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
Excellent cookie recipe. My personal taste is that 1/4 cup white sugar is not needed. It is slightly too sweet but the buttery flavour is wonderful.
This is a great recipe for this cookie!
Last time I made these they turned out perfect and delicious! Do I need to use parchment paper or can I put them straight into a cookie sheet? I’m out of parchment paper and want to bake these again!
Hi Brooke, you can bake these cookies on a greased cookie sheet in a pinch, but we really recommend baking cookies on parchment paper or silicone baking mats for best results!
Hi! If I only have quick oats, how much should I substitute?
Hi Gen, quick oats will work in a pinch (same amount), but your cookies won’t be as chewy since they absorb more liquid.
These are so easy to make. The best oatmeal raisin cookies. These are like grocery store bakery tasting. So good. Saving this. Might be a family tradition recipe
I love the Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe from the Cookie Baking cookbook. Does the type of brown sugar I use affect the degree that the cookies will spread? How and why?
Hi Allison! You can use brown sugar and dark brown sugar interchangeably, dark brown sugar adds a deeper, more molasses-y flavor.
Best oatmeal cookie. I soaked my raisins in warm dark rum. My 82 yr-old father really likes them.
My husband loves this recipe. I have made it twice. The second time I made them the cookies fell apart. Any ideas why they would do that? What can I do to prevent that?
Hi Barbara, We are glad your husband enjoyed these! If you try the recipe again you can let them cool for longer on baking sheets before transferring to a wire rack. The cookies will continue to “set” on the baking sheet during this time.
I have made this recipe several times now and they’re perfect every time, buttery, chewy, just delicious!
Has anyone tried this with something like golden syrup instead of molasses? Not a huge fan of an overly molasses-y taste but would love a good chewy cookie texture!
I’ve never been much of an oatmeal-y raisin-ish gal, but…a friend was talking about them, I asked him if he wanted to eat them with Butter Pecan ice cream and be a REAL old man. Haha. So after picking on him, I decided to be nice (why wouldn’t I bake there at 1:30am in a school night?) Sally. These were so delicious I almost wanted to cry. I loved watching the transformation when I pulled them out of the oven. It was like magic!
So glad you love these!
These are the best oatmeal raison cookies EVER!
This recipe is perfect just how it is written. I followed the recipe exactly and made the best oatmeal raisin cookies I have ever had!
Chef Approved!
I am a chef, but I never bake. This recipe turned out WONDERFULLY! I am humbly grateful. Thanks!
Can i use instant oats for this recipe? Do i need to adjust the recipe if i use instant oats?
Hi Joey, we don’t recommend instant oats. They are too powdery and will dry out the cookies. Best to stick with whole oats here.
I am not a baker. So much chemistry! But these turned out very well. My husband is GF so I will make as one commenter suggested with oat flour. These go to me and the neighbors.
Cookies were excellent. Made double recipe. During lightning hail & rain. Also put 4X the raisins.grand .kids like raisins.
Loved this recipe used GF oat flour, GF Oatmeal,Dark Chocolate Chips… Super YUMMY!
Made this tonight and they turned out excellent! Just the right amount of sweet…great recipe!
I can’t get my hands on any molasses. Can I swap it with a different ingredient? (Anything except for honey!)
Hi Mary Ann, you can simply omit the molasses without any replacements.
I love this recipe i switch the molasses for honey. Also soaked raisins in honey.
Where can a get the nutrition info on this recipe
Hi Tara, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Ok. Hands down the best recipe on the internet. I an addicted to these cookies. Best recipe ever.
Turned out very dry
I made this cookie recipe for my husband and he loved it. I’m making more tonight. I just read the notes so I will be soaking the raisins!
Best oatmeal cookie recipe in the world! I make this recipe at least twice a month and the cookies always come out perfectly. I don’t have a KitchenAid; I just use my trusty hand mixer which works great. I follow the recipe exactly (except I usually add some milk chocolate chips and I use soft raisins so never have to soak them) and always chill at least 1 hour. I’ve chilled them overnight and took them out 30 minutes before baking and they’re just as good as if I’d made them the same day. I don’t know what some people are doing to end up with a dry dough or cookies that spread or don’t bake but thousands of us have made this easy recipe very successfully so there’s no fault with the recipe. I will never need another oatmeal raisin cookie recipe!
Great recipe! I baked 1st pan for 14 minutes as they did not look done when checked at 12 minutes…once cooled they were not moist but dry tasting. So I baked the rest for 12 minutes and they turned out moist and chewy once cooled even though they looked underbaked when taken out of oven.
Your right, they don’t get any better than this. Just threw away the other 3 recipies I had. Soaked the raisins overnight in Meyers dark rum, they almost doubled in volume. What a great added flavor and plump as all get out. Cooked 14 min rotating pans halfway through, perfection. Used leftover rum for rum punch.
Had a painter and contractor working made these and they loved them. Even next day were better.
even though they are healthy they taste just as good as other cookies!