Skip to content

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

These are the best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies we’ve ever made or eaten! They are every bit as thick and chewy as bakery cookies, and loaded with the goodness of rolled oats and plump raisins. They’re great plain or iced.

oatmeal raisin cookies, chewy oatmeal cookies
Beat butter and sugar well, as that will help turn out thick, chewy cookies.

The Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

It’s my sweet tooth that compelled me to start painstakingly collect stacks of cookie recipes to try, even as a teenager.  I beamed high and wide when I produced my first trays of successful cookies. Since then, I’ve never stopped baking up All the Cookies: from chewy Peanut Butter Cookies to bakery style Chocolate Chip Cookies to these thick, chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies inspired by Cooks Illustrated’s version.

These oatmeal raisin cookies are indeed perfection – they’re thick, chewy, and everything you’d expect from a bakery style cookie.

oatmeal raisin cookies, chewy oatmeal cookies
Old fashioned oats give these oatmeal raisin cookies that perfect chewiness.

Key Ingredients for Chewy Oatmeal Raisin cookies

As a young girl, I often made oatmeal raisin cookies, as they’re my brother’s favorite. Over [many many] years, I’ve modified, tweaked, and experimented with oatmeal raisin cookies until they were bakery-style perfect.

Here are some key ingredients you’ll want to have on hand:

  • All purpose flour works perfectly for this recipe. Feel free to sub out half of the regular flour with white whole wheat flour for that extra dose of whole grain.
  • Baking powder (not baking soda) and table salt are dry ingredient essentials
  • Wonderfully warm spices include cinnamon and nutmeg
  • Be sure your real butter is softened just to moderate room temp, ensuring that none of is it melty at all
  • We go with half brown sugar and half granulated sugar. The brown sugar lends a slightly caramel-molasses like flavor to the cookies
  • Fresh, room temperature large eggs will bind the cookie dough together
  • We use plenty of old fashioned rolled oats in these oatmeal raisin cookies. Whole rolled oats are hearty, toothsome, and provide texture,
  • The fresher your raisins are, the plumper they will be in the dough. Check that your raisins haven’t been open
oatmeal raisin cookies, chewy oatmeal cookies
These oatmeal raisin cookies are thick, chewy, and stay fresh for days.

Pro tips for Crispy Edges and Chewy Centers

  • Use either an electric mixer to beat room-temperature butter with both sugars until the mixture is airy, light, and fluffy. Take your time with this process; it will be at least 2-3 minutes of beating. This step is important for cookies to turn out thick and chewy.
  • Do not over-mix the dough once dry ingredients are added to the butter mixture; over-mixing causes end result to be tough rather than tender.
  • Use old fashioned rolled oats for best texture.
  • When measuring flour, use a measuring cup meant for dry ingredients, which do not have fluted lips. Gently fill the measuring cup and level excess flour off the top with the flat side of a butter knife. Do not shake, tap, or pack in the flour at all.
  • Brown sugar needs to be fully packed in tightly.
  • Biggest tip: do not over bake. Bake for lowest specified time and check cookies for doneness…they are done when the edges are browned but center looks slightly under-baked. Center may appear a bit glossy, but edges and bottoms will be nicely browned. Once cookies cool, they will set perfectly at this point.
oatmeal raisin cookies, chewy oatmeal cookies
Oatmeal raisin cookies are the perfect snack (or breakfast).

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Common Questions

Should I chill oatmeal raisin cookie dough before baking?

There is no need to chill the dough in this recipe, as the dough will be thick and ready to form right away. However, you can definitely chill the dough for later use, if you’re making it ahead of time.

What causes oatmeal cookies to turn hard?

The main culprits of hard or tough cookies is over-mixing and over-baking. Once you’ve combined the wet and dry ingredients together, take care not to over-mix. When baking, take cookies out when they’re puffy and golden brown at the edges, but seem slightly under-baked. They will set well upon cooling.

Can I freeze oatmeal raisin cookie dough? Can I freeze baked cookies?

Yes to both. You can freeze the dough, wrapped airtight, for up to 3 months. Baked cookies should be wrapped airtight and frozen up to 2 months.

Try These Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

Did you make this?

Please give us a rating and comment below. We love hearing from you!

oatmeal raisin cookies, chewy oatmeal cookies

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

4.71 from 24 ratings
Made with simple ingredients and even better than your favorite bakery’s recipe, these oatmeal cookies are thick, chewy, and easy to bake for a delicious, crowd-pleasing treat!
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 13 minutes
Total Time: 28 minutes
Servings: 24 servings
Author: Amy Dong

Ingredients  

Optional Simple Icing

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350F with rack on lower middle position. Line baking sheets with parchment and set aside.
  • In a bowl, whisk flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg to fully incorporate.
    Oatmeal Cookies Dry Ingredients
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment set to medium speed, beat together the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy, a full 3 minutes.
    Add eggs one at a time and mix until combined. Reduce speed to low and add dry ingredients, beating just until combined; don't over-mix here. Gently mix in the oats and raisins, just until combined.
    Oatmeal Cookies in Blender
  • Roll dough into 2 TB sized balls and place 2 inches apart on lined baking sheets. Gently flatten each ball into a disk shape. Bake 13-15 minutes or just until edges are golden. Cookies will seem a bit under, but they will set upon cooling.
    oatmeal raisin cookies
  • Optional Simple Icing: In a bowl, stir together powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Add water or milk until desired consistency is reached. Transfer into a piping bag or you can use a Ziploc bag and cut a small hole in the corner. Drizzle over cooled cookies. Icing should harden within 30 minutes.

Notes

If you enjoyed these cookies, please come back and give them a rating ♡

Nutrition (per serving)

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 200kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.001g | Cholesterol: 14mg | Sodium: 19mg | Potassium: 115mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 20IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 1mg
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Diet: Vegetarian
Method: Bake

Here are some other oatmeal cookies we think you’ll love:

1. Thick ‘n Chewy Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies. So you prefer chocolate over raisins in your oatmeal cookies? This one’s for you. Hearty and satisfying.

Thick Chewy Oatmeal Dark Chocolate Cookies_edited-1

2. Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies. These are easily habit forming. Full of oats and delicious butterscotch flavors, every bite is a mouthful of chewy yumminess.

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies 2

3. Flourless Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies. If you’re a PB lover, you’ll adore these. Made hearty with the addition of oats, these flour-free cookies are delicious and perfect for GF cookie fans.

Flourless Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Cookies

4. Oatmeal Energy Cookies (nut free). These are the perfect healthy-ish cookies on the go. We eat these for breakfast or afternoon pick-me-ups. Great for pre/post workouts, too.

Oatmeal Quinoa Chocolate Breakfast Cookies

5. Soft Apple Oatmeal Cookies. Want a bit of apple-y goodness in your oatmeal cookies? We hear ya. We threw on some caramel for good measure.

soft apple oatmeal cookies 2

Add a comment

Recipe Rating




30 comments

    • Jane
    • 5 stars

    Great recipe!!

    • Melanie

    Hi! Recipe looks amazing. Wanted to add walnuts so would I just split the raisins with them? Also, would you recommend adding them raw or toasted? Thank you!!!!

      • Amy Dong

      Yes, do half raisins and half toasted walnuts – would be delicious! Come back and let us know how you liked them! 🙂

    • Akadak

    What is measurement for raisins and are they folded in after oatmeal is added? Not shown in ingredients list nor steps.

      • Amy Dong

      I’m so sorry, those were accidentally deleted somehow. I’ve just reinstated them into the recipe card. Thank you for noticing!

    • Janice Lee

    Can I substitute the raisins with chocolate chips and coconut? What quantities ?

    Thanks

      • Amy Dong

      You can do 1:1 sub raisins for a mixture of chocolate chips and coconut. Your choice for ratio of chocolate vs. coconut! 🙂

    • Marilyn

    Want to try your recipe but want smaller cookies. Ok to use a 1 tbl scoop and if so how long do you think cooking time would be? Also, is that right…2 cups sugar total? Seems more than other recipes.

      • Amy Dong

      For 1 TB scoop, try 8 min bake time. Sugar amounts are correct, as it’s balanced with the amount of flour and oats. Enjoy!

        • Marilyn

        Thanks so much for your prompt reply!

    • Cin
    • 5 stars

    Amazing cookies! Had to come back and give it 5 stars! I will be trying more of your recipes for sure!

      • Amy Dong

      Aww, thank you!

    • Kate
    • 5 stars

    Soooo good. Recipe title is right on. Thanks!

      • Amy Dong

      So glad you guys loved it!

    • Erica Lane

    Hi there. These look like what I am trying to achieve. If you know, do you think swerve sweetener could be used as a sub for all 3 sugars? Swerve makes brown, granular, and confectioners sugar. Thanks very much.
    Erica

    • Vincent
    • 5 stars

    I love these cookies – so good without the icing, too!
    One comment: Step 3: ‘…Gently mix in the oats and chocolate…’. I believe that should be ‘oats and raisins’.
    But seeing that now makes me want to try the Dark Chocolate version!

      • chewoutloud

      Thanks, Vincent!

    • Ramona
    • 5 stars

    Kids are at home now and they love oat cookies so will be making this to snack on. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe these look absolutely amazing.

    • Alexis
    • 5 stars

    My husband was asking for oatmeal raisin cookies last night, I’ll have to try this recipe tonight as a fun treat for the family. Thank you.

    • Jenni LeBaron
    • 5 stars

    Oatmeal raisin cookies are one of my all-time favorites and this recipe looks absolutely delicious! I can’t wait to enjoy a stack of these with a glass of milk!

    • Colleen
    • 5 stars

    I love oatmeal raisin cookies and these ones look delectable! The icing is such a nice touch, too.

    • Stine Mari
    • 5 stars

    They do look like bakery cookies, so big and chewy. I need to try my hands on this recipe asap, as I can’t get enough eitherr #gimmesugartoo Don’t understand how some has zero sweet tooth!

    • Jacqui DeBono
    • 5 stars

    Chewy cookies are the best! The caramel and apple ones also look divine!

    • Colleen
    • 5 stars

    These look like oatmeal cookie perfection! Can’t wait to make them!

    • Sondra Barker
    • 5 stars

    Yum! These look so good! I love that you added the drizzle of icing on top!

    • Lesli Schwartz
    • 5 stars

    Oatmeal cookies are my hubby’s favorite, so I will definitely be making these chewy cookies for him!

    • Sue

    can you use the quick cooking oatmeal in place of the old fashion oatmeal?

      • chewoutloud

      Sue, for this recipe, the old fashioned oatmeal is recommended, as it provides the texture and consistency. I’m not sure if quick cooking oats would become a bit mushy in the final result. Hope you try these and love them! 🙂 Thanks for being here!

    • Lisa
    • 5 stars

    Saw these on Facebook and seriously want to make these soon! If it’s oatmeal or must be healthy am I right??

      • chewoutloud

      Lisa, totally!! Love your thinking 🙂

Get our free email series: 5 Easy Recipes in 30 Minutes or Less

Plus our newest recipes each week