I know, it’s been a while, lots going on that kept me busy.  But I will make it up to you with this recipe.  I call this the All-in Cookie.  It is packed with a variety of flavors from dried fruit such as cranberries, currants, raisins and sour cherries all reconstituted in a bit of Grand Marnier and water. The recipe is adapted from a recipe from the cookie queen – Dorie Greenspan.

I have made some changes – (again, not because it needed it – it’s a DG recipe for goodness sakes), but more because I like to use things that I have in my pantry. The original recipe called for 1 ½ cups of raisins soaked in some tasty liquid – like tea, liquor, juice etc. I opted once for blackberry tea and the second time for Grand Marnier and water (well of course I made this twice – so good!!) – I liked the latter only because I don’t drink tea (not to imply I drink a lot of the GM either 🙂 ). I always have these dried fruits in my pantry but if you don’t, feel free to adjust the quantities to what you do have, but stick to the overall 1 ½ cups of dried fruit quantity.

I also – as you know, like to make my cookies small. You can spread out the tasting and don’t have to make them as often (okay not really, you tend to eat more but feel less guilty). In any event, I must have gotten 60 or more cookies from this batch – that’s a lot of smallish cookies. I used a small ice cream scoop (purple handle is the technical term) to make each one. Use a tablespoon for larger cookies or a bigger scoop. You will have to adjust the baking time for a larger cookie – about 2 – 4 minutes longer.

Because you get so many from one batch, this is a great cookie to make for school bake sales (if they still have these?!). Don’t worry about the alcohol, there isn’t enough to really make a difference when spread out over 60 cookies – really! Otherwise just use some tea or flavored liquid. I used two 15” x 18” trays and got about 30 cookies per tray – no, I don’t get fussed about them touching each other when they bake, just use a butter knife to separate them (or leave them stuck together and consider them one cookie – I’m just saying!). As always – enjoy!

½ cup raisins
¼ cup currants
½ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup dried sour cherries
¼ cup water
1 tbsp. Grand Marnier
3 cups (240 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups (204 grams) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 sticks (226 grams) unsalted butter, cut into chunks, at room temperature
3/4 cup (150 grams) sugar
3/4 cup (150 grams) packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
9 ounces (255 grams) milk chocolate, finely chopped or chocolate chips

Heat the oven to 350f
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper
Combine the raisins, currants, cranberries and cherries in a small microwaveable dish
Add the water and Grand Marnier and stir to coat
Microwave 2 times – 30 seconds each time – let the microwave stop in between blitzes
Stir and let it cool – the fruit will continue to plump up as it cools – drain onto paper or cloth towels before adding to the dry ingredients
Combine and stir together the oats, flour, cinnamon and baking soda – set aside
In the bowl of a stand (or hand) mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, both sugars and the salt together at medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes
Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition
Add in the extract and continue to beat, scraping down the bowl as needed
Add the dry ingredients to the bowl mixing on low speed until almost incorporated – my Kitchen Aid’s slowest speed is too fast – it is an older – but significantly more reliable, version. If yours is also fast, use the towel over the bowl or plastic wrap over the bowl to keep the flour from spraying all over the place
Add the dried reconstituted fruit and chocolate chips and stir with a heavy duty wooden spoon until mixed
Scoop onto the parchment lined trays using a scoop, a spoon, or your hands and eyeballing it (just keep them approximately the same size) – leave about 1” space between cookies
Press the dough down gently until the cookies are about 1/2 inch high
Bake the cookies for 12 – 15 minutes, rotating the sheets after 8 minutes, until the cookies are only slightly firm around the edges and still a bit soft in the middle – I usually push a cookie with my finger and if it moves easily and in once piece, it is properly baked and ready to come out of the oven
Let the baked cookies cool on the tray for about 5 minutes before trying to move them or they will fall apart (maybe move a couple, then when they break, well you can’t add them to the perfect ones – ahem!)