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.
Okay, WOW! I’ve been making oatmeal cookies for awhile and this recipe…it’s amazing! These are the best oatmeal cookies I have ever made and my family wants me to double the recipe and freeze them for later! Thank you so much! As a note, I added a little bit of applesauce to the recipe and decided to skip on the walnuts and raisins. Just old fashioned oatmeal. I also made them a bit thicker so that they were fluffy and filling. Definitely a recipe to print and save for later! Thanks again!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I made these oatmeal cookies and they came out dry!! I followed your recipe, but did half coconut oil half butter, baked for 10 min.Help!! what did I do wrong??
Hmmm, I wonder if they baked too long? Ovens can vary.
Same! Little dry balls haha awww! Still good to taste but so dry! owww
I added molasses to mine but ohh so good..thank you so much again. I like to use coconut oil versus butter and this is a great recipe.
Hello! To make vegan using flaxseed, would I sub the equivalent of 2 eggs? 1.5? Not sure because of the extra yolk. Thanks!
Super delish!! Turned out awesome! Probably the best oatmeal raisin cookies I have ever made. I didn’t have eggs, so I substituted with applesauce and still turned out awesome! I’m definitely gonna keep this recipe. Thanks!
I’m so glad you loved them!
Hi Mag, how much applesauce? Would love to make these vegan – thanks!
Hey Abby! I used a slightly heaping 1/4 cup of applesauce. I hope you enjoy them as much as my family did.
Thanks, Mag! I baked these last night with eggs and added cardamom and they were the best oatmeal cookies I’ve ever tasted. What a great recipe! Used coconut oil and thick oats too. Will try with applesauce next time.
Thank you, it’s a must on our home. Delish!
I have made these a couple times now, both times they came out great. The first time, I followed the recipe exactly but cooked them 12-13 minutes because I missed the timer. They came out crispy on the outside and still chewy inside. They were slightly too salty though. The second time, I made a vegan version using coconut oil and a vegan egg substitute. I also cut the salt in half. They did not spread as much but still came out chewy and delicious. Both times I made 24 cookies. I thought they were normal, typical size cookies (2 1/2 diameter), my husband suggested that they should be much larger. While I could tell the difference between the two recipe versions, my husband and teenager couldn’t and had no idea.
The recipe has a little too much baking soda. There is an after taste and it isn’t sweet enough. The cookies do not spread out at all during cooking and they are better if you make them double the size recommended. You should really get about 10 decent sized cookies. I would not recommend this recipe.
Did you use only baking soda? A 1/2 tsp is very little. That would account for the after taste. Also, these are puffy, rounded cookies, not intended to spread, flatten and become crispy. These are perfect, if you’re looking for a less sweet, moist, and chewy cookie. More cake-like. Delicious!
These were a hit for Thanksgiving. Thank you!
I used canola oil and it came out great! Might use less salt next time because it was a little over powering.
hese were very yum! Very humid and almost like food! Not your average cookie! It made it easier to roll balls as my flour/mixture was too wet. I used plain butter and did walnuts and raisins. Just wondering what I’m going to change next time so they’re crisp outside and soft in the middle?? Seems less butter? Or maybe there’s no egg and no extra egg yolk? The response will be appreciated! Thank you
SO yummy! They’re chewy with slightly crispy edges. I used 1/2 C coconut sugar & 1/4 C brown sugar and they turned out great! Next time I’ll try all coconut sugar.
Going to try making them. They look yummy. Can u omit the raisins ?
These were so yum! Very moist and almost like a meal! Not your average cookie! My dough/mixture was very wet so I put in fridge as recommended, this made it easier to roll balls. I used normal butter and did Walnuts and raisins. Just wondering what I would change next time to make them crunchy on outside and soft and chewy in the middle?? Seems like less butter? Or maybe one egg and no extra egg yolk? Feedback would be appreciated! Thanks
Also thought I’d add, I live in New Zealand, currently just coming out of winter, not sure if climate has anything to do with it? Haha
Hi Chelsea, I’m glad you enjoyed these! They’re definitely chewy cookies with just a light crispness on the bottom. I think crunchier cookies are made with a higher butter to flour ratio… but without testing, I’m not sure that changing the ingredients here will get exactly what you’re looking for. I might just search for someone’s recipe that is already created as a crispy cookie recipe. Hope that helps!
Please tell me the amount one should expect from this recipe. I’m sorry but I couldn’t find it.
Hi Teresa, about 20 cookies.
I am excited to make these vegan cookies! I am confused about one thing though. The picture above shows 20 balls of dough on one baking sheet and if this recipe makes 20 cookies as you replied, why is it necessary to prepare two baking sheets? I initially thought maybe 20 “servings” meant 2 cookies per serving but the instruction says to make 20 balls.
Hi Jeanne, they should be spread out on the baking sheet more than I have shown in the photo – so it’s best to use 2 sheets.
I loved this recipe!! I’m making them again tonight ❤️
These were amazing! I did not have raisins on hand so I used dried cranberries! My husband loved them and was surprised how much he loved them with cranberries instead of raisins.
hmmm btw, why do men love LOVE oatmeal raisin cookies so much? hahahaa
I put chocolate chips in my oatmeal cookies. It is delicious
Yummy cookies! I used a 1 to 1 GF substitute and gf oats. Best GF cookies I’ve made. Thanks for the recipe.
Thank you for this comment! I was wondering if they would work well with gluten-free flour!
Delicious!! I made them with 1/2 raisins, 1/2 dried cranberries because I didn’t have enough raisins and they are so good!
What type of coconut oil refined or unrefined?
either will work – unrefined will have a coconut flavor, refined will taste more neutral.