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 here—just 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. 🙂
- 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 350°F (177°C) 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
- 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*
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract (yes, Tablespoon!)
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) unsulphured or dark molasses (do not use blackstrap; I prefer Grandma’s brand)
- 1 and 1/2 cups (188g) all-purpose flour (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 2 minutes. 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 350°F (177°C). 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 well—up to three months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well—up 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 on Sally’s Baking Addiction in 2014.
These are a big hit with my dad who loves oatmeal raisin cookies. Really easy to whip up. I usually do half batches. Thanks a bunch
Oh my gosh… this is the best cookie I have ever made in my life.
I like this recipe very tasty.
I also put 1/4 teaspoon of pumpkinspice in mine and a handful of walnuts.
Lovely !
These cookies are amazing and I never liked oatmeal raisin. One question though, what temperature should be used on an electric stove?
This recipe was great !
I want to mail these to someone in New York (523 miles away) is there any suggestions on making sure they arrive yummy?
Hi Julie, check out our post on the best way to ship cookies!
Hi Can I use whole meal flour instead of all purpose flour please?
Hi Sascha, you can, yes– but the cookies may be a little dense.
These are delish, though I had to add a few grams of flour to what’s called for to keep them from spreading while baking. I also added extra raisins, and a tad more cinnamon. Will use this recipe again.
These are pretty insane. Just what I’d hoped for but better and fun to make
what if i cant find molasses, cant i substitute or just leave it out?
Hi Julie, you can simply omit the molasses without any replacements.
How about honey?
These are the very best oatmeal raisin cookies I have ever tasted in my life. My family says the same. I used 2 duck eggs instead of chicken eggs. Had to add a small amount of flour while mixing in stand mixer but that’s to be expected when substituting duck eggs. Honestly, I cannot stop eating these things. This recipe has been added to my permanent “no questions asked this is an excellent recipe” recipe folder. Kudos. I love baking your stuff. You are my go-to website when I need a recipe. And now because I’ve baked several of your items with never a problem, you are dependable and I thank you for sharing. Best EVER!!
Love this recipe! I have used this recipe many times and only today had issues with the cookies spreading. The difference was that I used parchment paper this time- I usually put them straight on the light cookie sheets. Won’t be using parchment paper again!
Do you weigh your raisins before you soak them or after there is a difference
Weigh or measure before soaking. Soaking is an optional step.
My family loves these cookies, even my fussy son who never eats cookies enjoys them. I replaced the raisins for sultanas, everything else as per your recipe and they are perfect.
Haven’t tried this yet, but is it supposed to be baking powder and not baking soda? It says the baking soda helps the cookies rise but I thought that’s when the recipe also includes something acidic like lemon juice. Why would the baking soda help it rise without a catalyst
Hi Max, brown sugar is the acidic ingredient in this recipe. You do not need to add any others.
I like this recipe very tasty.
I also put 1/4 teaspoon of pumpkinspice in mine and a handful of walnuts.
Lovely !
I found the cookies spread to be thinner than I prefer. I baked a thicker cookie w better texture by:
1. Substituting 25% of the butter w shortening( 173 grams butter
57 grms shortening )
2. Froze cookie balls for 30 minutes before baking
With these modifications it is an outstanding oatmeal raisin cookie
Hello! I made this dough on Monday night, but had some issues and didn’t get a chance to bake the cookies. The dough has been covered & in my fridge ever since – is it still okay to bake or should I scrap it & start over
Hi Dawn, the dough is still OK to bake. If covered tightly, usually up to 5 days is fine. I’ve stretched it longer.
On Friday I had the dough mixed and had just added the oatmeal and raisins when the power went out because of the storm. I covered the bowl tightly and set it in the garage to chill (to avoid opening the frig door during an outage). Christmas morning I finished mixing them and baked. They are the best oatmeal raisin cookies I’ve ever had!
Definitely the best oatmeal raisin cookie I have ever made. Great recipe!!
I used chocolate covered raisins and they turned out so good.
I seem to be having the same problem as Terry. Mine are coming out very flat. I just made some chocolate chip cookies. No problem whatsoever. So I don’t think it’s my ingredients. Tried your suggestion for how to keep them from spreading that didn’t help either.
Thank you so much for trying these cookies. If you ever want to try the recipe again, a little extra flour will definitely help soak up some of the butter, which is why the cookies are over-spreading. I recommend about 2-3 Tablespoons, or up to 1/4 cup (about 30g). You could also try using quick oats instead of whole oats, which are cut finer and will absorb more liquid from the dough.
We subbed in coconut sugar for both brown & white sugars, and maple syrup for the molasses. We also used “chia eggs” due to allergies. These cookies are AMAZING!!!
I left out the molasses. Is that ok?
Hi Jack, yes that’s fine!
The best oatmeal raisin cookie recipe I have tried, I even subbed quick cook oats once and they were phenomenal. I did make one change, replace the salt with a high quality soy sauce to get a cookie with even more depth of flavor!
Help! No matter what I do these turn out flat as a crepe. Delicious but they look nothing like yours. I chill the dough a full hour. I also make your chocolate chip walnut cookies which come out perfectly so hat am I doing wrong with this recipe? I’m at 2,800 ft elevation.
Hi Terri, there are quite a few different factors that can cause cookies to spread. This post on how to prevent cookies from spreading should be helpful to review. We can’t say for sure whether the altitude is playing a role, as we don’t have any experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html Thank you for giving these a try!
I had the same issue. Yummy but not pretty!
Hi Terri! Made these on Christmas Eve and found this recipe delightful… Most factors of spreading: Oven not the correct temperature (I never trust the oven temp without an internal temp gauge); make sure it’s Unsalted Butter; a humid climate (your elevation is average); overcreamed (whipped) butter… I actually do this by hand if I am able to (little arthritis). Hopes this helps 🙂
I love this recipe, however when i froze the dough to bake it the following day, it did’nt spread as expected. Isn’t this advisable to freeze the dough?
Hi Jackie, you may need to add an additional minute or two if baking from frozen. If you notice they are not spreading, try gently tapping on the tops of the cookies with a spoon during bake time. That will help to get the spreading started. You can also read this post on Cookie Baking Tips — see #2 “What if cookies AREN’T spreading?” for more troubleshooting tips. We’re glad this recipe is a favorite for you!
I just love these they come out so soft and chewy my favorite recipe now
Thanks for sharing
Fantastic Recipe – Rave reviews from Friends and family
Yeah, these are probably as good as oatmeal raisin cookies can get!
Has anyone tried this using dairy free butter?
Tried it with this recipe, but it never affects the taste
Yes. It works well
Accidentally added an extra cup of butter so I made bars instead of cookies. Speaks to the versatility of this recipe Thanks Dan