First. Election. If you’re voting by mail and haven’t yet, please drop your ballot in a ballot box or at your local election ballot drop-off location, more info here! So you are sure your vote will be counted! Late ballots by mail might not be counted if they’re received late and your vote really does matter!

So cookies. I’ve been meaning to try out this recipe for a while. We had some incredibly good cookies from Costco recently, their oatmeal raisin cookies were amazing. I could taste the molasses. So I ventured onto this recipe. It’s really good! But it’s definitely heavier on molasses than the ones I had from Costco. Still, this recipe makes a great cookie, it’s chewy and falls somewhere between oatmeal raisin and gingerbread. I love molasses and wonder why I don’t bake with it more? I made a few adjustments with butter and sugar but I think you will like it.

And so, you know, we have this election coming up (which is a big freakin’ deal!) but I feel remarkably calm about it. I really think that Biden is going to win. I do. Obviously I could be totally wrong, but… everything is telling me that he is going to win. Trump will blame everyone and everything possible, because of course nothing is ever his fault according to him. But man, I want that moment next week where the American people can say to Trump: “You’re Fired!”

I want that so bad.

I didn’t expect Joe Biden to be the one that could make this happen. But the people have spoken and here we are, which I’m totally ok with. And also, Kamala Harris! Here we have a woman (also POC) running as vice-president and it’s like not even a big deal! How awesome is that?! :) I’m old enough to have voted for Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and it’s kind of incredible that there has not been one woman on the Presidential ticket since then, with the exception of Hillary in 2016, but really, why not?

Let’s hope I’m right.

Good Vibes going into this. And good cookies to get us through. We can do this. #votebiden

Oatmeal Raisin Molasses Cookies

1 1/2 cups raisins
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temp
1/2 cup molasses
2 cups rolled oats
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 (heaping) teaspoon cinnamon

Plump the raisins, place raisins in a bowl, cover with boiling water and let stand for 5 minutes. Then drain and set aside.

In a large bowl (or stand mixer) beat together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Beat in molasses. In a separate bowl whisk together the oats, flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Gradually add the oat mixture to the butter mixture with a wooden spoon and mix well. Stir in raisins.

Place a tablespoon of cookie dough 2 inches apart onto parchment lined baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 12-14 minutes (mine were done in 14 minutes). Remove from oven and let cool a few minutes, then transfer to cooling rack. This recipe makes a lot of cookies! 5 dozen at this size cookie. I make a couple batches then refrigerate the rest of the dough. You can also freeze the dough so you can make the cookies at your own pace.

Recipe adapted from Taste of Home