I decided it would be better to save my walnuts for something else. (Plus you never know who has a nut allergy...are people just allergic to peanuts or all nuts? Hm...) Anywho, I'll include that in the recipe so you can add them if you want.

Quaker's Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (fresh if possible)
1 1/4 c butter — (2-1/2 sticks) room temperature
3/4 c firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 c granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
3 c Quaker oats, (quick or old fashioned, not instant)
3/4 c pre-plumped raisins (I used baking raisins, if you don't have those then take regular raisins, put them in a bowl, cover them with boiling water for 5 minutes, drain, and ta-da! Plumped raisins)
1/2 c toasted walnuts, chopped (if desired, but I'm sure they make them even better!)

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2. In a medium bowl, thoroughly stir together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg.

3. In a mixing bowl, using high speed of an electric mixer, cream butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla.

4. By hand, stir in the flour mixture. When flour is absorbed, stir in oats, raisins and nuts.

5. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

6. Bake 8 to 9 minutes for a chewy cookie or 10 to 11 minutes for a crisp cookie. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered. (This step really depends on your oven. I cooked mine 10-11 minutes and they came out chewy. They were nowhere near done at 8. However, again, I'm in college and I'm pretty sure our landlord didn't spring for the best oven ever, so it's very possible the temperature is off.)