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.
Absolutely delicious! I let the cookies completely cool, but they do stick together in the container. Any tips?
Hi Anjie, a sheet of parchment paper between the cookies should help! So glad you enjoyed these.
Great cookies
Amazing cookies! My family loved them so much.
I made the cookies today. Simple instructions. They came out great. Thanks
I love this recipe. I use a blend of raisins, cherries (dried). I also put in a tablespoon of crushed slices and it is a family favorite
I used dried blueberries instead – hate raisins= huge W!!!
Okay, I made these cookies like a real man would. I don’t usually bake but I had a hunger for oatmeal cookies. I got divorce 6 years ago. So when I started looking for the mixer, I couldn’t find mine but found one my Ex left. Guess what, it was burnt up. So what’s a man to do? Pull out my cordless drill, attach a beater to it and away I went. Good ole improvising going on here:-) So thankful for that Marine training I got 53 years ago;-)
Have been trying many oatmeal raisin cookie recipes and these are VERY GOOD!
Can I roll the cookies into balls before chilling ?
Hi Justyna, the dough is too sticky to roll. However, you could scoop it with a cookie scoop right after mixing and chill the little scoops.
Absolutely spot on.
Can you help me understand the differences in weight of old fashioned rolled oats? It seems to vary widely by brand. It is more important to go by weight (3 cups of Trader Joe oats is 270 grams, 3 cups of Maine Grains Organic oats is 345 grams. Obviously the density of the oats differ.
Hi Marsha, I usually weigh oats to be around 85g per 1 cup. It can certainly vary by brand, but 255g seems to work very nicely in this cookie recipe.
We loved these cookies so very much thankyou
One of the best oatmeal raisin cookies I have ever eaten. Will be making thisrecipe again. I didn’t have any molasses on hand so I omitted it but they were still excellent tasting. Thank you.
I flattened the dough balls slightly before baking. They spread quite a bit and stayed relatively flat, which is good, because I was able to use marshmallow fluff to make the most delicious oatmeal marshmallow cream sandwich cookies ever! Thank you!
These cookies were so so good! We love them so much!
It says “Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.” That statement has never once been verified in our house. And I’ve made these quite a few times now. They just don’t make it more than 4 days, 5 tops, and they’re gone. Poof. And it’s a good size recipe. Maybe it’s the fact that the cookie tupper cover comes off…? This recipe is perfection.
This is the best oatmeal cookie recipe I’ve found. The cookies have depth of flavor and just the right amount of chewiness. So good with chopped walnuts. I love them with milk.
Excellent!!! My husband loves these cookies more than any other. I think best oatmeal raisin cookies I’ve had in long time
These cookies are great!!!
Worth the extra effort! I don’t have a stand mixer, but these cookies were definitely worth the workout…Yummy stuff!
The flavor of these are amazing. However, my cookies are flat as a pancake! I have made them several times and am perplexed?! The leavening agent is fresh, I weigh all of my ingredients and my Bosch oven temp is right on…any suggestions?
Hi BreniLee, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. Perhaps your butter is starting off a bit warmer than necessary. Here is more on what room temperature butter means (it may be cooler than you think!). This post on how to prevent cookies from spreading will also be a helpful resource. Thank you so much for giving these cookies a try!
We loved this recipe, the cookies were delicious.
Hi, can you halve this recipe?
Hi Kate, absolutely.
Best oatmeal raisin cookie yet!
I followed this recipe to the T and used all the tips (raisin soak for the win) and wow, these are absolute perfection. The search is over; I’ve printed the recipe and put in my binder of winners.
How many cookies does this recipe make??
Hi Barbara, this recipe yields about 26-30 cookies.
I was out of butter so I used bacon grease instead. I added some maple extract to go with the bacon flavor. They were amazing! Now I need to get some butter so I can try the original recipe!
If you like a chewy oatmeal cookie, this is the best. It’s soft and chewy, scrumptious, . It’s relativity simple to make. My mistake was leaving on the counter overnight, only to find some had gone missing . I will definitely make them again. I am so happy that I signed up to receive Sally’s recipes
I find myself making this cookie quiet often. Although I’ve made a few tweaks by adding white chocolate chips and coconut flakes into the recipe. It’s become one of my favorite cookies to make and gotten many compliments.
I have made this recipe several times and modify it many times. First white or granulated sugar and molasses is brown sugar, so I just use 1½ cups brown sugar with no molasses.
I have replaced the flour with whole wheat flour or with oat flour made from old-fashion rolled oatmeal put in the blender.
Tastes great but they were a bit wet and sticky. Felt like they needed a bit more flour. I spooned and leveled as instructed (which I normally do if not using a scale). Next time I’d add a bit extra and see how they turn out.