Raisin Bran Cookies

My family loves cereal.  Cold cereal, hot cereal, healthy cereal, and not-so healthy cereal too.  We eat it for breakfast, for mid-morning snacks, for bedtime snacks. While we try to minimize the the number of half-eaten boxes of cereal taking residence in our cupboards, pantry, and on the kitchen counter, invariably a box is forgotten or overlooked and the unthinkable happens. It goes stale.  Avabrothers and Avadad refuse to eat it. What do they do? Open another box of cereal, of course.  What does Avamum do?  I sneak it into my weekly baking.

One of the best boxed cereals for baking is raisin bran cereal.  Raisin bran cereal recipes are among my favorites; the full flavor and texture of the bran flakes coupled with juicy raisins make it a star in the quickbread, muffin and cookie departments.  Here is a recipe for raisin bran cookies that is based on a chewy oatmeal cookie.  I like to crush the raisin bran a little by squishing it with my hands through the waxed paper bag prior to measuring it out.  For a little variety add 1/4 cup of slivered almonds.  Delicious.

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

1  large organic egg

1 tsp organic vanilla extract

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 cups rolled oats (NOT instant)

1 cup Raisin Bran Cereal

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup mini dark chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit.  Cream butter, brown sugar and white sugar together in a large bowl until smooth.  Beat in egg and vanilla. Use a medium bowl to combine the flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. Pour this dry mixture into the butter mixture in the large bowl, stirring as you pour.  Pour in the Raisin Bran Cereal, rolled oats, raisins and chocolate chips and mix.  The batter will be lumpy.  Use a generous teaspoon to drop cookies onto a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes.  Cool on pan for 3 minutes, then finish cooling on a baking rack.

Check in regularly for upcoming Raisin Bran Cereal Recipes!