Sink your teeth into these thick, soft & chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. These cookies are loaded with spiced cinnamon, raisins and chewy oats. This is a simple cookie recipe to make and can be made ahead of time. Plus, they stay fresh for days.
Perfect Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Are you team raisin or team chocolate chip? My husband won’t even touch an oatmeal raisin cookie with a 10-foot pole. I on the other hand, never turn down a good oatmeal cookie! I can’t even count the number of times I made this simple recipe, then stacked them high on a plate and settled in to enjoy homemade cookies with a cup of tea.
In fact, I love oatmeal cookies so much I have a dozen variations! A few of my favorites are the salted caramel oatmeal chocolate chip, salted caramel butterscotch and the salted caramel cashew version as well. My newest recipe is for peanut butter oatmeal cookies and let me tell you – they. are. amazing.
What Makes These Cookies The Best?
This classic oatmeal cookie recipe makes soft and chewy cookies sweetened with brown sugar. They stay good for days and bring back lunchbox memories of when were kids!
I also love how this recipe comes together quickly. In fact, it’s SO EASY that you’ll be done making the batter BEFORE your oven is finished preheating. Go on, give it a try. You won’t believe how simple these cookies are to make! You don’t even have to chill the dough.
Tips for Success
Even though these oatmeal cookies are about as simple as it gets when it comes to baking, it still doesn’t hurt to have a few pro tips up your sleeve:
- Slightly warm your butter. I like to start with cold butter and then microwave is for 10-12 second. It requires a little more time to cream the butter with the sugars, but I think it prevents the cookies from spreading and I often forget to take my butter out of the fridge to soften.
- Mix dry ingredients separately. Combine all the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl so they are evenly incorporated.
- Measure accurately. I swear by using a kitchen scale when it comes to measuring dry ingredients like granulated sugar and flour so as not to overmeasure either ingredient, especially in a cookie recipe. However, for brown sugar, I do my best to evenly pack it into the measuring cup.
- Don’t over-mix. Before the dry ingredients are fully mixed in, add the raisins so you don’t have to over-mix the dough.
- Use a cookie scoop. This helps to keep the cookies the same size and ensure they bake evenly.
- Line your baking sheets with silicone baking mats. These are game changers for cookie baking. It helps the cookies from burning on the bottom or edges.
- I recommend baking one pan at a time on the middle rack of your oven for even baking.
How Do I Know When the Cookies Are Done?
You will pull them out of the oven before the centers are fully baked through. But they should not be too glossy. At that point even 30-60 seconds more can make a difference. Leave them on your baking sheet for several minutes and they will continue to finish baking as they cool.
What to Do If Your Cookies Spread Too Much
If you find the cookies are spreading, take an angled spatula, a cookie spatula or knife and push the edges of the cookies back towards the center of the cookie right when you pull them out of the oven. This makes a nice round shape and also helps keep the center nice and puffy.
What Kinds of Oats To Use
- Rolled oats: Rolled oats are best for cookies as they make for the best nice texture and they also give them more chewiness. I love biting into a cookie and seeing all the layers of oats inside.
- Quick oats: You can use quick oats if that’s all you have. However, quick oats tend to absorb more moisture and get a little mushier, which changes the final texture of the cookie.
- Gluten-free rolled oats: I also often use gluten-free rolled oats from Bob’s Red Mill or Traders Joes and they work perfectly as well. However, I’ve never combined them with gluten-free flour. If you want to make these gluten-free, make sure you’re using a 1:1 cup for cup gluten-free replacement flour.
How to Store
Store them in an airtight container as soon as they are cooled. You can store them for 3-5 days but I usually like to freeze them if it’s going to be longer than 3 days.
Can I Freeze These Cookies?
Yes! These freeze nicely, making them a great option to make ahead of time ! I prefer to place them in an airtight container. If you’re like me, and can’t stay away, thaw one in the microwave for 10-15 seconds before eating.
More Oatmeal Cookie Recipes
Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: 24 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Description
Sink your teeth into these thick, soft & chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. These cookies are loaded with spiced cinnamon, raisins and chewy oats.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (229 g) unsalted butter, cold
- 1 ½ cups (330 g) light brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup (95 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups (280 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups (120 g) rolled oats
- 1 tablespoon (7 g) cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups (approximately 10 oz) Raisins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Soften the cold butter in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. Combine the softened butter with the brown and granulated sugar. Beat on medium speed until well combined, 2-3 minutes.
- Next add the eggs and vanilla extract and continue beating until well incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, oats, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Stir to combine and slowly add the dry ingredients into the dough, mixing on low speed until dough starts to form.
- Before the dough thickens, add the raisins. Beat a couple of times just until the flour incorporates.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet. Scoop the dough using a large cookie scoop and place on a sheet pan, 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes. The center of the cookie should be slightly under baked but not too gooey. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container.
Notes
- Rolled oats are best for cookies as they make for the best nice texture and they also give them more chewiness but if you only have quick oats, you can still use them. Quick oats tends to absorb more moisture and get a little mushier.
- Freezing instructions: Once baked, these can be kept frozen. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.
- Make ahead” If you’d like to prepare the dough ahead of time, I recommend scooping the finished dough onto cookie sheets and keeping in the fridge or freezer. Thaw to room temperature prior to baling.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 224
- Sugar: 21.7g
- Sodium: 132.8mg
- Fat: 8g
- Saturated Fat: 4.9g
- Carbohydrates: 36.1g
- Fiber: 1.5g
- Protein: 2.5g
- Cholesterol: 28.1mg
I substituted coconut oil for the butter. Came out perfect! Thanks for the recipe.
That is wonderful! Thanks for sharing.
granny approved
Love it!
Guys these are the ones 🤤🙏🏻 I added 1/2 tsp of clove because I like a little more spice but
YES Hannah!! Thank you!
Can I use salted butter and reduce the 1 tsp of salt called for in the recipe?
Yep! You can reduce by half
Really loved this recipe cookies turned out so nice, I added a bit less cinnamon but apart from that they were brilliant
That’s so wonderful! Thank you so much!
Delicious cookies 🍪 Thanks for sharing 👍
So happy to hear that Marda! Thank you!
Sometimes I have trouble finding a good recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies, but this is one of them! They are large, soft, and chewy.
Amazing Rhonda, thank you for sharing!
Great recipe! Moist chewy cookie! I actually substituted Craisins for the raisins and added chopped pecans. It was a nice combination!
Wonderful Pam, thank you so much!!
Made these cookies for my Son and his girlfriend. They loved them and shared with her family who also loved them! I did cut a bit back on the sugar and I added chopped walnuts to half the batter. With and without walnuts were delicious. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Thank you Kelly! Very happy yo hear that!
Made them as a bar cookie- they were great. I used some chocolate chips and walnuts with the raisins to make up the 2 cups of mix ins.
Yum!! That’s great to hear, thank you! Do you remember how long they baked for?
Delicious recipe! These are and stay soft and chewy. Will continue to make these!
So good!!! The problem isi can’t stop eating them.
HAHA! I have the same problem! Thank you for stopping by to leave a review.
Oatmeal raisin are my son’s FAVORITE cookies and I have made a ton! These are THE BEST I have made hands down. 2 cups of raisins, yes please!!!!
Yeah! That’s wonderful Liza, thank you!
Hi there! Wanted to give this recipe a try and had a question. Can I just use my already room temp softened butter instead of microwaving cold butter?
Also, I always refrigerate my cookie dough for 30 minutes prior to baking any cookies, have you tried that with this recipe?
Thanks in advance!
This recipe does use slightly colder than room temperature butter. Do you have a digital thermometer to check the butter temperature? Often times butter, that is too soft can lead to cookies spreading.
I did not refrigerate my dough nor did I test this because it was not required. However, some people who live in humid climates do have to refrigerate their dough.
Hey, I had a question. If i’m baking these for someone who can’t have dairy, could i just substitute the plant based butter in for the normal cup of butter?
I have not done this before personally, but I know people who use plant based butter for cookie
Excellent recipe! Easy to follow, easy to make Cookies came out delicious! This one is a keeper!
Very happy to hear that! Thank you!
Absolutely incredible! I got the best compliments
That’s wonderful! Thank you!
Oatmeal raisin cookies are my fav so wanted to definitely try this recipe! My cookies were flat and spread out. A little hack from another cookie recipe…take spatula and push the sides in. Makes them look like they’re from a bakery. I realized after reading other comments…my butter was probably too soft! They are still amazing! Crispy and chewy! Will definitely be making again (hopefully correctly)!
Yes! I always reshape cookies- and covered this in the blog post “What to Do If Your Cookies Spread Too Much”.
Are rolled oats Old Fashioned Oats?
Yes!
These cookies are amazing!
They turned out beautifully – crispy on the bottom and soft in the middle.
I followed the recipe exactly as written.
Thank you for sharing it.
My husband and son thank you too!!
That is wonderful, thank you Adrienne!