I know I’ve mentioned many times that I’m more of the taste tester over chef in this house. I cook the simple daily meals while Sly makes things like homemade bread and elaborate weekend dishes. But cookies? I can handle cookies.

In our day-to-day lives, we rarely eat sweets so my cookie baking skills are usually kept to the holidays, birthdays, and special occasions. Last night, I whipped up our favorite cookie recipe and we seriously ate 18 cookies between the both of us without even flinching.

I’d say our Valentine’s Day is off to a good start.

One of my favorite Valentine’s Day traditions is writing and receiving valentines, and I mean the real ones, not the flimsy tear-apart kind I used to receive back in grade school where the person couldn’t even be bothered to sign his/her name. Letters are such a lost art form in this day and age, that it feels so special when I receive something hand-written. I’ll take a card any day over flowers, chocolate, or jewelry. And maybe some cookies. I’ll take some cookies too.

Recipe | Oatmeal Raisin Maple Syrup Pecan Cookies

About the only recipe/food blog I follow is Smitten Kitchen. Every recipe I have made from the SK site – and her awesome cookbook –  has been dead on in terms of flavors, measurements, and cooking times. This recipe is a slight adaptation of my go-to oatmeal raisin cookie recipe from her blog, and only makes about 2 dozen cookies or so depending on how small you make them. It’s a great recipe when we’re craving cookies, but don’t want to make a massive batch, because you know we’d be eating all of those cookies if we did.  I’m still messing with the proportions of maple syrup to sugar, but I feel like I could almost get away with 1/8 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of maple syrup, or, maybe if I’m feeling crazy, no sugar at all?

These cookies come out chewy and slightly crispy, the perfect combo in my book.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed (I have also made this recipe using coconut sugar, I just didn’t have any around this time)
1/2 cup maple syrup (I like using Grade B maple syrup, but either way, just make sure to buy the good stuff)
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups gluten-free rolled oats
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C**

Beat the butter, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. Add the maple syrup and continue mixing until you get a creamy texture. Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together in a separate bowl and gradually add it to the wet mixture. Continue beating until the batter looks creamy again. Stir in the oats, raisins and pecans.

Scoop cookies onto a half baking sheet, making sure to leave room between cookies. I was able to fit about 12 cookies on a sheet. Press down on the cookies to flatten them a bit. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or when the edges of the cookie become golden and the top is still soft and looks slightly under-baked. Allow the cookies to cool a bit on the baking sheet before transferring them to a rack to cool.

**My oven doesn’t allow me to select 5 degree increments so I baked my at 180°C for 12 minutes 

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We’re headed to Seoul this Valentine’s Day, with no set plans or reservations. We’ve discussed Valentine’s Day dinner at the newly opened Shake Shack, and, if we are lucky enough, a cruffin from Mr. Holmes Bakehouse for dessert. Both places are known to have long lines, so I don’t know how feasible it will be to eat there on Vday. I guess we can always eat cookies…or what’s left of them.

Happy Valentine’s (or Galentine’s) Day!