Recipe: Granola Grabbers (cookies using raisins, peanuts, almonds and coconut)

GRANOLA GRABBERS



"It would be hard to find a more after-schoolish cookie than this one. It's chunky, bumpy, both chewy and crunchy and packed with little surprises--raisins, peanuts, almonds, coconut and, of course, granola. These are great with milk and even good spread with peanut butter or nibbled alongside yogurt. I created them with my son in mind, thinking he and his friends would be happy to come home to a jar crammed to the top with these craggy cookies, but my husband is their biggest fan."

3 cups granola without fruit*
3/4 cup moist, plump raisins (dark or golden)
1/2 cup salted peanuts
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/3 cup wheat germ
1 3/4 sticks (14 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Put the granola in a large bowl and break up any clumps with your fingers. Add the raisins, peanuts, almonds, coconut and wheat germ and mix together. Set aside.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the sugars and beat for another 3 minutes, or until creamy. Add the egg and salt and beat until well blended.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, mixing only until it is incorporated, then steadily add the granola and fruit. Stop the mixer when most of the granola mix is blended into the batter and finish the job with a sturdy rubber spatula, making sure to get up any bits of dry ingredients left in the bottom of the bowl.

Scoop out rounded tablespoonfuls of dough, pack the scoops between your palms and arrange the mounds on the baking sheets, leaving about 1 1/2 inches between them. Flatten the mounds lightly with your fingertips.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back at the midway point. The cookies should be golden brown but not firm. Allow them to rest on the sheets for 1 to 2 minutes before transferring them to racks to cool to room temperature.

Repeat with the remaining dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.

SERVING:
Slip these into a lunch box or just pile them onto a plate and have cold milk at hand.

STORING:
In a covered cookie jar, these will be fine for about 3 days. If you want to keep them longer, wrap them airtight and freeze them for up to 2 months.

*These are best made with granola that doesn't include dried fruit. Often the fruit in packaged granola cereals is too dry and, because it won't soften up in the batter, you can end up with cookies that are hard and dry.

Makes about 40 cookies
Source: Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan