HARRISBURG – The oatmeal raisin cookies at the 107th Pennsylvania Farm Show weren’t as elegant as the angel food cakes or as decadent as the chocolate cakes, yet they practically screamed comfort food.
“I like oatmeal raisin cookies,” John Rauch of New Tripoli said after winning first prize in the Pennsylvania Farm Show oatmeal raisin cookie contest. “I used browned butter in mine, along with cranberries and cream cheese chips.”
He beat 17 other bakers and won a blue ribbon and $500 for his Oatmeal Raisin Surprise Cookies in the contest sponsored by River Road Produce and Garden Center of Marietta.
Other winners were Sharon Kurtz of Emmaus, second place and $100; and Marie Miller of Mechanicsburg, third place and $50. Ribbons went to Terri Weiss of New Tripoli and Debra Martin Berkoski of Conestoga.
Oatmeal raisin cookies, studded with plump and juicy raisins and sometimes nuts, are an old-fashioned treat. Legend has it that they are a descendant of the Scottish/British oat cakes that soldiers carried to war to give them extra energy.
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In America, one of the first recipes for oat cakes (similar to oatmeal cookies) was published in 1896 by Fannie Merritt Farmer, the culinary expert known for her “Boston Cooking School Cook Book.” In fact, the United States even has designated April 30 as National Oatmeal Cookie Day.
The plates of oatmeal cookies in the Farm Show baking contest were as different as the contestants themselves. As the three judges tasted cookies and evaluated their appearance, presentation, flavor and texture, contestants discussed their baking techniques.
Bailey Proper of Lower Paxton Township used chocolate-covered raisins and sea salt in her cookies. Weiss used whole fashioned oatmeal with big flakes, and she plumps up the raisins in hot water for 15 to 30 minutes.
“Oatmeal raisin cookies are my fallback when I want something sweet but not too sweet,” she said. “They go well with milk.”
Lorrie Rauch, wife of the first place winner and a frequent Farm Show baking contest, added roasted pecans to her recipe.
“The secret to good oatmeal raisin cookies is to buy fresh raisins and to separate them by hand before putting them in the dough,” she said. “Use the freshest flour, butter and spices that you can. I put roasted pecans in mine to add interest. And don’t overmix the dough.”
Kurtz, who won second place, combined cake flour, bread flour and one teaspoon of cornstarch to make her cookies lighter. Eva Seibert of Allentown used jumbo assorted raisins, which varied in color from light to dark. She said she also added toasted chopped walnuts to her cookies.
Miller said she used a 100-year-old recipe for her old-fashioned moist cookies, which won third place.
Here is John Rauch’s winning recipe:
Oatmeal Raisin Surprise Cookies
2 sticks and two tablespoons of browned butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all -purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal;
1 ¼ cups fresh raisins
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup miniature Hershey cream cheese chips chopped
Preheat oven to 350. In large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, oats, sugar and brown sugar. Add cooled but not solidified browned butter, eggs and vanilla. Mix until completely blended. Stir by hand and mix in raisins, cranberries and chopped cream cheese chips, making sure raisins and cranberries are separated before adding.
Shape into large balls (2 3/8 ounces each) and place on sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Flatten slightly to approximately 1 ½ inches in diameter. Make small depression on top and insert a raisin in each depression, pressing lightly to make sure raisin is seated in cookie batter.
Bake at 350 for 10 minutes, which is slightly underbaking but cookies will continue to bake when removed from oven.
Transfer cookies to baking rack. Cool completely. Lightly sprinkle top of cookies with 10X powdered sugar.
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January 17, 2023 at 10:30PM
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