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The Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
These soft, chewy oatmeal cookies with plump raisins are the best oatmeal cookie recipe on the planet!
I grew up eating A LOT of oatmeal raisin cookies.
It is hands down my Mom’s favorite cookie. I would get so excited to see homemade cookies on the kitchen counter, only to discover they were oatmeal raisin, not chocolate chip.
As I have worked for years creating recipes for my website, I realized that I didn’t have a traditional oatmeal cookie recipe yet. I wanted to create an oatmeal cookie recipe that my kids and husband would actually eat…and ultimately love to eat them. Challenge accepted.
First of all…they had to be soft and chewy. They couldn’t be dry with zero flavor. They needed to have enough sweetness from a mixture of brown sugar and sugar. In order to be perfect oatmeal raisin cookies, they needed to be chewy which comes from a higher ratio of brown sugar to sugar and just the right amount of oats.
I also love to add one type of leavening agent and one thickener — cornstarch to make them extra soft and baking soda to give them the rise they need. Cornstarch helps to keep the cookies moist for a longer time.
As I played around with the recipe to get it just right, I brought in my brutally honest taste testers. Let me be honest here, my teenagers weren’t exactly thrilled at the idea of eating oatmeal raisin cookies.
Until they tried them.
They all went back for seconds…and I knew my job was done. I turned them into oatmeal raisin cookie lovers. I also turned into one and so did my husband. We made two batches, two days in a row because our cravings struck again! I am officially hooked.
These truly are the best oatmeal raisin cookies ever!
How to make the BEST Oatmeal Raisin Cookies:
- In a mixing bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and sugar for 4 minutes until light and fluffy. This allows the butter to wrap around the sugars and to create a creamy texture. It also whips air into the cookie dough which allows the cookies to rise more once the cookies hit the oven.
- Use pure vanilla extract. This helps to bring some flavor to the dough so don’t miss out on this one. If you want to add some warmth to the cookies, you can add cinnamon. My kids prefer the cookies without so it is a personal preference.
- Use both cornstarch and baking soda. Cornstarch is a game-changing ingredient and makes the cookies extra soft.
- Make sure to use soft, fresh raisins. You don’t want hard, stale raisins. If they aren’t as soft as you’d like, let them soak in very hot water for 15 minutes, until they begin to plump up.
- Bake for only 9-11 minutes. Be careful not to overbake! You want them to be soft and slightly underdone. They will continue to firm up on the baking sheet once you take them out of the oven.
Here are some more favorite oatmeal cookie recipes:
Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
Levain Bakery Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Bakery Style Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Here are some of my favorite baking tools:
Light Colored Baking Sheets
Parchment Paper Sheets
Kitchenaid Mixer
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The Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Equipment
- 1 turner
Ingredients
- 1 cup Butter (softened, cut into cubes)
- 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
- 2/3 cup Sugar
- 2 large Eggs
- 2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon (optional, we usually omit it)
- 2 1/4 cups Flour
- 1 1/2 cups Rolled Oats
- 1/2 teaspoon Cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 2 cups Raisins (soft and plump)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 365 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter, brown sugar, and sugar for 4 minutes or until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl halfway through to ensure even mixing.
- Add eggs and vanilla and mix for 1 minute longer.
- Stir in flour, rolled oats, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Add cinnamon (if using). Fold in raisins.
- Drop onto a light-colored baking sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until edges start to turn a light golden color. Don't overbake. The cookies will continue to bake once you remove them from the oven. I prefer to under-bake rather than over-bake.
- Let cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I have got to say that this is the best recipe I have ever made for oatmeal raisin cookies. They are so lightweight, and it must have something to do with the addition of the cornstarch. This recipe is definitely a keeper! Thank you!
Aw this makes me so happy to hear!! Thank you so much for your comment Charlotte!
Omg these cookies turned out soo good! This is my first time making oatmeal cookies. I’m glad I used this recipe. I’ll definitely try more of them
Thank you so much for trying my recipe out, Rika!
Tweaked this recipe a bit by adding 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg , 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and I only used 1 1/2 cup of raisins! (Used the hot water soak method) I thought they needed to cook longer so I did an additional 3 minutes which was too long! That part I should have followed !!! Taste was great! Def will be saving these for the future!!!!!
Thank you for making this recipe Joceline!
I love these cookies and so does my family! I used sprouted oats. I also used golden raisins in lieu of the dark raisins because they tend to remain soft and not get overly chewy.
Hi Michele! I love this idea of using sprouted oats and golden raisins. I love golden raisins too. They are just plumper and softer. I am going to try that in these cookies. Great suggestion, thank you!
This oatmeal cookie is a BLUE RIBBON Winner! I entered this recipe in my local county fair and won FIRST PLACE for the BEST Oatmeal Cookie! I added cranraisins and white chocolate chips. Thank You for a delicious cookie!!!
I just made these and they are super delicious. I added the cinnamon because I love cinnamon in my oatmeal and it was perfect.