Feast your cookie-loving taste buds on the Best Recipe For Oatmeal Raisin Cookies! They’re deliciously chewy and made with browned butter to take them over the top!
Everyone Needs A Classic Oatmeal Raisin Cookie
This recipe for Classic Oatmeal Raisin Cookies isn’t your average cookie recipe! Instead, this recipe goes the extra mile to create big, soft, chewy cookies that will leave you passing up all other cookies!
To make the very best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, I swapped all-purpose flour out for bread flour, browned the butter, and soaked the raisins in hot water. These three steps allow you to whip up delicious cookies every time that will have everyone falling in love with them!
Pour yourself a big glass of ice-cold milk and find out for yourself just how mouthwatering these cookies are!
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Recipe Ingredients
- unsalted butter
- raisins
- hot water
- old fashioned oats
- bread flour
- powdered milk
- salt
- ground cinnamon
- ground cardamom
- baking soda
- ground nutmeg
- dark brown sugar
- granulated sugar
- vanilla bean paste
- large egg
- large egg yolks
To create cookies with a standout flavor and impressive texture, I opted for bread flour over all-purpose flour, browned the butter, and soaked the raisins. I chose bread flour over all-purpose flour since this simple swap allows the cookies to turn out a bit softer and chewier.
This is because bread flour has higher protein content than all-purpose, allowing more gluten to form, which in turn yields cookies with more chew. After carefully choosing the flour, I then chose to take these cookies a step further and brown the butter.
If you’ve never browned butter, it’s super simple and only calls for butter, a skillet, a whisk, and the stovetop! Though it’s easy, it can be tricky to know when the brown butter is done.
I prefer to pull mine off once brown bits have begun to form in the bottom of the pan, the top becomes foamy, and it starts to have a nutty aroma. Check out my full guide for How To Make Brown Butter for more helpful tips and tricks!
Lastly, I soak the raisins in hot water to soften them and rehydrate them a bit. This simple trick will allow them to be perfectly chewy and moist at the end of baking!
Oatmeal Rasin Cookie Substitutions
- Unsalted Butter – Using unsalted butter in recipes gives you more flavor control over the cookies. However, if you have salted butter on hand already, you can use that instead. Just reduce the 1 teaspoon of salt to 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
- Bread Flour – During testing, we found that bread flour produces slightly softer cookies. If you prefer, you can use all-purpose flour instead, but it will impact the texture of the cookies.
- Vanilla Bean Paste – Vanilla bean paste has a stronger vanilla flavor than extract and also has specks from vanilla bean seeds in it. However, if needed, you can use a tablespoon of vanilla extract in place of the vanilla bean paste.
- Dark Brown Sugar – An equal amount of light brown sugar can replace dark brown sugar, though it may slightly alter the final taste of the cookies.
- Powdered Milk – Powdered milk gives these cookies a delicious depth of flavor, and since it doesn’t impact the structure of the cookie, it can be omitted if necessary.
How To Make Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Step 1: Allow the unsalted butter to sit at room temperature before beginning this cookie recipe.
Step 2: Pour the hot water into a medium bowl and then add the raisins to it. Allow the raisins to soak until it’s time to incorporate them into the cookie dough.
Step 3: Whisk the old fashioned oats, bread flour, powdered milk, salt, ground cinnamon, ground cardamom, baking soda, and ground nutmeg together in a medium bowl.
Step 4: Add 10 tablespoons of the unsalted butter to a skillet and cook over medium heat until melted. Stir the melting butter frequently until brown bits start to form on the bottom of the pan, the top becomes foamy, and it takes on a nutty aroma. Afterward, remove the browned butter from the heat and stir in the remaining unsalted butter until melted.
Step 5: Transfer the butter to a large heat-safe bowl or stand mixer that’s fitted with a whisk attachment.
Step 6: Add in the dark brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla bean paste, then mix to combine.
Step 7: Add in the large egg and additional large egg yolks and mix. Let the dough rest, then whisk again. Repeat this resting and whisking process for two more rounds.
Step 8: Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients using a rubber spatula or paddle attachment on a stand mixer.
Step 9: Drain the bowl of soaking raisins and then blot them dry using a paper towel. Then, fold them into the cookie dough using a rubber spatula.
Step 10: Portion the oatmeal cookie dough out and then break the balls of dough in half. Next, press the two halves together so that the broken and craggy side is upward.
Step 11: Place the cookie dough about 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
Step 12: Press additional raisins gently into the tops of the cookie dough before baking.
Step 13: Bake the cookies and rotate them halfway through the baking time. Once the cookies have finished baking, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe Variations
- Chocolate Chips – For an even sweeter variation. try making them into oatmeal chocolate chip cookies by adding in chocolate chips! Choose from dark chocolate, milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, or chocolate chunks. If interesting cookie flavors are your thing, you can make these cookies with other chips, such as butterscotch or even peanut butter chips!
- Nuts – Mix in chopped walnuts or pecans to add some crunchy texture and nutty flavor!
- Dried Fruit – Swap the raisins out for other dried fruit, such as cranberries or cherries!
- Ice Cream Sandwiches – Sandwich a scoop of vanilla ice cream between two cookies for a yummy homemade ice cream sandwich!
- Frosting – Instead of a frozen cookie sandwich, make up a batch of American Buttercream Frosting to make Oatmeal Raisin Cookie sandwiches with frosting.
Tips for Making the Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Brown Butter – Oatmeal raisin cookies with brown butter make for an unforgettable cookie! The brown butter has a toasty, slightly caramelized flavor that creates cookies with a rich, deep flavor! Though it’s an added step, it’s totally worthwhile for the outstanding flavor it adds to these cookies!
- Accurately Measured Ingredients – As with any cookie recipe, accurately measured ingredients will produce the best cookies! Therefore, I included the weighted measurements on the recipe card if you’d like to measure with a kitchen scale instead of measuring cups.
- Interval Mixing – During the mixing process, the dough is rested in intervals. Don’t skip this step! This is crucial to the cookies turning out amazingly tender and chew. This is because the process allows the heat of the brown butter to melt the sugar and create an emulsion with the eggs.
- Dough Consistency – Keep in mind that the cookie dough in this recipe will be very soft. This is normal, so resist the urge to chill the dough!
- Rotate While Baking – Rotating the cookies halfway through baking ensures a much more even bake!
- Doneness – Be careful not to overbake the cookies, as this will result in hard, crunchy cookies. Remove the cookies from the oven once the edges are slightly brown, as they will continue to firm up as they cool.
- Appearance – To make cookies with the best appearance, be sure to press additional raisins into the tops of the cookie dough once they’re on the baking sheet before they’re transferred into the oven. Then, when they come out of the oven, you can use a round biscuit cutter to circle and swirl the cookies to make them perfectly round!
Storing Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Store these Homemade Oatmeal Raisin Cookies in an airtight container at room temperature to enjoy for up to 3 days. You can also freeze the cookies for up to 3 months.
Oatmeal Raisin Cookie FAQs
I wouldn’t consider these cookies unhealthy, but the recipe was also not developed to intentionally be health conscious. If you’re looking for an oatmeal-based cookie that was, try my Breakfast Cookies.
If baking soda isn’t incorporated into these oatmeal cookies, they’ll turn out flat and dense.
No, do not flatten the cookies before baking. This will compact the cookies and cause them to lose some of their soft, chewy texture.
If your oatmeal raisin cookies turn out hard, it’s likely that they were overbaked or too much flour was accidentally added to the dough. Be sure to measure flour correctly to ensure the cookies turn out just as they should! Slightly underbaking these cookies allows them to finish baking on the pan after they come out of the oven to reach the perfect texture.
Yes, this recipe does make large cookies that turn out to be about 4 to 5 inches. Therefore, to make smaller cookies, I’d suggest portioning the cookie dough out using a medium cookie scoop and then baking them for 7 to 9 minutes.
Yes, feel free to bake these cookies on silicone baking mats instead of parchment paper. Just keep in mind that cookies do tend to bake faster and spread further on the mats than on paper. Therefore, keep a close eye on them to be sure they don’t overbake.
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Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 14 tablespoons unsalted butter sliced into tablespoons and divided
- 1 cup raisins 172g, 6 ounces, plus more for topping
- ¾ cup hot water
- 2¼ cup old fashioned oats 180g
- 1¾ cup bread flour 240g, spooned and leveled
- 2 tablespoons powdered milk 12g
- 1 teaspoon salt 7g
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar 150g, packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar 110g
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or extract
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 2 additional large egg yolks room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. It is best if you use two baking sheets and rotate them for the batches. Dropping the second batch of dough on the hot cookie sheet will slightly change the structure of the cookie.
- Pull the 14 tablespoons unsalted butter out of the refrigerator to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before using.
- Add 1 cup raisins and ¾ cup hot water to a medium bowl and let the raisins soak until ready to use.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the 2¼ cup old fashioned oats, 1¾ cup bread flour, 2 tablespoons powdered milk, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground cardamom, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg.1¾ cup bread flour, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon baking soda, 2 tablespoons powdered milk
- Add 10 tablespoons of the butter to a skillet and cook over medium heat until melted. Continue cooking and stirring frequently for 2 to 3 minutes until brown bits start to form in the bottom of the pan, the top is foamy, and it has a nutty aroma. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter until melted. Transfer the butter to a large heat-safe bowl or stand mixer bowl fitted with a whisk attachment.14 tablespoons unsalted butter
- Add the ¾ cup dark brown sugar, ½ cup granulated sugar, and 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste and mix to combine.½ cup granulated sugar, ¾ cup dark brown sugar, 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
- Add 1 large egg and 2 additional large egg yolks and mix for 30 seconds. Let rest for 3 minutes, then whisk again for 30 seconds. Repeat the resting and whisking for 2 more rounds for a total of 2 minutes of mixing. The batter should be smooth, thick, and shiny when done – almost like caramel sauce.1 large egg, 2 additional large egg yolks
- Use a rubber spatula or paddle attachment to mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients for 1 minute. The dough will seem very soft, this is normal and you do not need to chill it.
- Drain the raisins, then blot them dry with a paper towel. Fold the raisins into the dough.
- Portion the dough with a #16 cookie scoop and break the balls of dough in half and press the flat edges together so the broken and craggy side is upward. Press it together and drop the dough 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
- Top the scoops of dough with extra raisins and gently press them into the top of the dough.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, rotating halfway through. The cookies should look slightly brown around the edge. Remove from the oven and use a round biscuit cutter to circle and swirl the cookies to make them more round (video example here). Allow the cookies to cool for 3 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Do not brown all of the butter, it will alter the recipe. It’s important that the 4 tablespoons are only melted and not cooked to the point of clarifying or browning.
- Slicing the butter before melting will give it a fast and more even melt.
- This recipe makes large cookies, about 4 to 5 inches. If you want to make small cookies, use a medium cookie scoop and bake for 7 to 9 minutes.
- Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. Enjoy them for up to 3 days!
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
LuAnn says
These look amazingly delicious. My question is. If I don’t have bread flour like the recipe asks for. Can I use All Purpose Flour? Are they interchangeable? TIA.
Rebecca Hubbell says
You can use AP Flour if that’s what you have. Bread Flour has a higher protein and yields a slightly chewier cookie.
Shell says
Hi, may I ask why I cannot refrigerate the dough? I refrigerate all of my cookie dough for 48 to 72 hours before I bake.
Rebecca Hubbell says
Hi Shell, You are definitely welcome to chill the dough if you’d like. But you don’t HAVE to with this recipe. I state not to chill in the notes because it is a softer dough, and I don’t want readers to think that the dough needs extra flour or chilling to turn out well; it doesn’t. But you absolutely can chill it if you’d like. If you do, I highly recommend portioning out the cookies before chilling and putting them in the fridge on baking sheets.
Shell says
Thank you.