Another "R" Word

My mother claims she gave all 8 of us kids names that started with the letter R because she was "in a r-r-r-r-utt!"

With names like Rayna, Romey, Renell, RoAnn, Ronald, Rachel, Robyn and Raylene, you gotta wonder where she would have gone if she had more. I think a set of twins could be called Rue-Ben and Rhu-Barb. Considering the other names, would that really have been far off the mark?

I met Rhu-Barb for the first time this week. Seriously, as much as I loved the rhubarb cakes and pies my mother made when I was a child, AND as much as I love to bake, I am a rhubarb virgin.

Never grown it. Never bought it. Never accepted it as a gift. Never tried to do anything with it.

Don't ask me why I decided to go for it this week, but I did. A guy at work had some and I figured I could whip something up. A cake or crisp would be the obvious, but knowing we are leaving town Friday morning, we would be forced to eat it all in a day. So I opted for cookies.

Not that I had recipes for any of the above. But thanks to my pal, the World Wide Web, I managed to track some down. All the recipes assume you know what it means to chop the rhubarb. Apparently I should have read the "Rhubarbing for Dummies" book first. I sliced up some stalks and hoped the for best.

I guess they turned out OK. First pan I made them too big but the second one and on, I used my smaller Pampered Chef scoop. That helped. Hubby says my standards are too high. He should be flattered by that, right? Perhaps he was just referring to my baking and other creative efforts.

Regardless, I am going to share this recipe since I may not be the only one who didn't realize there are good rhubarb cookie recipes out there. And these are quite delicious, if I do say so myself.

Rhubarb Raisin Cookies with Nuts (Pecans or Walnuts) 

(I actually used macadamia nuts since that's what I had on hand)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. nutmeg, optional
1/2 cup shortening, softened
1 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 medium size egg
1/2 cup milk (lukewarm)
1 cup raisins
2/3 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 cup desiccated coconut (I used unsweetened coconut)
1 cup chopped fresh or frozen rhubarb

Directions

In a medium size bowl, combine the flour, salt, cinnamon and the baking soda.

In another, larger bowl, mix together with a fork, the shortening and the brown sugar.

Mix in the egg.

Add in the dry ingredients (flour mixture), alternating with the milk.

Gradually add in the raisins, chopped nuts, coconut and the chopped rhubarb, and continue to mix (use a fork or a wooden spatula, or your hands!), until the batter is well combined.

Drop by spoonful on a parchment lined cookie baking tray. The cookies do not need to be spaced too far apart on the cookie baking tray because they do not spread very much while baking in the oven. (My larger ones did spread out.)

Bake at 375° F in the center of the oven, for about 12 - 14 minutes or until the cookies begin to turn golden brown. Yield: about 4 dozen scRumptious Rhubarb Raisin Cookies


Hope yours turn out just r-r-r-r-r-r-ight!