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
- 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 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 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on 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 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.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Not the best cookies. I usually do not follow recipes, but I did this time and I regret it. I even had to borrow flour from new neighbors. Taste undercooked or just blah. I will not be making this recipe again.
Just made these yesterday. and WOW, what a yummy cookie! My boyfriend and myself stan Oatmeal Raisin cookies over anything else and this recipe made it a game changer. Maybe we can persuade a few friends and family to swing to the Oatmeal Raisin side fo the cookie debate.
Hi Sally, I’m interested in making these Oatmeal cookies into “giant cookies,” much like your 6 Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies. What changes are needed? And as always, your recipes deliver “over the top scrumptious “! Thank you.
Hi Jude! I haven’t, but you can certainly try it. Make sure you still chill this cookie dough as the recipe instructs.
Have you tried making the oatmeal cookie recipe on quaker oats website?
I tried theirs the other day. And plan to try yours tonight.
Curious to hear your thoughts on the different recipes if you’ve tried cooking theirs [I personally find the quaker oats website recipe to be a little dry]
Hi Mark! Are you referring to the “vanishing oatmeal raisin cookies” as I think they are called? I like them, but these are a little chewier. I find those to be a bit cakey, if I’m remembering correctly.
Can I use 1/2 cup of butter instead of 1 cup?
Hi can I use salted butter and Omit the salt.
Very yummy. The cinnamon flavor really makes it. I think the oatmeal cuts the taste of some of the sugar but that’s too bee expected unless you grind the oats. I felt like i followed the instructions correctly but I yielded 3 batches at 36 cookies total though. Which is fine with me! I took them out at 12 minutes when the edges were browning. Left them on the pan for maybe 5 minutes then delicately spatulad them on to a cookie rack to cool and set completely. Very nice chewy texture. And make sure you soak the raisins! It makes a difference!
These are THE best oatmeal raisin cookies I have ever had. Everyone I’ve made them for loves them. I’m not sure what makes these so different from other recipes but they are sooo delicious. It’s now my go-to recipe whenever I want to gift someone some cookies. I make them almost weekly.
These are delicious, very moist and chewy.
I’m excited to try this recipe! In the recipe however it says not refrigerate longer than 30-60mins.. then says it can be in the fridge up to 2 days? If I put it in the fridge over night is that an issue? Why do I have to let it come to room temperature.. doesn’t that defeated the purpose of refrigerating in the first place?
Hi Rebekah! You can chill for longer than 30-60 minutes – it will just be quite hard if you chill for longer, so we recommend allowing it to sit at room temperature for a bit in order to roll it into balls (step 4). So yes, refrigerating overnight is just fine. You don’t want it to come completely to room temperature, just to become pliable enough to form into dough balls effectively. Hope you love the cookies!
So I really wanted to make oatmeal raisin cookies today. So I followed your recipe exactly. The cookies were fluffy and soft the taste was there. But I wanted them to be soft and chewy I don’t know what I did wrong. But the recipe is good.
Is it possible you are using margarine instead of butter?
Hi Eli! We recommend butter here for best results.
Has anyone tried this recipe with golden raisins? (The yellow versions)
Hi Tiffany, that would be a delicious substitution — let us know if you try it!
Your grams of butter 230 gr does not equal 1 cup …..1 cup of butter is 226 grams. FYI
Hey why no oil in this recipe they seem dry ?? Why
I’ve never seen a recipe with a large quantity of butter also needing oil —
Hi Sally
My last response was not for your cookies, but for something else with oats.
Yours were good but I think the ratio of oats to the other ingredients was too high.
Next time I would add more flour.
Why would you make an oatmeal cookie if you wanted something with little oats?
I love oatmeal cookies but in this particular recipe, the ratio of oats to flour was wrong. Next time I will add more flour and less oats.
Thanks.
These are sooo good! I am so glad I halved the recipe, just so I wouldn’t be tempted to eat even more! My toddler and I have been enjoying them as they have been disappearing. 😉 Thank you!
Twice I followed the recipe exactly. I measured everything out to the gram, brought ingredients to room temperature, mixed as directed, chilled the dough for an hour, used a cookie scoop and made the balls of dough tall. Yet, my cookies came out flat, thin, and spread out both times. They tasted good, but their appearance was off. Any advice?
Hi Norma, overspreading cookies are often a result of butter that’s a bit too soft. How long did your butter sit at room temperature? Here’s a helpful post on what room temperature butter really means. We also have some tips on how to prevent overspreading cookies which should be helpful for troubleshooting. Thanks for giving these cookies a try!
The butter was definitely not too soft. After my cookies spread out the first time, I found and read the information you provided and made them again. Exact same result, so I’m just stumped.
I LOVE these cookies. Thank you for the perfect recipe!
I tried to do gluten free this time and used ground almonds instead of flour- and the recipe still works, the cookies are almost as good as regular style. Just wanted to share this idea and thank you for the recipe 🙂
This is the best oatmeal cookie recipe I have tried! I don’t like raisins so I omit those and I use a tablespoon of honey instead of molasses. I love that I can store these in an air tight container they stay chewy and fresh tasting even two days later!
Sally! Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe, we are in oatmeal residing cookie heaven right now.. I love all your explanations and direction was easy to follow. It’s the first time I followed a cookie recipe online and these came out perfect. Thank you so much
These are absolutely amazing. I usually make reg oatmeal cookies for my son, but these were too notch.
Thank you for the recipe. Follow I exactly and you’ll love them.
What are the cookies speading out and very flat?
Hi Jeannine, Cookies will overspread if there’s too much fat and not enough flour to soak it up. Did you make any changes to the recipe? Regardless, if you decide to try the recipe again, adding another 2-3 Tbsp of flour will help. Make sure you chill the cookie dough too and, if you’re interested, we have a blog post 10 Guaranteed Tips to Prevent Cookies from Spreading.
The best recipe for oatmeal cookies I have ever tried! I am also very impressed with the most helpful ideas! Putting the dough in the fridge for a full 60 min, then rolling into balls made the biggest difference I have ever experienced!! They turned out great!
Tried these cookies and they were yummy and the perfect texture too. I wanted to bake these for a friend and was wondering if I could replace the eggs in the recipe with the same number of flax eggs? If not, what would you recommend? Thanks for all your wonderful recipes!
Hi Anita, we don’t have much experience with egg-free baking, so we’ve never tried this recipe with flax eggs or another substitute. If you give anything a try, we’d love to know how it goes!
Tried replacing with 2 flax eggs and they turned out great. Yielded a slightly flatter cookie for sure but delicious.
Can I leave the raisins out? I’m not a fan of raisins but love oatmeal cookies.
Hi Isla, you certainly can — or you might like these oatmeal cookies instead!
The first time I made them they where bad lets hope the 2nd batch is good
They taste great but because I put the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes they did not spread out.
Hi Carol! Chilling the cookie dough longer may help for next time. Here’s more tips to Prevent Cookies From Spreading as well!
Second time I’m making these cookies. They are sooo good.
Hi so I made these cookies last night they came out great but the only thing is I need them to be a little bit sweeter so do I increase the brown sugar or do I increase the white sugar to make them sweeter because I don’t want to change the texture if I use the wrong sugar increase thank you so much I hope to hear from somebody
I would like to make them again today