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
Outrageously good!!!
My husband says his absolute favorite cookie now!
Thanks Sally for all your wonderful recipes, You are my go to girl!!
I just entered these in our county Fair and brought home a blue ribbon! Thanks for the great recipe!
I just made these cookies. I was very careful about the measurements. However, they were a little dry. So I added a little sprinkle to the batter and it helped with the dryness. I also added some nutmeg. The cookies taste good.
Hi, I’m just wondering…you added a little sprinkle of what? I’d be interested to know.
Thanks
Love all your recipes that I have tried.
Can you add peanut butter to these oatmeal cookies??
Here’s our peanut butter oatmeal cookies repine, Polly! You can use raisins in those, if desired.
This is probably my favorite cookie recipe ever. My husband has even said he loves these more than my chocolate chip cookies. Lately these have been my go-to because I’m breastfeeding and trying to eat lots of oats. Usually I cut the recipe in half to save on butter, skip the molasses and do 2tbsp honey, and I’ll do 1/2c raisins, 1/2c chocolate chips (or sometimes white chocolate chips), and three heaping spoonfuls of peanut butter. Once I forgot to half the salt for my recipe so I had double what I needed and they were DELICIOUS. Today I accidentally doubled the normal amount so my half batch had 1tsp of salt, and I was worried! But upon trying one while typing this out, I can confirm a salty cookie is a good cookie. We LOVE Sally in this house!
These were delicious. Made as written except added toasted pecans. They were soft and chewy and everything we hoped for. Thanks for the great recipe.
Good morning What about if I add 1/2 honey and brown sugar like your muffins. Thanks
Hi Matt, we don’t recommend a liquid sweetener here as it could affect the spread of the cookies. We recommend sticking with the recipe as is for best results!
Hi Sally! I love your site and this recipe. I always make my own brown sugar using 1 part molasses to 4 parts white sugar. Everything tastes so much better this way. I am curious why you suggested to not use “blackstrap molasses”. I often do. I use Grandma’s when I can’t find Blackstrap. I’m just curious if it’s personal preference, or if there’s another reason. One of the reasons you are my “go to” website for recipes is how much helpful information you provide (in addition to your awesome recipes) so thank you for teaching and helping me become a better baker!
Hi Courtney, we find the flavor of blackstrap molasses is too intense, usually, but you can use it if you prefer!
Thank you for asking! I was wondering the same thing myself
I made these last night and my sister who HATES oatmeal raisin cookies said they were delicious!
I knew better than to add the molasses, and I did it anyway (half batch). I made these again with chocolate chips and walnuts and skipped the molasses and cinnamon, and they were (in my opinion) perfect. Thanks for the recipe!!
I loved the cookies but I don’t know why mine stayed like a ball and didn’t spread at all. Do you have any suggestions? I want it to be baked evenly. Thank you so much.
Hi Ilke, 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. You could also flatten out the dough balls before baking to help initiate more spread.
Great recipe – as usual.
Just jumping in here to say that I brown the butter and my family that doesn’t usually like oatmeal cookies, devours these.
How big a difference if I use black strap molasas? My store had the one kind. Is it just flavor?
Hi Nicole, blackstrap molasses can be quite strong and overpowering. If you do enjoy it, though, feel free to use it!
Hi Sally
Can I bake these cookies from frozen? If so do I bake at same oven temp?
I love your recipes!
Thanks
Mary
Sure can! Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw.
Soak the raisins in good rum = Rum raisin oatmeal. Very yummy!
I just made this recipe and the oatmeal raisin cookies turned out perfect. I followed your directions and they are super good. Thank you
Hi, made these and they turned out super yum! Was wondering if I could use margarine instead of butter, would they be as good? Thanks!
Hi Lola! We recommend sticking with butter for best flavor and texture.
Love this recipe. I add 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and it enhances the flavor
I’ve made these several times over the last few weeks, they’re such a big hit, they stay soft for almost a week. But, I decided to change this recipe just a bit, I figured you can put raisins in it, why can’t you add other dried fruit….. bulk barn has a dried berry mix (cranberries, blueberries and cherries) , dried strawberries and dried apples, so I chopped up the strawberries and apples and added a dash of nutmeg as well and this turned out absolutely delicious, I’m calling them “oatmeal fruit explosion cookies”.
I’ve already reviewed this recipe and I bake a batch every week or so. I’ve been using Anna and Sarah Natural Black Jumbo Raisins from Amazon and these are amazing. I’ve also been experimenting with different nut combinations. Walnuts and pecans are a little soft and tend to disappear. Macadamia nuts are too hard. Mixtures that include dry roasted peanuts and cashews were quite good. Then I discovered Blue Diamond Oven Roasted Dark Chocolate Flavored Almonds. That’s all I use now. Everyone loves the combo of plump, juicy raisins and the crunchy almonds with a hint of chocolate. I don’t even bother chopping them up – partly because I haven’t figured out a way to chop them into halves and quarters but no more, except by hand, and they work pretty well left whole.
Loved them. I meant to buy dark brown sugar but had to use light. They are a huge hit. The only thing I wonder is how to keep them from spreading quite so much. Mine were more flat. I refrigerated them for about 40-45 minutes.
Hi Sybil, here are our best tips to prevent cookies from spreading. Hope it helps for next time!
Mine always spread too much as well! I started looking at the reviews to see if anyone else had a solution. The only thing I can think to do is add more flour but I don’t know how much.
These are my favorite oatmeal cookies. For a change of pace, I sometimes use chocolate covered raisins Yummy!
possibly the best oatmeal cookie recipe I have ever made!
soft and chewy, as promised,and the hint of molasses was a new twist!
love love love your recipes.
thank you!
these are the best in my recipes files! One question I have, any ideas of the calories,carbs nutritional info? I could sit down and eat 5 of these in one sitting /;
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
I soaked the raisins in spiced rum. A delicious adult cookie!
The best raisin oatmeal cookies ever!! I love adding the molasses and I follow exactly except I do add 1/4 more cup flour so 2 cups total .. thank you !!
hi I have been using some of your other recipies and they are always great. Was wondering about substituting half the butter for coconut oil, has anyone tried this or is this sacrelige?
Hi ET, You can try using solid coconut oil instead, but it will change the flavor slightly. Enjoy!
Hi! I love this recipe. Will it be okay to increase the sugar to 100g? I would like a little more spread.
Hi Brittani, we wouldn’t recommend adding more sugar, but you could flatten out the dough balls before baking to help initiate more spread.
Molasses’s I can’t find it in my home town! Is there another option for replacement?
Hi Brandy, you can leave it out.
Hi Brandy. I think if you can find dark brown sugar it will provide a bit more molasses flavor but these should be great without it.
Black treacle would work
These are simply OUTSTANDING. I have made them repeatedly, and they are always a hit. Love the molasses, adds a nice flavor. I used some heated rum to soak the raisins, and that was a special treat. You have incredible recipes and thank you for sharing them.