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
Really, really good! I made the cookie dough ahead of time, washed up the bowls, etc., covered the dough in the large bowl, and put it in the fridge overnight. The next day, I set the bowl on my kitchen counter for a couple of hours while doing other things, then scooped the dough onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet. The dough was moist even after being in the fridge overnight. Made 60 delicious cookies! Looking forward to trying your other recipes.
While I love this recipe I’m a big raisin lover and I think they needed almost double! I also remove 40g of rolled oats and add 60g of coconut, which is amazing if you like coconut. I soak the raisins to hydrate them but use 1.5 cups. I would go for 2 but my family would ask if I’d lost it.
I really like the flavor & texture of this recipe. Would there any changes to recipe if I wanted to use Craisins and white chocolate chips to keep the same results?
No changes needed, Janet!
Perfect combination of crisp outside and chewy inside. Delicious!
Hi could dried cranberries replace the raisins?
Definitely.
What’s the best way to determine baking time when the size of the cookie is adjusted. This recipe calls for 2 Tbls scoop of dough, I am using a 1 Tbls. Is there a method you use to convert the scoop size to baking time?
Hi Lisa, We’re unsure of the exact bake time but you can check them after 8-10 minutes depending on how small you bake them!
I love your recipes, and have made many wonderful desserts that turned out great. Wondering what I might have done wrong here, because my cookies turned out kind of cakey, not chewy. I followed the recipe to a tee. They are very dark (not at all burned). Is that the molasses? The spread was perfect, but they were a bit cakey. What might I have done wrong to create that texture?
Hi LD! Too much flour or oats can make cookies cakey. How did you measure those ingredients? 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.
Hi, I wanted to also suggest that over-creaming your butter can also lead to a cakey texture. You want to stop when the butter and sugar a fully integrated and smooth, but you aren’t looking for it to be “light and airy” as you would with a cake.
My son is home on leave from the Army for a few weeks. What better way to fill his tummy than homemade food! These cookies hit the spot! I told him I would look the other way while he ate them! Who’s counting anyways!? Not too sweet, hearty oats, love them!
So glad these cookies were a hit, Kristie!
Can you make these crispy? If so, what would change in the recipe?
Hi – I don’t see if you’re supposed to cover the cookie dough while it’s in the refrigerator. Also, it would be great if a note was added right by the eggs that they should be at room temp, I didn’t catch that until after I had mixed everything up.
Hi Meri! Yes, cover the dough while chilling.
Thank you for the prompt reply. Could that be added to the instructions, about covering? That would be super helpful. One other thing I noticed, in one part of the description it says to refrigerate for 30-60 minutes, but in another it says this particular cookie dough should only be refrigerated for 30 minutes b/c of the spread when baking. Thanks for helping cut down on the confusion.
I followed this recipe to a T (except I used 1:1 GF flour), and these are the chewiest, most delicious oatmeal cookies I’ve ever eaten, let alone ever made! Thank you for sharing!
Crispy edges, soft centre’s YUM!! Excellent!!
Best chewy oatmeal raisin cookies.
I printed recipe in Nov ‘22. While checking my weight vs cups amounts, vastly different from recipe. Looks like recipe has been updated since printing. Which one is correct? Should I go be weights instead of measurements?
Hi Barbara, we’ve updated some ingredient weights on our website – use the current weights given!
Hi Philip, we’re so glad you loved the taste. It sounds like there may have been too much flour in the dough, soaking up all the wet ingredients and preventing spread. How did you measure your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to ensure just the right amount of flour. Thank you for giving these a try!
So I used King Arthur All Purpose flour and used a kitchen scale to weigh to 209 grams as per the directions. I have learned over the years with flour, in particular, to use a kitchen scale to measure.
I searched, best ever oatmeal raisin cookies. I dont even like them, made them for my husband. Definitely the best ever. I love them.
Great recipe! The cookies had the perfect texture and tasted amazing. Next time, I might skip the walnuts or add fewer, as they overpowered the other flavors.
Can I add in some butterscotch chips?? Would that alter the recipe in a negative way?
Hi Lauren, sure can! We have these oatmeal scotchies too, if you’re interested.
Absolutely amazing cookies!!!! I would like to try cranberries instead of raisins, would this be a lateral conversion?? Dried of course, so I’m thinking I should still do the 10 minute warm water soak?? Your thoughts are greatly appreciated!!!
Hi Becky! Dried cranberries would work wonderfully here! Or you may love these Magic 5 Cookies with dried cranberries and some other fun add-ins. You don’t need to do the soak, but it wouldn’t hurt, especially if they seem quite dry.
What did I do wrong? My cookies came out more like muffins. Dry & puffy.
Hi Lori! How did you measure the flour and oats? Too much flour/oats in cookie dough can make them too thick. 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.
Can you use instant oatmeal in the cookie recipe?
Hi Laralee, quick/instant oats will work in a pinch (same amount), but your cookies won’t be as chewy since they absorb more liquid.
OMGOODNESS! THE BEST Oatmeal cookies ever! I will never use another recipe again! Thank you for sharing!
Family Favorite. This is the go-to recipe! I make as directed. I do soak the raisins and add a few extra. Makes a big difference.
I’ve been waiting for the cookie craving to strike to make these and today was the day! These are incredible!! I’m gluten free so I used a 1-1 gf flour blend and they came out the perfect texture. Added a little extra cinnamon plus some ginger for a extra spice flavor. Next time I might cut the sugar a bit. HIGHLY recommend!
This is definitely a new family favorite recipe! So soft, chewy and a little crunchy on the outside! So delicious, tasty and not overly sweet which we all loved
My daughter, s-i-l, and I made these, and they were fantastic—the best oatmeal raisin cookies ever! She got the recipe off of the Internet and gave it to me. Oatmeal raisin cookies are my Hubby’s favorite type of cookie, and these delivered. Mine is Tollhouse, but these would be second. I will be making these for him—so much better than from the store or a bakery.
The best oatmeal cookie recipe ever. Tastes just like bakery cookies and never stale.
Wonderful recipe! Great cookies! Walnuts are a very good addition!
Can this recipe be made into giant cookies? Like using a third or half cup of dough per cookie?
Hi Connie, we can’t see why not. We’re unsure of the exact bake time, but keep a close eye on them.
These were my families favorite cookies ever.
I followed this recipe exactly and these are shockingly flavorless. I was surprised.
These are hands-down my favorite cookie!!
Last time I made them, I used Grandma’s molasses— previously omitted on purpose. Think I like them better without.
The fam always wants Toll House cookies — but these are my personal stash!