Oatmeal Raisin Walnut Bars

I made some of the best oatmeal cookies.  I am a firm believer that everything is better with nuts, and with less steps.  First of all I was craving oatmeal cookies and I did not have much time and cookies can be pretty time consuming.  To remedy this I put a piece of parchment paper in a 9 x 13 casserole dish and put the cookie dough in there to cook.  Less steps this way to get my cookies!  I got the main recipe from the bottom of the lid of the Quaker Oatmeal Box. 
http://www.quakeroats.com/cooking-and-recipes/content/recipes/recipe-detail.aspx?recipeId=474
I found the recipe on the website, but the website says 3/4 a cup of brown sugar and the recipe I used says one cup.  If you want to avoid cane sugar use 1 1/4 cup of palm sugar instead of the white and brown sugar.  Palm sugar is great for diabetics because it has a lower glycemic index and it is healthier and not addicting!  Make sure you use real butter because margarine will not taste as good and has a lot of unhealthy oils in it.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
3 cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 cup raisins
I added one cup of walnuts
. .Preparation :

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

For cookie bars which I think are better:  Bake 30 - 35 minutes in an ungreased 13x9-inch metal baking pan.

My husband took these cookies to work and they were a hit!
Happy Baking!
Missy