Carondelet Kitchen Mountain cookies

Carondelet Kitchen Mountain Cookies
By Carondelet Kitchen

YIELD:  72 cookies
TIME:  2 ½  hours

Big Guy and I enjoy going to farmers markets in St. Louis, but Soulard Farmers' Market has always been a favorite. Where else can you go and have a Bloody Mary at eight in the morning?

We have our usual pattern of walking through the market and looking at everything before deciding which produce we plan to buy that day. While I usually have a list, I often get inspired by the seasonal offerings.

As a reward for our shopping, we would end our trip at the bakery. It seems too many years ago we first tried a mountain cookie, but I have been hooked ever since that first bite.

---

INGREDIENTS

• 4 sticks of softened butter
• 2 cups of firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup of granulated sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons of Vanilla Extract
• 3 cups of all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 6 cups of Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned) uncooked
• 9 ounces of raisins
• 1 1/3 cup of chopped pecans
• 11 ½ ounces of Hershey’s Milk Chocolate chips

---

PREPARATION

• Step 1 Preheat the oven to 350-degrees F.
• Step 2 Using a stand mixer with a paddle, blend together butter and sugar until creamy.
• Step 3 Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
• Step 4 Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt and mix well.
• Step 5 Mix in oats and raisins.
• Step 6 Place the finished mixture into the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to cool the dough resulting in rounder, more perfect cookies.
• Step 7​ Drop rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
• Step 8 Bake 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown.
• Step 9 Cool for one minute on cookie sheet then remove to wire rack.

---

LESSONS LEARNED
We have standardized this recipe so that it utilizes an entire container of Quaker Oats, a whole box of raisins, a small bag of pecans, a whole bag of chocolate chips and a full pound of butter.  How simple is that?