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
- 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*
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract (yes, Tablespoon!)
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) unsulphured or dark molasses (do not use blackstrap; I prefer Grandma’s brand)
- 1 and 1/2 cups (188g) 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 2 minutes. 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.
I was disappointed in this recipe, which is surprising because typically the recipes on this site are a godsend! I followed the instructions and weighed all of my dry ingredients. My butter and eggs were at the appropriate temperature. I soaked and thoroughly dried the raisins. But, the 40 minutes it chilled in the refrigerator wasn’t nearly enough, even though my kitchen was 68°. My cookies spread quite a bit and cooked unevenly as a result. The taste is underwhelming — the raisins’ sweetness was diluted and there wasn’t much contrast in the dough’s flavor.
I’m sorry — I really do love your recipes in general. I’m just not sure what went wrong here.
Wow these turned out incredible, such a great recipe! I ran out of both butter and oats (lol), so I used half butter and half coconut oil, and half oats and half rye flakes. They turned out amazing even with these substitutions. The walnuts are the best part — totally mandatory in my book. Thanks!
everybody loves these cookies. Even if you don’t like raisins, you will love these. I think it’s the molasses!!!
I just made these cookies and they are so moist. Per another commentors suggestion, I soaked the raisins and also soaked, rinsed and let sit the oatmeal before mixing everything. I didn’t have walnuts but that would have made it even better. The 1Tbsp Molasses and not overcooking made these so good. Thanks for the recipe.
Great & easy recipe — thanks Sally! I want to freeze uncooked dough but thought I should check with you first. What do you think? Thanks for all your wonderful recipes!!
I used Becel margarine and the cookies were delicious
Question: there are asterisks in the recipe “2 large eggs*” & “3 cups (255g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats*” but I can’t find an explanation for it…help?
Hi Sharon, the asterisk indicates a corresponding recipe Note, which can be found after the written recipe.
Thanks! I made them tonight and they’re yummy! I made my cookies a little bigger but the baking time still worked out well.
Adding about 200 ml of guinness blends wonderfully with the cinnamon and helps to dillute the sugar if the recipe is a bit too sweet.
I love this recipe so much!
I’ve been searching for an oatmeal raisin cookie that would be moist, chewy, sweet but not too sweet, with a nice texture and I finally found it! This is the best oatmeal raisin cookie recipe ever! I couldn’t get my hands on non-blackstrap molasses so I used organic maple syrup instead (equal parts) and it was perfect! Thank you so much for this recipe! It’s a game changer for my oatmeal cookie cravings!
Have you tried roasting the oats for this receipe?
Hi A. Moore, we haven’t, but let us know if you do give it a try!
I used organic molasses without realizing its blackstrap kind. Did I ruin my cookies ?
Hi Justyna, how did the cookies come out? We recommend to avoid blackstrap because of its strong bitter taste, but if the dough is already made then you can certainly still go ahead and bake them off—they may just be a bit strong for your liking.
I made the oatmeal raisin cookies, according to the recipe. They taste great except the oatmeal doesn’t seem done; should I grind the oatmeal or perhaps use quick cook oatmeal?
Hi Sheila, when you say the oatmeal didn’t seem done, were the cookies extra soft? They do solidify a bit as they cool, but it’s possible they just need an additional minute or two. Quick oats will work in a pinch (same amount), but your cookies won’t be as chewy since they absorb more liquid.
To ensure the oats aren’t too hard, I soaked for 5-7 mins, drained in strainer & let set for an hour. Much softer.
We loved the recipe! My 8 year old made them without any trouble. All we had was blackstrap molasses so we used it and it was a-ok.
I love oatmeal raisin cookies, have not tried this recipe yet, but it looks perfect. My question is-we don’t care for anything that has a very buttery taste (cake icing, etc.). What can I use, possibly to replace just a portion of the butter. Thank you!
Hi Victoria, We haven’t tested it but you can try replacing some of the butter with coconut oil if you wish. The taste would change but you want to use a fat that is solid at room temperature.
Favour was definitely there … but as for soft and chewy, these were a bust sadly :/ made these for my dad as they’re his favourite and he works away so I wanted to make him a little treat while he is away! Followed every part of the recipe to a T and they came out still in the ball shape I rolled them in, so sadly I probably won’t be using this recipe again but was fun being able to try!
Hi Jodie, we’re so sorry to hear you had troubles with these cookies. 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!
Amazing. Made 1/2 batch of these tonight. Best I have ever made. Molasses and soaked raisins are the key. I put them in the freezer for about 10 minutes and used an ice cream scoop they were perfect!
Amazing
These cookies are outstanding !!! I have my go-to oatmeal raisin cookie recipe but now this will be my new GO TO! I’m already a fan of your baking and this just made me your #1 fan!! ( I’m sure there are many!)
Live the recipe but found the quantities and weights don’t seem to match up right. Especially the oats (3 cups should be close to 300 grams I think) and brown sugar (1 cup should be 213 grams) and flour should be 180 grams). Not sure why the weights should vary?
Hi Wendy, 1 cup of whole oats is typically measured as 85g, 1 cup brown sugar as 200g, and 1 cup flour as 125g.
Going to give this a try. It looks amazing but will use my weights since I’ve been using them for years now. Got them from King Arthur. The T of molasses is something that should take it over the top. Thanks for the recipe!