I don't often call recipes perfect, but these oatmeal cookies are soft, chewy, and warmly spiced—everything a good oatmeal raisin cookie should be.
These oatmeal cookies are truly the best! From Sarah Copeland’s cookbook Every Day Is Saturday, they’re soft and chewy, warmly spiced, and flecked with raisins and nuts. Perfect, if you ask me.
A few weeks ago, I got an intense craving for good oatmeal raisin cookies and hastily threw together ingredients that I had on hand. I ended up with oat-ball-type cookies that were…just ok, and my craving continued. So when I flipped through Every Day Is Saturday this week, Sarah’s oatmeal cookie recipe grabbed my attention.
She writes, “these [oatmeal cookies are] little nuggets of joy you can’t stop eating—that just-right kind of cookie.” I completely agree. These oatmeal cookies were exactly what I was craving. The only problem was that they disappeared too quickly!
Oatmeal Cookie Recipe Ingredients
This recipe has simple ingredients. You likely have them in your pantry already! Here’s what you’ll need:
- All-purpose flour and whole rolled oats form the base of the dough. Old fashioned oats give these cookies the best chewy texture. I don’t recommend using quick oats instead!
- Baking powder and baking soda make them nice and puffy.
- Brown sugar adds the perfect caramelized sweetness.
- Sea salt offsets the sweet sugar and raisins.
- Cinnamon and vanilla extract give them that delicious warm, spiced oatmeal cookie flavor.
- Coconut oil or melted butter adds moisture and richness. I used coconut oil, and these tasted wonderfully buttery just the same!
- 1 large egg + an extra egg yolk give them a rich, thick dough and a moist, light final texture.
- Raisins dot them with chewy pops of sweetness.
- And walnuts add nuttiness and crunch.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Making this oatmeal raisin cookie recipe couldn’t be easier. No stand mixer (or even hand mixer) required! Here’s what you need to do:
First, make the dough. Whisk together the wet ingredients in one mixing bowl and the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in another.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Then, fold in the walnuts, oats, and raisins. The mixture will be thick!
Next, let the dough rest for 20 minutes. This time gives the wet ingredients a chance to hydrate the flour and oats, making it easier to work with the dough. The cookies come out chewier, too!
Then, shape and bake the cookies. Roll the dough into balls and place them on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake at 350°F for 10 to 11 minutes, or until golden brown.
Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to wire racks to cool completely. Enjoy!
Oatmeal Cookie Recipe Tips
Sarah has a few excellent pointers in her book. These are her tips for making the best oatmeal raisin cookies:
- Use brown sugar. Instead of using a mix of brown sugar and granulated sugar, Sarah opts for all brown sugar. It gives these oatmeal raisin cookies a delicious caramelized sweetness.
- Go for melted, not creamed, butter. According to Sarah, creamed butter cookies are unpredictable: they can easily spread too much or be too firm. With melted butter, though, you’ll get moist, chewy cookies every time.
- Let the dough rest for 20 minutes before baking. Those 20 minutes will make your dough easier to roll into balls, so the cookies will keep their shape and develop a yummy chewy texture in the oven.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely for the best texture and flavor. It may be agony, but letting these oatmeal raisin cookies cool completely only makes them better. They’ll be chewier and fully infused with brown sugar flavor. Sarah likes these best a few hours to 1 day after baking. (Though I can attest that they’re still good if you can’t wait that long.)
Oatmeal Cookies Variations
If you follow this recipe as written, you won’t be disappointed. These oatmeal cookies are buttery, nutty, and perfectly spiced. But if you want to step outside the traditional oatmeal raisin cookie box, feel free. Here are a few great ways to change up this recipe:
- Substitute chocolate chips for the raisins to make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, or use a mix of both. White chocolate chips are a fun option too.
- Use pecans instead of walnuts.
- Swap the raisins for dried cherries or cranberries.
- Add a dash of cardamom or ginger to the dough.
- Replace the raisins with butterscotch chips to give the cookies an extra-buttery taste.
How do you like to make oatmeal cookies? Let me know in the comments!
How to Store Oatmeal Cookies
To keep these oatmeal cookies soft and chewy, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. They also freeze well for up to 3 months.
Make-Ahead Oatmeal Cookies
If you’re someone who likes to keep cookie dough on hand in the fridge or freezer, this oatmeal cookie recipe is for you. You can store the cookie dough in the fridge for 7 to 10 days or freeze it for up to a month.
To store the dough, roll it into balls and freeze them briefly. Then, transfer the cookie dough balls to airtight containers or Ziploc bags and refrigerate or freeze. You can also roll the dough into a log, using an 8×12-inch piece of parchment paper as a guide. Wrap the log tightly in parchment to refrigerate or freeze, and slice the cookies into rounds before baking.
Bake your cookie dough straight from the fridge. If it’s frozen, allow it to rest for 15 minutes at room temperature before putting it in the oven.
More Favorite Cookie Recipes
If you love these oatmeal cookies, try one of these yummy cookie recipes next:
- Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Easy Sugar Cookies
- Best Peanut Butter Cookies
- No Bake Cookies
- Thumbprint Cookies
- Chewy Molasses Cookies
- Homemade Brownies (not a cookie, but still delicious…)
- Or any of these 17 Easy Cookie Recipes!
Perfect Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie Scoop (I use this one)
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour,
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 1/2 cup whole rolled oats
- 3/4 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted coconut oil, sugar, whole egg, egg yolk, and vanilla, whisking vigorously.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir in the oats, raisins, and walnuts, if using, folding into a tight batter. Set the dough aside for 20 minutes while the oven preheats. (Note: if your dough seems too wet to become scoop-able, chill it in the fridge for this 20 minutes and it'll firm up). If your dough is too crumbly, stir in 2 to 3 tablespoons water.
- Use a cookie scoop to divide the dough into 20 tablespoon-sized balls. Roll lightly in barely damp hands to make them round. Spread out onto the prepared baking sheets and bake until puffed, golden, and a touch underbaked-looking, 10 to 11 minutes. Let cool on the pans for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Can I use honey instead of Sugar?
Hi Ariel, no not in this recipe.
Can we use quick oats instead of while rolled oats?
Hi Maria, the texture might change, so I’d recommend sticking with the rolled oats.
By far THE BEST oatmeal cookie recipe I’ve tried!!! Crisp edges with a soft center. Super flavor and texture!!!
I’m so glad you loved these too 🙂
I’ve made these cookies many times, and they are a HIT! With and without nuts. Do you think these cookies would work without raisins?
I’m glad you loved them! You could skip the raisins if you’d like, I might add chocolate chips instead.
OMG! These were soooo good! I subbed the raisins for dried cranberries and I did both walnuts and hazelnuts. I also did a 1/4 of the portion and they came out amazing (not every recipe works this perfectly when divided by 4?). Will be making them soon again!
I’m so glad you loved them!
Outstanding recipe can toss the rest!
These were extremely tasty! I would say that they work better as drop cookies, I like that they come out flatter that way, and it’s less work!
Heavenly! I put in 2 whole eggs and used 1/2 butter and 1/2 coconut oil. They are delicious.
Just made these cookies. Really good !
Wow! I’ve never been a huge oatmeal raisin cookie fan…but these, I can eat a panful! My hubby and kids are big oatmeal/raisin fans and they also LOVE these. Don’t know why I like them so much more than others I’ve tried…maybe it’s the perfect balance – not too raisiny or sweet, not crumbly, and the walnuts are just right!! Thank you, so glad I found this!!
I made these today but I had to use vegan butter for my husband who can’t have dairy. I used Earth Balance sticks instead of butter, just 1 stick. Everything else I kept the same but added Craisins instead of raisins and added a bit of fresh ground nutmeg. I did not melt the better completely, instead I melted it to where it was soft and slightly melted. I usually don’t bother with mixing the dry and wet ingredients separately – I mix the wet ingredients first then add the dry ingredients. I also didn’t chill the dough and did not have any problems scooping dough into balls. I baked them about 11-12 minutes and they came out perfect except that they didn’t flatten much but my husband didn’t mind at all. He said they were perfect and had just the right amount of butter, spice, vanilla, nuts and fruit. I think you could also make these completely vegan using flax eggs or vinegar. Will definitely make again but may make me a batch too with real butter! The ingredients and amounts are perfect!
Hi Sondra, I’m so glad you enjoyed these! I often make them with coconut oil – that may have a better result than vegan butter.
Can I grind up steel cut oats?
I tried this recipe today and the cookies turned out great. However, I recommend to bake the cookies in the oven for about 15-20 minutes instead of 10-11 minutes.
Delicious!! Made it with coconut oil. Not too sweet. Just right
I’m so glad you loved them!
Fantastic!! Not at all overpowering. Nice balance on ingredients. Perfect texture.
Thank you!
Hi
Can I use Bobs Red Mill 1to 1 gluten free flour.
Do I use salted butter or without
unsalted
Very good, those are the best Oatmeal cookies I have made. Thanks
If you make it before hand id say to roll them out so its a lot easier to manage, or use an ice cream scoop haha
And if you do make them before hand, maybe let them sit out a little so its softer when they go in.
Do I have to put raisins in? I want just a straight oatmeal cookie.