Question:Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

[madden1]

Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
I made these cookies and the came out hard, I couldn't find rolled oats. is that why??I had to use quick cooked oats. my friend made them and they were great.I only baked them for 8 mins. and still hard. thank you sherri.

[duonyte]

I'm not quite sure what kind of oatmeal you used. If you used instant oatmeal, it does not work in these kind of recipes.

Rolled oats come in three types - quick cooking, which cook in 3 to 5 minutes, regular and thick flake (which is a newer type that I have not tried yet).

For cookies and quickbreads, the quick cooking oatmeal is the best choice - the ofthers may not soften sufficiently for the cooking time.

The quick-cooking and regular should be available at any grocery store. Quaker is probably the best known brand, and many stores carry a store brand as well, which is just fine to use.

Did you measure your flour carefully? It's important not to dip the cup into the flour bin, but rather to spoon the flour into the measuring cup until it's overflowing, then level off with a straight edge of a knife. When you dip into the flour, you compress it and can add up to 25% more flour than you want - this can cause any baked good to be hard.

Also, did you beat the liquid ingredients very thoroughly. Beating not only mixes everything together, but also adds air to the mix. This is important to the overall texture.

[Zeldaz]

You might want to check your oven's calibration, too.