Super soft & chewy oatmeal raisin cookies. Filled with vanilla, cinnamon & nutmeg – you’ll love these cookies!
As a child I was not a fan of oatmeal raisin cookies. I firmly believed that 1) raisins did not belong in cookies, and 2) adding oatmeal was my parents’ way of secretly making cookies healthy. I was not OK with either.
I distinctly remember one night my Dad said we were making cookies. 5 year-old Fiona jumps with excitement. “We’re making oatmeal raisin cookies,” says Dad. Cue temper tantrum. Feet stomping. Emergency run-away backpack packing.
(I’m sorry Dad!)
Luckily, I came to my senses and I crossed over to the raisin-loving cookie club. Super chewy, buttery, filled with cinnamon and vanilla… a slight caramel taste from the brown sugar, and lots of texture from the oatmeal. Yup – oatmeal raisin cookies are delicious.
I guess my Dad had a few things right.
So… How do these cookies turn even the biggest chocolate lover into an oatmeal raisin fan?
First, you start with real butter – you can’t get the perfect buttery taste & cookie texture without it. Then lots of brown sugar makes your cookies super soft & chewy – and adds a caramel taste. (Talk about win, win, win).
Vanilla, cinnamon & nutmeg creates the perfect flavor combo. And finally, using old-fashioned or large flake oats add tons of chewy texture.
SO SO SO TASTY!!!!! I can’t get over it.
Now – to fight off spreading and make sure your cookies are extra chewy & soft you’ll need to chill your dough. I first formed mine into balls of about 1 to 1.5 tablespoons using a cookie scoop and then popped them in the fridge for an hour.
Only take your cookies out of the fridge right before you’re about to bake them – that way you won’t undo the magic of chilling your dough.
Then for my final piece of advice. Underbake your cookies! The tops need to be just set when you take them out of the oven – about 10-12 minutes. Your cookies will continue to bake as you let them cool on the tray. Slightly underbaked cookies = super chewy & soft. Mine took exactly 11 minutes.
So, if you love oatmeal raisin cookies – High Five, you’re going to love these. If you don’t – I dare you to try them, you just might cross over to the oatmeal raisin loving dark side.
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter , softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2/3 cups all-purpose flour , plus 1-2 extra tablespoons if needed
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 3/4 cups oatmeal , old fashioned or large flake, not quick or instant oats)
- 2/3 cup raisins
- In a large bowl using a stand or hand-held electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed until light & fluffy. Add in the egg, milk & vanilla and continue beating until combined.
In a separate medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter, mixing on low with the electric mixer until combined. Turn of the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a large rubber spatula or wooden spoon, then add in the oats and mix on low speed until incorporated. Gently stir in the raisins with your wooden spoon or rubber spatula. If the batter seems extremely sticky, stir in 1 to 2 more tablespoons flour.
- Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, form the dough into balls of about 1 to 1.5 tablespoons - I got 24 total - and place on a plate. Cover with plastic wrap and chill dough in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or up to 48.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Once preheated, remove the cookie dough from the fridge and place balls 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Bake for 11-13 minutes, or until the tops are just set. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.
Important question!
Do you or do you not flatten the cookies once they are placed on the baking sheet ready to be baked?
Thanks!
I put them into the oven exactly as pictured without flattening the cookie dough balls. But if you like a thinner & crispier cookie though, you could flatten them a little. I hope you like the recipe!
-Fiona
Do you have to let them chill first?
I always like to chill my cookie dough so that the cookies stay thick and don’t spread too much. If you don’t have time to chill the dough, you could reduce the milk to 1 teaspoon and be careful not to flatten the cookie balls before they go into the oven. Your cookies will be spread more and be thinner than if you chilled the dough – but they’ll still be tasty! I hope you like them!
My husband loves Costco’s oatmeal raisin cookies. I told him I found a wonderful looking recipe (your’s) that I think he will like. He had his doubts. Well I made them and our son and I thought they were wonderful! It was funny…as I had my headphones on, I heard my husband open the container of cookies. After a while, I asked him what he thought…and he absolutely loved them and even admitted that they’re better than Costco’s!!! Just had to share…thank you for sharing your wonderful recipe!!
Thanks so much Cynthia! I’m so glad your whole family loved them!
I can never get cookies recipes to work for me … Except this one!! Made these for my Dad’s birthday and they turned out perfectly, and so simple to make and taste delicious. I will be saving this recipe and making again! Thanks!!!
I’m so glad they turned out for you! Happy Birthday to your Dad and thanks for trying these cookies!
Made these tonight. They are delicious!
I’m so glad you like them! 🙂
I had not made oatmeal raisin cookies in over 10 year’s that last night I had a craving for a nice batch. Thankfully pinterest exists to make the search slightly easier, which is how I came across your recipe. The picture was the first to catch my eye while the second was going straight to the comments to see if anyone had actually made them rather then just comment on the picture alone. I was sold after several expressed on how good these were that I opted to make them today. Following the recipe I also got 25 vs 24 cookies. After chilling I also froze half, for later use, and baked the other half. OMG were these simply amazing. I had only planned to eat 1, but there I went having 2, my husband and 3 yr old oved them too and had their fair share. Definitely keeping this as our go to recipe for oatmeal-raisin. Thank you so much for sharing this soft batch recipe.
I’m so glad that you liked the recipe (& most importantly the cookies)! Thank you so much for the kind words 🙂
Can I use steel cut oats
I wouldn’t recommend using steel cut oats instead of old-fasioned or large flake. Since steel cut oats have a much coarser consistency and take significantly longer to cook – your cookies could end up hard and difficult to chew.
Do you have to use regular oatmeal verses instant
If you don’t have regular oatmeal, you could use quick oats. However I wouldn’t substitute with instant oatmeal since the consistency is much finer and the cookies may not hold together as they should.
Can I use chocolate chips instead?
You could definitely substitute raisins for chocolate chips – or you could try this chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe:http://www.justsotasty.com/soft-and-chewy-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies/
My dough is super sticky/gooey..I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be this way or if I should’ve used more flour! The pics look delicious and hopefully mine turn out too. If they do, I’m planning on sending them to a loved one in Afghanistan 🙂
Using a cookie scoop to make balls and put them in the fridge. Hopefully they stiffen up a bit in there overnight so they’re less messy to handle! Anyone else have this problem or is it just me?
Hi Crystal,
It could be that not quite enough flour was added – but the dough is definitely sticky which is why the cookies require chilling in the fridge. You’ll only need to take them out of the fridge right before you bake them. I hope you like the recipe – that’s such a thoughtful idea to send them to Afghanistan
Can’t wait to try this recipe! Read through the comments and didn’t see the question asked.. how many cookies does this recipe yield? Thanks!
The recipe should yield about 20-24 cookies that are each about 1 to 1.5 tablespoons in size.
Wanted to make this yummy looking cookies but I only have salted butter, could I leave out the salt in the directions and use the salted butter?
That should work fine! 🙂
I’ve been baking cakes & goodies for years. NEVER have I been this SATISFIED with the results of this recipe. The anticipation to bake these did not disappoint.
THANK YOU!!!
For this EASY & DELICIOUS recipe.
I am definitely spreading it around.
I’m so happy to hear that you loved the cookies!!! Thanks so much for spread the word 🙂
These cookies are absolutely delicious! The best recipe for raisin oatmeal cookies I have ever made and the best my husband has ever eaten. Thank You, Fiona!
I’m so glad you both enjoyed them! Thanks for reporting back 🙂
These cookies are just delicious!! My husband loves them. I even slipped in a couple of tablespoons of a mixture of ground hemp, chia & flax seeds! Couldn’t even tell!