Raisin Lovers, Rejoice!
The not-so-popular cousin to everyone’s favorite chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin cookies often get a bad rap. Sure, raisins are hardly a substitute for chocolate chips…BUT they do have their place, especially in soft, hearty, and lightly spiced cookies. And yes, as someone who isn’t a fan of raisins, I stand by that statement! Compared to my other oatmeal cookie recipes, these are a softer, richer spin on my classic oatmeal cookies, a close sister to my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and a sturdier version of the soft sandwiches of my oatmeal cream pies. They’re super flavorful, perfectly chewy cookies that can easily hold their own against any plain old chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
Easy to make–no mixer required!Incredibly flavorful with notes of brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, and butter.Carefully crafted to handle raisins with a flavor designed to complement the addition (much better than just tossing raisins into your favorite oatmeal cookie recipe!).Can be made ahead of time and even frozen.Stays chewy even after baking.
What You Need
I’m combining carefully-selected ingredients to create the tastiest oatmeal raisin cookies out there. Here are a few that make a big difference in this recipe:
Molasses. This intensifies the flavor of the dark brown sugar and helps make these oatmeal raisin cookies soft and chewy. It is the perfect complement to the raisins and cinnamon and (otherwise bland) oats, and a tablespoon is just the right amount (I found any more overwhelmed the flavor of the cookies).Oats. Use old fashioned rolled oats. Substituting instant or quick oats could make your cookies dry and crumbly.Dark brown sugar. I prefer the flavor of dark brown sugar and love how it tastes with the molasses; however, light brown will work in a pinch. Unsalted butter. As with most of my recipes, I recommend using unsalted vs. salted butter in this recipe. We’re melting the butter today, which not only makes this recipe easier and quicker to prepare, but it also gives the cookies an extra buttery flavor and chewy texture.
SAM’S TIP: Don’t skip the chilling step! Chilling the dough is necessary since we use melted butter; it allows the dough to become firm enough to scoop and bake without spreading all over the baking sheet. Chilling also allows the flavors to mature and develop, which ultimately creates the best-tasting cookies. Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
SAM’S TIP: Pull the cookies out of the oven when the edges are set and the centers are still underdone–TRUST ME ON THIS! They’ll finish baking outside the oven on their cookie sheet and will be perfectly soft once cool. If you let your cookies bake completely in the oven, they’ll be overdone and could end up dry and crispy 😩. I think you’ll agree with my many taste testers that this is the BEST oatmeal raisin cookie recipe! Enjoy! Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
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