Bran Cookies

These bran cookies taste like a bran muffin in portable form. A full cup of bran folded into a butter-and-sugar base with cinnamon, sour milk, and chopped raisins makes a soft, cake-like cookie with a nutty, wheaty chew.

Sour milk reacts with the baking soda to give these cookies their lift. Without that acid-base reaction, the heavy bran would make them flat and dense. The cinnamon warms every bite and the raisins add bursts of sweetness throughout.

Drop these by the teaspoonful. They spread slightly during baking but stay thick and soft, not thin and crispy. Twenty minutes in a moderate oven and they’re done.

Kitchen Tips

• Make sour milk by adding a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice to regular milk and letting it sit for 5 minutes.
• Cream the butter and sugar thoroughly before adding the eggs. Good creaming builds air into the batter for a lighter cookie.
• Chop the raisins so they distribute evenly. Whole raisins clump together and leave some cookies raisin-free.

Variations

• Add chopped walnuts or pecans for crunch alongside the raisins.
• Use dark brown sugar instead of white for a deeper, more molasses-forward flavor.
• Swap raisins for dried cranberries or chopped dates for a different fruit element.