Perfect Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

My mother always made huge batches of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies when I was little. She'd make quadruple this recipe. Now you're wondering why this post is on oatmeal raisin cookies when I am remembering oatmeal chocolate chip cookies: my husband likes regular cookies to have chocolate chips and his oatmeal cookies to have raisins in them. He has an explanation about textures: oatmeal cookies are chewy just like raisins, while chocolate chip cookies are smooth just like cookies without oatmeal.
Personally, I love these cookies with either chocolate chips or raisins. It's an old family recipe.

Turkey Hand Pies with a Buttery Wheat Crust

I first made this for March 14, but have worked on my recipe since then, and I am finally satisfied with it.
You do know what March 14th is, right? If you don't, hopefully someone will fill you in below in the comments section.

Pie Crust*

3/4 cup white flour

1/2 cup wheat flour (or use more white flour)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup shortening

4-6 tablespoons cold water

*Or use a prepared single pie crust. 

Pie Crust Directions

1) Stir together flours and salt. 

2) Using a pastry blender or 2 knives (or even your bare fingers) cut the butter and shortening into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. 

3) While stirring, add the cold water 1 tablespoon at a time, sprinkling over the dry parts. When the dough forms into a ball, cover well and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to a day.

Note: Refrigeration will help your crust be light and flaky and tender. It will also make it a lot easier to work with. This is my main reason to do it, but in a pinch, I have skipped this step. The real butter will also make your crust flaky and tender too.

Filling Ingredients

1 carrot, sliced

1/2 a potato, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 a jumbo sweet yellow onion, diced
1/4 pound lean ground turkey or beef

1 tablespoon ketchup

1 teaspoon cider vinegar

1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

Salt and pepper

Bake at 400 for 10-15 min

Filling Directions

1) Steam or boil the carrot and potato pieces for about 10 minutes until tender. Lightly salt and pepper.

2) Meanwhile, in a large frying pan over medium heat cook onion in olive oil 4-6 minutes until clear. Add ground turkey or beef and lightly salt and pepper. Break into small pieces and add ketchup, cider vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce, stirring well. Cook for 6-7 minutes until browned through, stirring frequently.

Assembly

1) Preheat the oven to 400 F and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

2) Cut prepared pie crusts into four 4 x 7 inch rectangles. I usually end up rolling out the dough, cutting three of them, then having to re-roll the scraps to get the fourth.

3) Place the cut dough on the baking sheet--they will be hard to move once they are filled, so fill on the sheet. Place a small amount of potatoes, carrots, meat, and onions in the lower half of the crust. Fold the top over and seal with your fingers or a fork. Repeat with the remaining crusts. 

4) Bake 10-15 minutes until crusts are slightly browned and firm from being cooked through. Serve with A1 Sauce.

Just a reminder of my question: Why would I make meat hand pies on March 14?

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