Soft and chewy oatmeal raisin cookies. Best oatmeal raisin cookies made with simple ingredients like brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and brown butter for cookies with tons of flavor!
There are a lot of great cookie recipes out there, but it's hard to beat the classics like chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, and oatmeal raisin cookies.
Oatmeal raisin cookies make a great lunchbox treat or a delicious after school snack. This oatmeal cookie recipes makes classic soft and chewy oatmeal cookies.
They get a flavor boost from the dark brown sugar, cinnamon, and brown butter - all of which makes them the ultimate oatmeal raisin cookies.
Ingredients
- Butter: I use salted butter. If using unsalted butter, increase the total salt to 1 teaspoon.
- Brown Sugar: I use dark brown sugar in this recipe because it gives the cookies richer flavor. If you don't have dark brown sugar, you can use an equal amount of light brown sugar.
- Granulated sugar
- Vegetable oil: Another neutral oil, like canola, can be substituted for the vegetable oil.
- Egg + egg yolk: I like to use a combination of an egg and an egg yolk in many of my cookie recipes. The extra yolk helps to make the cookies chewier.
- Vanilla extract
- Flour: Be sure to properly measure the flour. Too much flour can result in heavy, dry cookies that don't spread.
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Cinnamon
- Oats: Regular, not thick-cut, rolled oats work well in this recipe.
- Raisins: You can use golden or dark raisins. Other dried fruit, like dried cranberries or dried cherries also work. Or use chocolate chips in place of the raisins.
How to make oatmeal raisin cookies
Step 1: Begin by browning the butter in a saucepan until it's amber golden brown and smells nutty.
Step 2: Pour the butter, along with any browned bits, into a large, heatproof bowl. Stir in the sugars and oil until combined.
Step 3: Whisk in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.
Step 4: Stir in the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon until just combined.
Step 5: Stir in the raisins.
Step 6: Scoop the dough and place on the baking sheet.
Step 7: Bake.
Tips
- Measuring: I recommend weighing your ingredients for the best and most accurate results.
- Mixing: I also recommend mixing this cookie dough by hand rather than using an electric mixer. It's easy to mix by hand that helps to keep the dough from getting overmixed/overworked.
- Baking: Slightly underbaking the cookies helps to keep their soft and chewy texture. The edges of the cookies should look set but the centers should look soft and slightly underdone. Since oven temperatures can vary, you may find that you need to add more baking time.
Recipe FAQs
Sure! Feel free to use chocolate chips in place of the raisins.
If your raisins are fresh, there's no need to soak the raisins before using them.
They can! Bake as-directed, and let the cookies cool to room temperature on a wire cooling rack. Place the cooled cookies in a freezer bag or other resealable, freezer-safe container, and freeze.
Storage
The cookies can be stored in a resealable airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. The cookies also freeze well.
More cookie recipes!
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Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe
Equipment
- Cookie sheets
Ingredients
- ¼ cup butter
- 1 cup dark brown sugar1 packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup+ 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour properly measured2
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 ¾ cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- ½ cup raisins3
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter turns amber brown and smells nutty, about 2 minutes.
- Pour the butter and any browned bits into a large, heatproof bowl.
- Stir in the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and oil until combined.
- Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Whisk in until combined.
- Add flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon. Stir in just until combined.
- Stir in oats and raisins.
- Scoop dough by 1.5 tablespoon (medium cookie scoop) and place dough scoops 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet.
- Gently press the dough down slightly.
- Bake 7-10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are set and the centers are soft.
- Let cookies cool on sheet for 5 minutes.
- Transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
- You can use light brown sugar, but the flavor won't be quite as strong.
- I highly recommend weighing the flour. If you don't have a kitchen scale, sift or stir the flour to break it up. Lightly spoon it into the measuring cup (don't scoop it) and then level.
- You can substitute other types of dried fruit, like cranberries, or chocolate chips.
- Nutrition values are estimates.
Ken
I rarely leave comments on recipes, but I felt compelled to. These were the best oatmeal raisin cookies I ever had, and my family loved them! Thank you for sharing this great recipe!
Kate
Thank you! I'm so happy to hear that!
Monique
Great recipe.
Kate
Thank you!
Lena Van Sickle
I call these “danger cookies”. I made them a week ago and they barely lasted two days. It’s just me and my husband and one tiny toddler. We INHALED these. Hands down the best oatmeal raisin cookie I’ve ever had. Thank you for sharing it!
What would you recommend in terms of storing dough in the freezer for future cookie-mergencies?
Kate
Thank you! I'm so glad to hear that! =) I think the easiest thing to do is to place scoops of the cookie dough on a cookie sheet and flash freeze the scoops. Then, place them in a single layer in a resealable freezer bag (or place sheets of wax paper between the layers of scoops). It should just take an extra couple of minutes from frozen. Hope that helps!
Bebe
Love these chewy cookies. I threw in a cup of walnuts too. Thanks for a delicious recipe.
Kate
Thank you! I bet the walnuts were a great addition. =)
Freya
Just what I've been looking for! The cookies are soft and chewy like I like.
Kate
Yay!! I'm so glad that you liked the cookies. Thanks for commenting!