So I decided to change things up a bit for Christmas. Beth's Spicy Oatmeal Raisin cookies. I was thinking about pine trees and egg nog and then I started thinking about cinnamon, which somehow made me start thinking about oatmeal although I don't see any connection on that last part.. The whole process was fairly straight forward. We didn't use shortening, and substituted with only butter. We also decided to make 2 flavors!: 1) Oatmeal Raisin 2) White Chocolate Walnut Oatmeal Raisin These cookies really spread out when you start baking so make sure you give them room or they will combine with the adjacent cookie and result in a complex phenomena called "cookie-neighboring". The cookies were slightly soft after baking, but the following day they were crispy at the edges and chewy in the center. I firmly believe the taste had improved after waiting a day. We liked both flavors but agreed the traditional Oatmeal Raisin flavor was better, and went fantastic with a Starbucks Latte. Next time, I would use slightly less sugar, maybe a 1/4 cup of granulated sugar than 1/2 cup. And I would add more raisins! I hear if you soak the raisins in boiling water they will become more plump and moist! I'll have to implement that as well. All in all, a great recipe and appropriate for the holidays. BAKE OR DIE!

Your marinade is delectable -- turned out great. Great recipe. Thanks!

Eventhough this recipe is more like a cake, it is a fentastacily delicious recipe. Because almost no one in Japan has an oven, I made these in my tiny toaster oven in muffin tins. They became Paul's Pumpkin Cupcakes and they were AMAZING!!!