Raisin-Filled Cookies

Raisin-filled cookies are a great option when you want a cookie with a little something extra. Fruit-filled cookies are hardly a new idea, but raisins have advantages over other filling options. They’re shelf-stable and can live in your pantry for months without spoiling, and they’re readily available year-round. Cranking out a raisin filling for cookies is as simple as simmering them for a few minutes with sugar and thickeners. We have many other desserts with raisins, but these stand out.

Ingredients for Raisin-Filled Cookies

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• Brown sugar and granulated sugar: White and brown sugar both sweeten the cookie dough, and the brown sugar brings a pleasing added flavor. Brown sugar also sweetens the raisin filling.
• Butter: The butter in this recipe is creamed with sugar to help lighten the cookie dough, and also adds its unmistakable flavor and richness.
• Eggs: Natural emulsifiers in the egg yolks help the ingredients blend together more smoothly. The eggs’ protein also contributes to the cookies’ texture.
• Vanilla: Vanilla brings a warm, sweet, familiar flavor to the cookies.
• Flour: All-purpose flour combines with the sugars and butter to create the cookie dough, and it also acts as a thickener in the raisin filling.
• Baking powder and soda: Baking powder and baking soda help make the cookies light and crisp, and the soda also aids in browning.
• Nutmeg: A pinch of nutmeg gives the cookies a subtly aromatic flavor to complement the raisins.
• Buttermilk: The modest quantity of buttermilk in the recipe helps make the cookie dough more pliable, adds flavor, and works with the baking soda to lighten the cookies.
• Cornstarch: The combination of cornstarch and flour thickens the raisin filling.
• Raisins: Raisins are a popular add-in for oatmeal cookies, but here their fruity sweetness plays a starring role. Boiling plumps the raisins, creating a moist filling to complement the delicate cookie exterior.

Directions

Step 1: Mix the cookie dough

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In a large bowl, cream the sugars and butter together. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well before going on to the next. Scrape down the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternating with the buttermilk. Cover the dough and refrigerate it until it’s easy to handle.

Step 2: Prepare the raisin filling

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In a saucepan, combine the cornstarch, flour and brown sugar. Stir in the water to make a smooth mixture. Add the raisins, then bring the saucepan to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir the filling mixture for 3 minutes, or until thickened. Set it aside to cool.

Step 3: Assemble the cookies

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On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Cut the dough with a floured 3-inch round cookie cutter. Spoon 2 teaspoons of the cooled raisin filling onto half of the rounds, and top each one with another circle of dough. Pinch the edges together to seal them, and cut a small slit in the top, piecrust-fashion, for steam to escape.

Step 4: Bake the cookies

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Place the filled cookies 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake them at 350°F for 10 to 13 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove the cookies from the pan to wire racks to cool.

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Raisin-Filled Cookie Variations

• Give the cookies an adult spin: The plumped raisins have plenty of flavor on their own, but there’s room to dial things up. A splash of rum, brandy or bourbon extract added to the filling after it thickens will give the cookies a more adult flavor. If alcohol content isn’t an issue, you could even use the actual spirits themselves in place of the extracts.
• Spice up the filling: These cookies are good at any time of the year, but you can also tweak them to fit the season. During the warm months, consider lightening their flavor with a splash of orange or lemon juice and zest in the filling. During the cold months, warm spices including cinnamon, allspice and ginger can make them feel more holiday-ish.
• Swap out the raisins: While the raisin filling for cookies is tasty, not everyone likes raisins and they’re certainly not your only option. Other dried fruits work equally well in a cookie like this. You can use dried cranberries as a 1:1 substitute, for example. The fillings from these date bars, fig cookies or prune Danishes are all excellent choices. So are fruit-based pie fillings, and even jam. At the holidays, fill the cookies with mincemeat as an alternative to pie or tarts.

How to Store Raisin-Filled Cookies

Once the filled raisin cookies have cooled completely, transfer them to a food safe container with an airtight lid and store them at room temperature.

How long will raisin-filled cookies keep?

Like kolaches and other fruit-filled cookies, they’re good for 3 or even 4 days at room temperature before the moist filling softens the cookies too much. Tightly sealed in your refrigerator, they’ll last out twice as long.

Is a cookie jar good enough to keep them in?

Most cookie jars aren’t airtight, so they aren’t your best option. Sure, cookie jars may be cute and whimsical, but they aren’t great for freshness. Our Test Kitchen has evaluated a lot of cookie storage options and found some that aren’t necessarily as collectible but do a wonderful job of keeping cookies fresh.

Can I freeze this raisin filled cookies recipe?

Yes. Like most cookies, these freeze well. You can freeze baked or unbaked cookies on a sheet pan, then package them in bags or containers for long-term storage. Containers protect against physical breakage in the freezer, while bags are better at keeping air out. Bagging them first and then putting them in a container gives you both benefits. You also have the option of freezing the prepared dough and raisin filling, and thawing them when you want to make a batch of cookies.

Raisin-Filled Cookie Tips

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I don’t have buttermilk. What can I use instead?

The most common choice is to sour some regular milk with a splash of lemon juice or vinegar. There are other buttermilk substitutions that might appeal to you more, though.

These cookies look kind of plain, how could I decorate them?

If you like your cookies to be a treat for the eyes as well as the palate, there are a few ways you can up the ante. You could use a scallop-edge cutter to make the cookie rounds themselves less plain. If you have small decorative cutters, you can cut a shape in the top dough rather than a plain old vent slit. That’s also a great way to make them seasonal, depending on the shape you choose.

Drizzling the cookies with a simple glaze, royal icing, white chocolate or regular chocolate works well, too. Your simplest option is just to dust them with confectioners’ sugar, which is easy and pretty.

Can I make my raisin-filled cookies gluten-free?

Yes, you can substitute a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend and the recipe should still work as written. Brands differ in their ingredients, so you may find that one works better than another or creates an easier-to-handle dough. If the dough softens too quickly for easy handling, just refrigerate it until it firms up again. Non-blended gluten-free options like oat flour or almond flour aren’t ideal for this type of cookie.