Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
These Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are super soft, thick, and loaded with oats and raisins. These cookies are easy to make and so delicious!
Is there anything better than a soft, thick, and chewy cookie? I’ve always been a huge fan of oatmeal cookies because there’s so many different things you can mix into them and they’re always delicious.
I originally published this oatmeal raisin cookie recipe back in 2017 and they’ve been a huge reader favorite! I decided it was finally time to update this recipe with more instructions and pictures so you can see just how easy they are to make.
If you love raisins, I guarantee this is the best oatmeal raisin cookie recipe you will ever try. And don’t worry, if you don’t like raisins you can easily leave them out or replace them with something else!
Recipe Ingredients
These easy oatmeal raisin cookies use simple ingredients that you may already have on hand! Let’s discuss each ingredient and why it’s crucial to this recipe:
- All-Purpose Flour: This provides the structure for your cookies so that they maintain their shape and hold up once they’re baked. When it comes to measuring your flour, make sure to spoon it into your measuring cup and level it off with the back of a knife. Too much flour can lead to cookies that won’t spread in the oven.
- Ground Cinnamon: I use ground cinnamon in all of my oatmeal cookies. Feel free to increase the amount if you love cinnamon!
- Baking Soda & Salt: The baking soda lifts the cookies and the salt enhances all of the flavors.
- Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats: Rolled oats are best in oatmeal cookies because they provide a chewier texture.
- Butter: As always, I used unsalted butter in these cookies. If you only have salted butter on hand, just reduce the salt to a tiny pinch. Your butter should also be softened to a cool room temperature.
- Sugar: I use a mix of brown sugar and granulated sugar in all of my oatmeal cookies. The brown sugar adds moisture and flavor to the cookies and also makes them chewier. The granulated sugar helps the cookies spread as they bake in the oven.
- Egg: The egg helps bind everything together. I suggest using a room temperature egg for best results.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: For a little extra flavor.
- Raisins: There’s one cup of raisins in these cookies so that you get some in every single bite. If you’re not a fan of raisins, you can omit them or replace them with something else.
How To Make Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
To make the cookie dough, you’ll start by whisking together the flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and salt. Then, stir in your rolled oats and set the mixture aside.
Next, mix up the wet ingredients. To start, beat your softened butter with the brown sugar and granulated sugar until they’re well combined. The amount of time will depend on whether you’re using a stand mixer or a handheld mixer, but it should take about 1 to 2 minutes.
Next, beat in your egg and vanilla extract. I suggest stopping to scrape down the sides of your bowl and then mixing one more time. At this point, your mixture should look like the picture above on the left.
Once the wet ingredients are well combined, add the dry ingredients and mix them in until just combined. Then, toss in your raisins and mix them in on low-speed or gently fold them in with a rubber spatula until they’re fully incorporated. The finished cookie dough will look like the picture above on the right.
I also suggest covering the cookie dough with some plastic wrap and chilling it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. This extra step will allow the oats time to absorb some of the moisture so the cookies don’t spread too much when they bake.
Once the dough has chilled, line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator and scoop 1.5 tablespoon-sized balls of cookie dough onto the baking sheets. Then, gently press down each ball of cookie dough just slightly.
These oatmeal raisin cookies will take about 10 to 12 minutes in the oven. You’ll know they’re done when the edges are lightly browned and the tops of your cookies are set.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use quick oats?
I recommend using old-fashioned rolled oats because they will make the cookies chewier. However, you can replace them with the same amount of quick oats.
Why are my cookies not spreading in the oven?
There are a couple of things that could prevent your cookies from not spreading in the oven. First, it’s crucial to measure your flour correctly with the spoon and level method. Too much flour can lead to cookies that don’t spread.
It’s also important to slightly flatten each ball of cookie dough before baking them in the oven. This will help them spread some as they are baking!
Can I freeze this cookie dough?
Yes, this cookie dough freezes really well! I recommend lining a baking sheet with parchment paper, scooping the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet, and slightly flattening each ball of cookie dough. Freeze for 1 to 2 hours, then transfer the frozen cookie dough to a large freezer bag. You can bake the cookie dough from frozen, just add an additional 1 to 2 minutes to the baking time.
Baking Tips
- You may prepare the cookie dough, cover it tightly, and refrigerate it for up to 3 days. If the cookie dough is too hard to scoop, let it sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes and that should make it easier.
- If you want to make more cookies, you can easily double this recipe to make about 4 dozen.
- Want to soak your raisins? I personally skip this step, but if you want the raisins to be more plump in the cookies, simply place them in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes. Once they’re ready, drain them and blot them really well with a paper towel before mixing them into the cookie dough.
- If you want your cookies to spread a bit more, you can press them down more like in the video below!
More Classic Cookie Recipes To Try!
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Soft Peanut Butter Cookies
- Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Classic No-Bake Cookies
Video Tutorial
Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/2 cups (150 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter (softened)
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (150 grams) raisins
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the old-fashioned rolled oats and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together for 1 to 2 minutes or until well combined. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until fully combined, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the dry ingredients and continue mixing on low speed until just combined, then mix in the raisins.
- Cover the cookie dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside.
- Once the dough is chilled, remove it from the refrigerator. Using a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the cookie dough and drop onto the prepared baking sheets. Roll the cookie dough into balls and very gently press down with your hand to flatten each ball of cookie dough slightly. Make sure to leave a little room between each ball of cookie dough as they will spread a little while they bake.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are lightly golden brown and the tops are set. Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack cool completely.
Notes
My cookies did not spread out. I followed the recipe to a T.
Sorry to hear that, Sarah. Did you spoon & level your flour and did you use a large egg?
If I wanted to add cocoa powder to make them a chocolate oatmeal raisin cookie, because I love chocolate covered raisins. Would you suggest reducing the flour by a couple of tablespoons after measurement then add back with cocoa powder?
You may be able to, but I haven’t tried it yet so I’m not quite sure. You could add some chocolate chips to the cookie dough though.
I added mini chips chocolate and my husband loves them! I will definitely make them again.
Mini chocolate chips definitely never hurt 🙂 I’m glad you both liked the cookies!
My boyfriend doesn’t like raisins so I want to leave them out. Do I have to adjust the receipe?
You can just leave them out, no need to adjust the recipe. Or you can replace them with something else like chocolate chips.
Thank you, I can’t wait to try them. From reading all the comments, they will be great.
I was just wondering, if I don’t have old fashioned rolled oats, should I use quick rolled oats or rolled oats with large flakes?
I’m not familiar with rolled oats with large flakes, are they similar to old-fashioned rolled oats? If so, those would be best. Quick oats are pressed thinner and tend to be more powdery, so they may make the cookies a little dry and the cookies won’t be quite as chewy.
Hi. I only have salted butter here at home, can I use that and just not add the salt in?
Salted butter would be fine, I would still add a small pinch of salt.
I always use salted butter when I make cookies. I didn’t put the salt in and they turned out fine. I also was out of vanilla, so I used almond extract. I love the taste and this recipe.
Glad you enjoyed the cookies, Cheri!
Did you ever try using this recipe with raisinettes? Was wondering how that turned out if so.
I haven’t tried it yet, Mary. I never have them on hand, so I always end up using just raisins. I do think they would work fine though! Or even using half raisins and half chocolate chips would work well too.
I love Oatmeal raisin cookies especially large flake oatmeal but I find many recipes are too sweet and not enough raisins. Do you have one that a guy could make soft and chewy with tons of raisin flavour? I would really appreciate your assistance. Thankyou
You can reduce the sugar in this recipe by 2-3 tablespoons, but I don’t think these cookies are overly sweet. You can also increase the raisins too, but these have quite a bit in them.
I’ve been looking for an oatmeal cookie recipe and tried making these today. They came out amazing!! They’re so good, my family loves them. My husband who usually only eats chocolate chip cookies loves them! I substituted 1/2 cup of raisins for 1/2 cup chocolate chips and it was a perfect raisin-chocolate chip oatmeal cookie! Thank you so much for this recipe it will now be my go to for oatmeal cookies!
Adding some chocolate is always a good idea! So glad you both enjoyed the cookies, Sri! 🙂
I love these cookies and have made them several times! So delicious and always a huge hit with the family!
I do consistently have the same problem each time I bake them, though, and I’m not sure if you’ve seen anyone else with the same issue. 10-12 minutes on 350 isn’t even close to enough time for me! They are still raw and doughy at that period and absolutely not set. I do about 2 tablespoons per cookie, maybe a little less. I usually have to leave them in at least 20 min, sometimes more.
The only substitute I make is using baking powder instead of baking soda- I use 3x the amount of baking powder in place of the soda in the recipe. Could that be affecting baking time? What other reason could they be taking so much longer than you say they will?
Hi, Julianne! I don’t think that using baking powder would be the reason that it takes so much longer to bake the cookies. Have you checked your oven temperature with a thermometer? It sounds like your oven may not be quite hot enough and that’s why it’s taking so long.
In my search for an oatmeal raisin cookie I found your terrific recipe. Thank you!!!
I made a batch today and they’re perfect. No more searching for me. 🙂
I’m so happy to hear this is your go-to recipe now, Sue! 🙂
Hey can I use salted butter.will it still work?Also will self raising flour work because I couldn’t find all purpose flour??
Salted butter would be fine, but I would just add a pinch of salt instead of the 1/4 teaspoon. As far as the self rising flour, it may not substitute well. It usually has baking powder and salt already mixed into it, so it’s hard to say how the cookies would turn out with it.
Hi, Danielle. Anxious to make your recipe A. S. P. Looks absolutely scrummy. Can I melt the butter? Too rushed to wait for room temp. And, is it necessary to chill the dough? Also, I promise NOT to scoop the flour! ? Thanks, Jan.
Hi, Jan! I wouldn’t melt the butter otherwise the cookies will spread too much. You can skip the dough chilling, but the cookies do bake up thicker if the dough is chilled. Hope you enjoy the cookies!
OH MY GOSH! These cookies are incredible!
I’m glad you liked them! 🙂
OMG DANIELLE!!!! Are you F-ing KIDDING me. I literally had a mouth-gasim. My husband and our four children absolutely LOVE these. So much so that I’m having to store them in my closet to keep them from just eating them ALL. You always have the best! Appreciate all your hard work!
Yay! I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you so much 🙂
Hi thank you for replying. I haven’t been receiving your newsletter. I did get the tips on baking though. What should I do.
I haven’t sent out a new e-mail in a few weeks, but I did send one on Friday. Did you get that one? If not, you may want to check your spam folder and see if it ended up there.
Hi. Your cookie recipes look delish! I’ve always had a problem with my oatmeal cookies turning into a rock right after they cooled off out of the oven. What do you think my issue here might be?
Hi, Lisa! It sounds like you may be slightly over baking them. I like to bake my cookies once the tops are just set, then let them cool 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then finish cooling on a wire rack. They turn out really soft this way! You can also store a slice of bread in the container to help keep them soft too.
I just made the cookies. They came out good. Mine however didn’t spread. I do like the fact that these taste less sweet than other oatmeal cookies I’ve made before.
Hi, Yvette! I’ve had a couple people mention that their cookies didn’t spread and it was because they didn’t spoon & level the flour they scooped it out of the container. Did you spoon and level your flour? I wrote a post about it here: http://www.livewellbakeoften.com/how-to-measure-flour/.
Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe. I made them to bring to a friend’s house and they were a big hit.
I’m glad to hear the cookies were a hit, Carol!
Just made them!!! I was craving a good oatmeal cookie and these are amazing! I was able to get my newborn and toddler down for a nap at the same time (hallelujah) and ran into the kitchen and made them. Very simple and delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
I’m glad you liked the cookies, Carla!
This recipe sounds great and I can’t wait to make these cookies. If I replace the raisins with dried cranberries and white chocolate chips, how much of each should I use?
I would use 3/4 cup of each, I have a recipe for those here actually: http://www.livewellbakeoften.com/white-chocolate-cranberry-oatmeal-cookies/.
Thanks… what brand of oats do you use?
I use either Quaker Oats or just the store-brand, any kind of old-fashioned rolled oats will work fine though.
I can’t keep these cookies in the house. My husband eats them faster than I can make them…great cookies.
Sounds like my husband too, Mary Ann! 🙂 I’m so glad you like the cookies!
Thank you for posting your recipe!! I’m very pleased with how it came out–since I was baking them to give to my dad, he really enjoyed them!
I’m so glad your dad liked the cookies, Gaby!
My cookies did not spread as well. I measure out all my ingredients with a digital scale. Not sure what I did wrong.
I’m not quite sure, Sarah. Did you double check the ingredients and gram measurements? Did you use a large egg?
I just finished making these cookies and they turned out very dry. Followed the recipes to the letter, but had to throw them out.
Sorry to hear that, Eileen. I’ve made these cookies dozens of times and they’ve never turned out dry. Did you scoop your flour out of the container or spoon & level it? And did you use a large egg?
My husband is a true cookie monster. His preferences are chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies. I am trying to find a healthy, low calorie recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies. Do you know the calorie content of your cookies?
I’m not sure on the calorie content, Sue. You could use My Fitness Pal to get a pretty accurate estimate based on the products you’re using though. I do have a small batch oatmeal cookie recipe here that you could use raisins in too: http://www.livewellbakeoften.com/small-batch-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies/.
I love this recipe and have doubled it without any problems as well. The key to getting the cookies to not flatten is creaming the butter and sugar extremely well together which will make the cookies light and fluffy. I have used 1 min oats without any problem with the baking. I’ve made the cookie batter and made the cookies days later without any problems as well. One key ingredient is love when you are baking and you’ll end up with perfect cookies every time.
Thanks for sharing, Kristen! Glad to hear the quick oats worked well for you.
I baked cookies today and they turned amazing! I only used 75g of brown sugar and 250g of chocolates instead of raisins. I made a 20g-dough ball and manage to come up with 30pcs cookies. Cookies using this recipe are really chewy, the only thing is that they didn’t flattened as the picture. I mean, they have flattened but not as flat as the picture. Any tips?
Hi, Anne! They may not have spread quite as much because you used less sugar in the cookies. You can skip the dough chilling next time and slightly flatten them before putting them into the oven to help them spread.
What kind of butter do you all use cause my cookies came out kinda dryed and did not spread. I used imperial butter.
I like Challenge butter, but the brand of butter wouldn’t be that cause of that. Did you scoop your flour from the container or did you spoon & level it.
Esther….Imperial (where I live..Midwest) is Oleomargerine…that is a vegetable oil type. Since this recipe called for Butter maybe that is why your cookies didn’t spread.??? Per comments from Danielle prior to recipe, I did use the bottom of a glass to flatten the cookies a bit prior to baking. Maybe that may help you. 🙂
Hi Danielle.. I was wondering if you dont have unsalted butter and you use a stick of salted butter and omit the 1/4 tsp of salt, would the cookies still come out the same or would you need to add more of the brown sugar or granulated sugar? Thanks!
Hi Jenni! A good rule of thumb when using salted butter instead of unsalted is to reduce the salt by 1/4 teaspoon per stick of butter. I would maybe add just a *tiny* pinch of salt to the cookies still though. No need to adjust the sugar or anything else.