Buttermilk Raisin Cookies

These are odd cookies. They stay very moist, don't need to be stored with anything more than a plate with a piece of wax paper over it, and keep well which is a good thing as no one seems to eat them. The boys both claim to like them, but after you've had a couple, you don't really need to have any more-or so I'm told (I haven't tried them). The recipe makes a large batch, and I would try freezing them, but I suspect they would become forgotten in the depths, and eventually tossed out. I did find someone who likes the cookies though-the fat squirrel that lives in the tree by my kitchen window. I swear, he'll eat anything. From where I stand, I'd rather feed him outside than have him rummaging through my wall as he's wont to do (he's been caught, relocated, he finds his way back-same squirrel-we think unless squirrels have collective memory about holes in the foundation that lead to the kitchen wall they pass along to others. I think it is him-I'd know that fat little rodent anywhere). Every day, I toss a handful of bread for him in the same place, and each morning he comes at about the same time to eat what's there. I have not heard him in that wall this year, so I'm hoping he'll be satisfied with bits of stale bread (or unloved cookies) and stay outside where squirrels belong.

If you like a soft, puffy buttermilk cookies with raisins, this may be for you. The recipe is based on one in The Ultimate Cookie Cookbook (Confident name, but so far the cookies haven't really lived up to the title's assertion).

Yield-60 cookies (more or less) enough to feed a large family, or one greedy squirrel


You Will Need:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups granulated sugar
2large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
4 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup chopped raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease baking sheets. Cream together butter and shortening, adding sugar slowly until light. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in buttermilk. Whisk to gether dry ingredients, and stir into batter. Add raisins.

Drop by teaspoons onto pan (they spread a bit, so leave about an inch between). Bake about 10 minutes, or until browned at the edges and firm on top. Store loosely covered.