Designer Kitchens and Baking Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Around 10 years ago, my dad and I bought a Samsung Convention Microwave oven for casual baking and roasting. I personally did try making a few pizzas and roasting chicken, but never a cake or cookie. The enthusiasm slowly died down. Than, my mum used it only for warming food (of course that too made her life easy, but that's it). I am talking about finding baking ingredients in Mumbai (India) 10 years ago. In fact, buying a whole cake was much cheaper than the resources to bake one, including electricity. However, that's not the case anymore. With a spurt of multinationals and supermarkets, its easy to find baking powder even at the local grocery store. We surely can afford melting cheese at 500 deg F too. The last time I heard, my mum had a guest who baked some delicious brownies in the same oven. Voila!!!

I am appalled with the passion at which people are building designer kitchens especially those that hardly cook or bake anything in their own kitchens (oops, those that cook and have never invited me for a meal do get their benefit of doubts;))). Anyways, Is it really just a status symbol or something more? If so, than what happens to those beautiful cooking equipment, not now, but after 10 years or so? This is like a non-alcoholic having a bar in the house with those goblets screaming on top of their voices...please please please..put me to use. So, darlings, please I request you to please put those branded appliances to use (even a box cake recipe will work;)))

Here is one recipe I would like to try the next time I'll be in India. Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. The best part about this is, the amount of Flour : Oats ratio that makes it quite healthy. Plus the other ingredients are not that hard to find either. I picked the recipe it from Joy Of Baking.

Here's a quick look at the ingredients I used:

3 cups Oats (I rolled old fashioned oats on hand)
3/4 cup All Purpose Flour (Maida)
1 Egg
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup Light Brown Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Cinnamon (optional)
1 cup Black Raisins
1/2 tsp salt
Nuts (optional)

The baking process is as usual.

Preheat oven at 350 deg F. I simply used a hand mixer for the mixing. Line parchment paper on a couple of baking sheets.

Beat the butter till soft, than add brown sugar. Beat till fluffy. Add 1 large egg. Mix well.
Than mix in the sifted dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon). Mix well.
Mix raisins and nuts. Mix well.
Drop large or small balls (I used an ice-cream scoop for this, however, I do not really make it very even sized).
My oven took around 12 min to bake. I like them a bit chewy in the inside and crunchy on the outside. So when you get it out of the oven, they do look a bit soft, however, when you let them cool down they turn crispy. I guess this is something you would comprehend with experience.

So next time, you head to the grocery store, please do not go straight to the cookie aisle, instead please look for the ingredients and try baking these cookies. Your kids will thank you for many many years to come!!!

Cheers!!!