Soft and chewy with that trademark homemade flavor, these are the best soft and chewy oatmeal raisin cookies. Made with brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, chewy oats, sweet raisins, and a secret ingredient, this recipe wins for flavor and texture. Your family will love these easy oatmeal raisin cookies!
There are two types of people in this world. Raisin haters and raisin lovers. I fall into the latter category. Besides homemade apple pie, oatmeal raisin cookies are my favorite dessert. There’s something incredibly magical about the chewy texture, soft centers, plump raisins, and cinnamon flavor. Please tell me I’m not the only raisin lover!!
What Makes These Oatmeal Raisin Cookies The Best
The competition is strong, but here’s why you’ll fall in love with these cookies.
- Moist and tender centers
- Slight crisp on the edges
- Sweetened with brown sugar
- Loaded with oats
- Studded with raisins
- Cinnamon spiced
- Buttery flavor
- 30 minute chill time
It doesn’t get much better than this!
Ingredients in Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Oatmeal raisin cookies are made with very basic ingredients.
- Butter: Butter is the base of any delicious cookie recipe. Make sure you are using room temperature butter.
- Brown Sugar + Granulated Sugar: Sugar is not only used for sweetness, but also for providing structure and tenderness. I like to use more brown sugar than white sugar because (1) brown sugar has incredible flavor and (2) brown sugar contains more moisture than white, which produces a softer cookie.
- Eggs: Eggs help bind everything together. You need 2 eggs in this recipe.
- Pure Vanilla Extract + Salt: Both provide flavor.
- Cinnamon: Raisins, oats, and cinnamon are winning flavor combination.
- Baking Soda: Baking soda helps the cookies rise.
- Molasses: Molasses is my secret ingredient! 1 scant Tablespoon enhances all the wonderful flavors of these buttery, cinnamon-sweet oatmeal raisin cookies.
- Flour: Flour is the structure of the cookies.
- Oats: There are a ton of oats in this recipe! Oats provide a fabulously chewy texture. I use and recommend old fashioned whole oats hereโjust like I do for flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookies.
- Raisins: I love to soak the raisins in warm water before using. This step is optional, but it guarantees they are plump and soft. Blot dry before adding to cookie dough. (You can also use this cookie dough to make my white chocolate chip cherry oatmeal cookies.)
I like to add chopped walnuts. Nuts are totally optional but highly recommended. These simple ingredients combine to make the best oatmeal raisin cookies!
How to Make Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
There’s only a few steps between now and a batch of warm oatmeal cookies. ๐
- Cream butter + sugars: Use a hand or stand mixer to cream the softened butter with both sugars until smooth, about 2 minutes on medium speed.
- Add eggs, vanilla, + molasses: Add eggs, then mix on high for about 1 minute until incorporated. Add vanilla and molasses, mix until combined.
- Dry ingredients: Mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a separate bowl. Pour this into the wet ingredients. Combine together on low.
- Add the extras: Beat in the oats and raisins on low speed. Dough will be thick and sticky.
- Chill: Refrigerate the cookie dough for 30-60 minutes.
- Roll: Roll cookie dough into balls and place on a lined baking sheet. I love using these baking mats.
- Bake: Bake the cookies at 350ยฐF (177ยฐC) for 12-13 minutes until lightly browned. The cookies might look under-baked, but they will continue to set as they cool. This is the secret to a soft and chewy oatmeal raisin cookie!
Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough is Sticky
This oatmeal raisin cookie dough is sticky, so don’t be alarmed. The cookie dough needs to chill for about 30 minutes before baking. I don’t recommend keeping this cookie dough in the refrigerator for much longer because your cookies won’t spread. The oats will begin to absorb all of the wonderful moisture from the eggs, butter, and sugar and won’t expand as they bake. Sticky dough is good dough!
More Favorite Cookie Recipes
If you love these oatmeal raisin cookies, try any of these SOFT cookie recipes. You’ll wonder why you haven’t baked them sooner!
- Iced Oatmeal Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Oatmeal Scotchies
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Soft & Thick Monster Cookies
- Maple Brown Sugar Cookies
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 26-30 cookies
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Soft and chewy with that trademark homemade flavor, these are the best soft and chewy oatmeal raisin cookies. Your family will love these easy oatmeal raisin cookies!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs*
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) unsulphured or dark molasses (do not use blackstrap; I prefer Grandma’s brand)
- 1 and 2/3 cups (209g) all-purpose flourย (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups (255g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats*
- 1 cup (140g) raisins (see Note below)
- optional: 1/2 cup (64g) chopped toasted walnuts
Instructions
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the softened butter and both sugars together on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. (Hereโs a helpful tutorial if you need guidance onย how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the eggs and mix on high until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and molasses and mix on high until combined. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together. Add to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Beat in the oats, raisins, and walnuts (if using) on low speed. Dough will be thick, yet very sticky. Chill the dough for 30-60 minutes in the refrigerator (do the full hour if you’re afraid of the cookies spreading too much). If chilling for longer (up to 2 days), allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling and baking.
- Preheat oven to 350ยฐF (177ยฐC). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Roll balls of dough (about 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie) and place 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. I recommend using a cookie scoop since the dough can be sticky. Bake for 12-14 minutes until lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look very soft and under-baked. Remove from the oven and let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies will continue to “set” on the baking sheet during this time.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week. Baked cookies freeze wellโup to three months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze wellโup to three months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Here’s how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Oats: For these oatmeal raisin cookies, I use old-fashioned whole oats. They provide the ultimate hearty, chewy, thick texture we love!
- Eggs: Room temperature eggs preferred. Good rule of thumb: always use room temperature eggs when using room temperature butter.
- Raisins: Soak your raisins in warm water for 10 minutes before using (blot very well to dry them) – this makes them nice and plump for your cookies.
- Adapted from Loaded Oatmeal Cookies & Oatmeal Creme Pies. Recipe originally published onย Sallyโs Baking Addiction in 2014.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Excellent cookies that will be baked on repeat. I bake then freeze cookies for self control and these worked out great. I do not like my desserts or cookies too sweet so I reduced the amount of sugar. Perfect for my household and everyone loved them.
I love the recipe and followed it as written. My cookies still spread even after 1 hour chill time. Any suggestions on how to keep that from happening when I make them again. I was told by a friend to add an additional teas of baking powders (your thoughts)
Hi Dianne, happy to help troubleshoot! Here are our best tips to prevent cookies from spreading. These tips should help for your next batch! We do not recommend adding more baking powder, as that could alter the rise and texture of the cookies.
I’ve made these twice now. First time around I followed it exactly. They were pretty great. Second time I made two changes. While soaking the raisins, I added rum and I increased the white sugar from 1/4 cup to 1/2. They were fantastic.
I made these cookies for the first time and they are delicious! I see where some are saying they’re not sweet enough, they are oatmeal cookies, not sugar cookies, they are plenty sweet.
The first time I try a recipe, I don’t make any changes until I’ve tasted the base recipe. If you want a sweeter cookie, add chocolate chips or turn it into a sandwich cookie with buttercream or ice cream in-between.
I may use this recipe in place of my chocolate chip cookies recipe and swop out the raisins for chocolate chips and add some butterscotch chips and nuts. It’s a great cookie the way it is, a definite keeper!
excited to try this recipe. Can I use sprouted oats vs old fashioned whole oats? I google read that they are interchangeable in a recipe. Just wondering it you have tried this
Hi Jacquie, We havenโt tested it but keep in mind that because they are softer the texture of the cookies may be more delicate. Let us know if you give it a try.
I made these but they didnโt turn out. Was almost too dry so maybe I over did the butter and sugar? They didnโt flatten out. Iโm at high altitude
Hi Deborah, These should be chewy. Usually a thick and dry cookie that doesn’t spread is caused by too much flour/oats in the dough. That would also affect the flavor. How did you measure the flour/oats? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post. We wish we could help regarding the high altitude, but we have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
These were the best. First time with this recipe, but have always had great results with Sally’s measurements and directions.
Will try with the optional nuts the next time.
Thank you Sally for another family favorite!
They’re totally decent but they really are not very sweet. They taste more like a healthy breakfast cookie, not a dessert.
These cookies are always a hit here in a house full of boys these cookies barely have time to cool before they disappear. I have yet to even try one they’re eaten so quickly. Thank you Sally!
Dear Sally,
i use your recipies often. This is the 3rd time for these raisin oatmeal cookies. Down in our area of Tn. , we have an annual festival. They make sorghum molasses so i use that in the baking.
I’m very disappointed I made everything exactly as she said with all the ingredients and these took cookies taste like barely has any sugar in them! Horrible!
Hi Amber! How strange, the one and a quarter cups of sugar here should be enough to sweeten the cookies. Sometimes when cookies take on a bland flavor. Itโs because thereโs too much flour or oats in the dough. How did you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
Always a hit! The best soft chewy oatmeal raisin cookies I have had. This time I was taking to a party and only had time to bake half the dough – so just froze the rest as big lump rather than balls. Thawed today for about and hour or so – baked and they were even better than the first batch! Sally’s recipes never fail.
Iโve made hundreds of these now. Never gets old. 10/10
Why not use unsulphered Blackstrap molasses? Itโs all I have on hand.
Hi Lorri, we find the flavor of blackstrap molasses can be too intense for some peopleโs taste, but you can use it if you prefer!