I’m constantly lamenting the dearth of sweet recipes I post here. It misrepresents me! I love sweet things: love dreaming them up, baking them, decorating them, sharing them. The problem with maintaining a recipe blog is the amount of food one needs to consume (or give away to be consumed), and I just can’t keep up with ultra-sweet dessert posts. Fortunately, this will soon change as I will soon have a new kitchen hand and willing eater joining my household! 

In the meantime, I’ve cheated a bit by mixing work and play (nannying and blogging - you figure out which is which!). One of my charges is a very helpful, sweet-toothed preschooler who played kitchen assistant today as we mixed, poured, rolled and baked. 

There’s absolutely nothing I won’t eat (as far as I know), but I tend to shy away from super rich sweetness when picking treats. These cookies are much more my pace since the tart cranberries are a bit of a surprise. Plus, the combination of purple raisins, golden raisins and dried cranberries makes them such a pretty take on an otherwise basic cookie (and you know I absolutely cannot resist pretty things). 

My very picky helper even liked them!

Tri-Colored Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (adapted from I Shot The Chef)

• 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened slightly
• 1-1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1-1/4 cups rolled oats
• 2/3 cup raisins
• 2/3 cup golden raisins
• 2/3 cup dried cranberries

In a bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, cream the butter and the sugar. Stir in the eggs and the vanilla extract. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture a little at a time. Stir in oats, then gently fold in raisins. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. In the meantime, preheat oven to 350ºF. 

Remove from refrigerator and set aside. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and drop rounded spoonfuls of dough onto the trays. Bake for 13-18 minutes or until golden brown.