Sweet...Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies with Sunflower Seeds

It's officially Spring! What a lovely weekend we had in New England!  Please join me,  Susan, From Beyond My Kitchen Window and Kary from My Farmhouse Kitchen in another Sarabeth bake-off!  Kary just e-mailed me to let me know that her post will be late because of flooding in California.  They woke up at 3:00 a.m. to a flooded dining room!

Hubby and I went to Maine for the weekend and had a wonderful time.  When we returned home to Massachusetts I had to scurry to bake my Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies with Sunflower Seeds.

I can honestly tell you these are THE BEST oatmeal cookies I've ever tasted.  Once again I followed a recipe from my Sarabeth's Bakery cookbook, and while the Quaker Oats oatmeal cookies are good, these are divine!  The extra effort in the recipe is worth the work!  I hope you enjoy them!

This recipe gets a delicious nuttiness from the sunflower seeds - an ingredient that you don't find in many cookies but which is a perfect complement for the oatmeal.

Ingredients
2/3 Cup super fine sugar
2/3 Cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned (rolled) oats
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature, beaten
1 1/2 cups seedless raisins
1/2 cup hulled sunflower seeds

Directions

1. Position racks in the center and top third of the oven and preheat to 350F. Line two half-sheet pans with parchment paper.

2. Rub the superfine sugar and brown sugar together through a coarse-mesh sieve into medium bowl. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into another bowl, then add the oats and stir well to combine.

3. Beat the butter in the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Gradually add the sugar mixture, then the vanilla. Beat, occasionally scrapping the bottom and sides of the bowl, until the mixture is pale yellow and very light-textured, about 3 minutes. Gradually beat in the eggs. Reduce the mixer speed to low. In thirds, beat the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture, beating just until each addition is incorporated. Mix in the raisins and sunflower seeds. Do not over mix.

4. Using a 2-inch-diameter ice-cream scoop, portion the batter onto the prepared pans, placing the cookies about 1 1/2 inches apart. Bake, switching the position of the pans from top to bottom and front to back about halfway through baking, until the cookies are light golden brown, 15 to 18 minutes. Cool completely on the pans. (The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 5 days.)*

This is the cookbook, and I highly recommend it!

Notes:

* I used a 1 1/2-inch scoop and reduced the baking time by several minutes.