When I first moved to Ireland this was the first recipe I got stuck on because I could not find molasses anywhere. I tried to make them a number of times with my Aunt Trixie without molasses but it never tasted right. One day, in a pharmacy, I looked up on a shelf and there it was. I checked and it was for people (this was a rural pharmacy and humans were not the only species catered for).

Over the years working with Irish flour, my opinions on what makes a good cookie and general experimentation, I came up with the following.

• 280g white sugar
• 114g butter (unsalted is better, never margarine)
• 60g molasses

Measure in the mixing bowl. Blend together until thouroughly combined. Make sure to use a spatula to pull the molasses down from the sides.

• 2 eggs

Add these to the mixing bowl and combine - but stop as soon as that’s done.

• 200g cream flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ¹⁄₄ tsp salt (skip if you used salted butter)
• ³⁄₄ tsp cinnamon
• ¹⁄₄ tsp ground cloves

Combine these in a medium sized bowl and thoroughly mix the spices and raising agents through the flour before adding the whole mix into the mixing bowl.

Mix until the flour is thoroughly combined.

• splash of vanilla

Add a splash of vanilla once combined.

• 2 cups oats
• 1 cup raisins

Now mix in the oats first and then the raisings.

On a cookie tray, place the dough in approximately 2 tbspn balls evenly spaced - they’ll spread a bit. Bake at 190C for 9 minutes. Look in and let it go a bit longer if they seem like they need it but never longer than 11 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit for a few minutes. If you take them off too soon they won’t have set and too late it’s more work to lift them. Remove them from tray to a wire rack to let them fully set.

In the winter it’s nice to use cranberries - but don’t fully replace the raisins. Half and half raisins and cranberries works best.