This evening, my wife baked an epic batch of oatmeal cookies. Let me explain why they were so good: there were no raisins in sight. The raisin has plagued the oatmeal cookie like a parasite, stifling its untapped potential as a (if not the) premier baked good of our generation.

Contrary to what you've probably heard, a raisin is nothing more than a shriveled grape. And its inclusion here just oozes controversy. Like a concerted front against the oatmeal farmers (?) of the world. "How do we ruin the oatmeal cookie? We'll add dried, shriveled, rubbery fruit to it. Good. It's settled then".

It's why we don't see oatmeal cookies more often, and it's also why the oatmeal cookie isn't as popular as other, non-fruit-bearing treats. Smart bakers will often utilize the "chocolate chip switch", swapping chocolate chips for raisins. Brilliant. The recipe adjustment might have done more harm than good however, due to the visual similarity between chocolate chips and raisins when they're sitting in the finished cookie. I can never be sure whether they're chocolate chips or raisins, and there's no way I'm taking the chance. It's now preferred to substitute peanut butter or butterscotch chips to avoid confusion.

Bottom line is this: leave out the raisins and start enojying a pretty darn good (if under-appreciated) cookie.