These are the Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies you’ll ever have! They are easy to make with a secret ingredient, resulting in chubby cookies that are slightly chewy and soft inside and crispy outside! They are as delish as these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
Oatmeal raisin cookies are my younger daughter’s favorite cookies. The famous NYC bakery, Levain Bakery, makes some of the best!
The reason why this is their copycat oatmeal raisin cookie recipe!
At least, it is my attempt at cookies that are not overly sweet, with the best texture ever: Slightly chewy, soft, and almost gooey inside, with great crispy edges outside. In addition, the rolled oats add an extra chewy bite to them!
They are perfect not only as a snack on the go but also for breakfast.
Oh… like the Levain Bakery Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, ours are thick and chubby weighing about 6 ounces each!
Excited? I hope so because after having these you won’t make another cookie recipe.
Table of Contents
- 1 Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- 2 Ingredients and Substitutions
- 3 How to Make Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- 4 Secret Tips for Making Easy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Extra Special
- 5 Can I Use Quick Oats for Making Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies?
- 6 Can I freeze the raw cookie dough?
- 7 How to Store Soft Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- 8 Other cookie recipes to enjoy
- 9 Other oat and oatmeal recipes
- 10 Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
You may be asking yourself: “What makes this the best oatmeal raisin cookie recipe ever?”
Well, check out why:
- Flavor: They are mildly sweet and contain warm flavors, making them comforting!
- Size: These are BIG cookies! Each one of them weighs 6 ounces (a little more than a quarter-pound) and is about 1-inch thick. This means they don’t spread much. Yes, they are meant to be chubby and satisfying, almost like a meal itself like a bowl of oatmeal.
- Texture: They have an overall chewy texture with crispy edges and a soft center!
- Easy to make: These are one of those easy recipes that require no special skills! Just mix the ingredients, weight, chill for 15 minutes, and bake the cookies.
- Healthy-ish: Don’t forget they contain rolled oats and raisins which are rich in fiber, making the perfect breakfast or snack on the go!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Unsalted butter: It must be chilled and cut into small chunks. This will hold their shape, helping not spread much in the oven. Make sure to use good-quality butter such as Irish butter which has more dairy than water compared to American butter.
- Light brown sugar: It will add a molasses or caramel-like flavor to the cookies and also make their interior soft.
- Granulated sugar: White sugar will sweeten these oatmeal raisin cookies and help to form crispy edges!
- Eggs: Use large eggs that are chilled!
- Flours: We used a flour mixture (all-purpose flour and cake flour). Cake flour will make our cookies lighter and soft, or more “cake-like” instead of dense or too chewy. On the other hand, all-purpose flour makes for a little chewy interior and a crispy exterior. Their combination will produce the best textures for these oatmeal raisin cookies!
- Cornstarch: It makes for soft oatmeal raisin cookies that are still thick!
- Baking soda: We are using brown sugar which is an acidic ingredient. Baking soda is alkaline and will neutralize that acid.
- Salt: If using kosher salt, use double the amount of sea salt called in the recipe.
- Raisins: They contain fiber and add extra sweetness to the cookies! If you prefer to use golden raisins instead, be aware you will wind up with fewer sweet cookies with more of a fruity flavor! Moreover, dark raisins are firm, adding a bite to the cookies in contrast with golden raisins that are plump, making cookies softer.
- Rolled Oats: Also known as old-fashioned oats, they add chewiness or a bite to the oatmeal raisin cookie dough. If you don’t have them in your pantry, you may use quick oats (ratio 1:1) but they won’t be as chewy, will bake faster, and also will contain less fiber.
- Ground cinnamon: It will flavor the cookies, adding some great warm flavors! If you want, you may add a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract for extra flavor!
How to Make Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
To make these chewy oatmeal raisin cookies, follow the steps below:
- Preheat the oven to 410° F (210° C) for at least 15 minutes before baking the cookies.
- Meanwhile, cream the wet ingredients: In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream together small chunks of cold butter and the sugars on high speed until well combined, creamy, and fluffy (at least 4 minutes). SEE PIC. 1 Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. The mixture will be loose and creamy! SEE PIC. 2
- Combine the dry ingredients: Add cake flour, all-purpose flour, oats, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon to the creamy mixture on low speed, stirring until homogeneous. SEE PIC. 3 Fold in the raisins! SEE PIC. 4
- Chill: Cover and chill the cookie dough in the fridge for at least 15 minutes (NOTE: If you have time, after making the cookie balls and weighing them, cover and freeze them for one hour before baking so the cookies won’t spread much).
- Form large balls, weigh each in a scale to make them 6 ounces each, and then place them on large parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. SEE PICs. 5 & 6 Lightly press the top of each cookie ball to smooth it out. SEE PIC. 7
- Bake cookies for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown on the top. SEE PIC. 8
- Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and let the cookies rest for at least 10-15 minutes to cool and set.
Secret Tips for Making Easy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Extra Special
- Use very cold butter: It will help the cookies to not spread much, keeping their thick, chubby shape. But in order to cream the chilled butter with the sugars easily, cut it into small chunks because big lumps will make it hard to cream with the sugars. It will take at least 4 minutes on high speed until light and fluffy (room temperature butter will cream much faster but it will make the dough spread more under heat).
- Use a mix of cake flour and all-purpose flour: As we explained earlier, all-purpose flour makes a slightly chewy cookie with a crispy exterior while the cake flour creates a soft interior with tender crumbs. The cookies will be thick without tasting like a scone!
- Measure well the flours!
- Use cornstarch: It also helps to create tender, soft oatmeal raisin cookies that will still be thick!
- Chill them first and then bake at high heat: For the best oatmeal cookies, you want to chill them first to help keep their shape and then shock them by baking at high heat so they don't spread too rapidly. It keeps them and their edges crispy.
- Weight them: For making even-sized cookies, weigh them on a kitchen scale! This will also avoid uneven baking (a smaller cookie will bake faster than a larger cookie).
- Preheat the oven for at least 15 minutes before baking the cookies.
- The baking time may vary depending on your oven.
- Let these easy oatmeal raisin cookies come to room temperature before handling. They must be golden brown and crispy outside with soft, slightly chewy centers.
Can I Use Quick Oats for Making Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies?
Yes! But be aware old-fashioned rolled oats will make the cookies chewier while quick oats (or instant oats) will make them soft and will cook faster. You can replace rolled oats with the same amount of quick oats (ratio 1:1).
Yes! You can make a large batch of cookies and freeze them raw for up to 2 months to bake them later straight from the freezer. Just add about 2-3 minutes to the baking time.
To freeze them, portion out the raw dough, and weight, and place them on a lined baking pan in a single layer. Transfer the sheet pan to the freezer until the dough is frozen, then the frozen cookie dough balls into a large freezer bag.
How to Store Soft Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Store them in a Ziploc bag or airtight container for about 2-3 days, removing as much air as possible from the bag.
You can freeze the baked cookies but after thawing, they won’t have crisp edges anymore yet they will still be moist. It is better to freeze them raw for up to 2 months and bake them while they are still frozen when you need them.
To defrost these baked cookies faster, wrap each cookie in a paper towel and microwave for about 20 seconds.
- Small batch chocolate chip cookies
- Nutella cookies
- Double chocolate chip cookies
- Brownie cookies
- Chocolate chip walnut cookies
- No-bake oatmeal cookies
Other oat and oatmeal recipes
- Apple Baked Oatmeal
- Oatmeal Pudding
- Oat Flour Pancakes
- Baked Oats Recipe
- Oat Rolls (with Honey Butter)
- Protein Overnight Oats
PIN AND ENJOY!
Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Equipment
- 1 baking sheet
- oven
- 1 Wire rack
- 1 Mixing bowl
- 1 Kitchen scale
Ingredients
- 1 cup cold unsalted butter cut into small cubes
- 1 cup (+ 2 TBSP) packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 eggs chilled
- 2 cups all-purpose flour sifted
- ½ cup cake flour sifted. SUBSTITUTION: For every 1 cup of cake flour, use 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour and then add 2 tablespoons of cornstarch. Sift them together.
- 1 ½ cup rolled oats (Old-fashioned oats)
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ cups black raisins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 410° F (210° C) for at least 15 minutes before baking the cookies.
- Meanwhile, cream the wet ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, cream together small chunks of cold butter and the sugars on high speed until well combined, creamy, and fluffy (at least 4 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. The mixture will be creamy!
- Combine the dry ingredients: Add cake flour, all-purpose flour, oats, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon to the creamy mixture, stirring until homogeneous. Fold in the raisins!
- Chill: Cover and chill the cookie dough in the fridge for at least 15 minutes (NOTE: If you have time, after making the cookie balls and weighting them, cover and freeze them for one hour before baking so the cookies won’t spread much).
- Form large balls, weigh each on a scale to make them 6 ounces each, and then place them on a large parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Lightly press the top of each cookie ball to smooth out.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown on the top.
- Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and let the cookies rest for at least 10-15 minutes to cool and set.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
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