Instructions

1. Soak the raisins in a bowl with boiling water for 10 minutes. This will make them juice and plump and stop them from burning.
2. Preheat the oven to 160c and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Beat the butter and sugar together with a hand whisk or a wooden spoon. Add the vanilla extract and stir well.
4. Stir in the flour, oats and bicarbonate of soda and mix until everything is well combined. The dough will seem quite dry at this stage but that is normal.
5. Drain the raisins and add them to the rest of the ingredients, mixing well.
6. Roll the dough into 10 (for large cookies) or 15 (for smaller cookies) equal sized balls, placing them on the baking sheet. Press each down on each with your fingers to make the cookie shape.
7. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until the edges are golden brown.
8. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. This is important as the cookies will still be very soft at this stage and will fall apart if you try to lift them too early.
9. After 5 minutes transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight tin for 3-4 days.