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These oatmeal raisin cookies are the most deliciously soft and chewy version of the amazing, classic cookie combo!
Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe
Peanut butter, molasses, and a combination of white and brown sugars are the secret ingredients in this fun spin on a classic cookie. You get all of the familiar flavors of an oatmeal raisin cookie with a deeper depth of flavor, and the best part is a soft and chewy finish!
Is it easy to make oatmeal raisin cookies?
This recipe is really easy to follow! The hardest part, in my opinion, is letting the dough chill long enough before baking up the cookies (the dough is aromatic and smells divine! It’s hard to delay eating these cookies!).
How long does it take to make oatmeal raisin cookies?
It takes about an hour and a half to make this recipe from start to finish, including the hands-off time to soak the raisins and chill the dough. Active, hands-on time is about 25 minutes.
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make these epic oatmeal raisin cookies:
- Butter – to start your dough, you’ll need ½ of a cup (equivalent to 1 stick–I have to web search this every time) of softened butter.
- Brown Sugar – the molasses content in 1 cup of brown sugar makes for a really chewy cookie.
- White Sugar – 1 cup of white sugar further sweetens the dough and helps set the dough during the baking process.
- Eggs – 3 eggs add richness and help hold the dough together.
- Vanilla Extract – 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract add a nice subtle warmth to the dough.
- Molasses – 1 tablespoon of molasses makes these cookies perfectly soft.
- Peanut Butter – 1 ¼ cups of chunky peanut butter add a nutty twist on the classic flavor.
- Baking Soda – 2 teaspoons of baking soda provide just the right amount of leavening to the dough.
- Rolled Oats – oatmeal cookies wouldn’t be OATmeal cookies without the OATS! You’ll use 2 ¼ cups of quick-cooking rolled oats and…
- Old-Fashioned Oats – …2 ¼ cups of old-fashioned oats to provide two different textural components to the cookies.
- Raisins – 1 cup of raisins give a plump texture and sweet pop to each bite.
- Cinnamon – to give warmth and mouthwatering aromatics to the cookies, you’ll use 1 teaspoon of cinnamon along with…
- Nutmeg – …½ of a teaspoon of nutmeg and…
- Ginger – …½ of a teaspoon of ginger to really take the cookies to the next level of flavor.
Ingredient Modifications
- Omit the raisins – not a fan of raisins in your baked goods (or in general)? Feel free to omit them from the batter entirely.
- Soak in bourbon or rum – looking to add an adult flavor spin in the cookies? Soak your raisins in bourbon or rum for a boozy raisin treat.
Supplies Needed to Make this Recipe
How to make Oatmeal Cookies with Raisins
Here’s how you’ll make and bake these oatmeal raisin cookies to soft and chewy perfection:
- Soak the raisins – about 15 minutes before you start your cookie dough, place your raisins in a bowl and cover them with hot water. Let the raisins soak for 15 minutes while you are making your dough, then drain the liquid before folding them into the dough.
- Cream the butter and sugar – add your butter and sugars to a large mixing bowl or your stand mixer and beat on high for about 2-3 minutes until they are creamed together.
- Add the eggs – add the eggs one at a time and mix on medium speed for about 5 minutes until the mixture is pale and fluffy.
- Add ingredients – add the vanilla, spices, baking soda, and molasses and beat for 1 minute. Then add the peanut butter and mix until well combined.
- Add the oats and raisins – carefully add your oats one cup at a time, mixing well after each cup. Drain your raisins and gently fold them into the dough, mixing until completely incorporated.
- Chill your dough – cover your dough with plastic wrap and place the bowl into the refrigerator. Let the dough chill for at least 15 minutes, 30 minutes if you can!
- Preheat the oven – while your dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350℉ and line your cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Scoop the dough – using a spoon or a cookie scoop, make 2” balls with the dough and place on your cookie sheet.
- Bake – bake for 15-18 minutes until the edges are just set. The center will still be soft and look underdone, but trust me you want to pull these out when they’re still gooey!
- Let cool – let your cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Serve and enjoy!
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Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe Frequently Asked Questions
I’m going to venture out on a limb and say there isn’t a “right” answer to this question (I know that there are very strong opinions about this in the cookie realm)! But for me, it comes down to what I’m feeling in the moment. When I am feeling nostalgic about my childhood memories of eating oatmeal cookies, I make my Grandma McGuire’s recipe–thin, perfectly crisp oatmeal cookies. When I’m feeling more adventurous, I want to riff on classic flavors and textures. So I’m not choosing a side. It all comes down to your personal preference!
You’ll let your raisins soak in hot water for 15 minutes before making the cookie dough batter. This keeps them from hardening in the baking process.
I recommend soaking your raisins before baking cookies to make sure the raisins don’t dry out in the baking process. This results in a really plump raisin!
Yes, this dough calls for chilling before baking. This helps the cookies not to over-spread during the baking process.
While chilling the dough helps your cookies not spread too much during baking, you also don’t want your dough to be too hard (chilling solidifies the fat in the cookies which slows the melting during the bake and helps keep them from spreading too much). If your dough has become over-chilled and thus your cookies aren’t spreading when baking, you can let the dough sit out at room temperature for 5 minutes before baking.
Because this recipe is made without flour, you shouldn’t run into your cookies getting hard. Usually, when a cookie gets hard during the baking process, it is because the dough has been overworked and too much gluten has developed in the flour.
Storing your cookies in an airtight container will help keep them from getting hard. You can also store them with a piece of bread in the container. My mom taught me this trick. The cookies draw moisture from the bread, and it keeps them super soft!
Yes! This recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies is gluten-free. If you are avoiding gluten for health and dietary reasons, make sure that you get certified gluten-free oats. Oats themselves do not contain gluten, but they are often processed on machinery that also processes wheat and other gluten-containing products. Certified gluten-free oats are processed in gluten-free facilities.
Stored in an airtight container, your oatmeal raisin cookies are good on the counter for up to 2 weeks (although my cookies never last that long in my house).
These oatmeal cookies can be frozen for up to a month. I recommend wrapping them in plastic wrap or parchment before placing them in a freezer bag or container to help protect against freezer burn. Alternatively, you can freeze the dough and then thaw it in the fridge when you are ready to do your baking if you still want to be able to enjoy freshly baked cookies. Both methods work well for this hearty cookie dough.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup white sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1 1/4 cups chunky peanut butter
- 2 1/4 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
- 2 1/4 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup raisins, soaked
Instructions
- About 15 minutes before you start your cookie dough, place your raisins in a bowl and cover them with hot water. Let the raisins soak, then drain the liquid before folding them into the dough.
- Add your butter and sugars to a large mixing bowl or your stand mixer and beat on high for about 2-3 minutes until they are creamed together.
- Add the eggs one at a time and mix on medium speed for about 5 minutes until the mixture is pale and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla, spices, baking soda, and molasses and beat for 1 minute. Then add the peanut butter and mix until well combined.
- Carefully add your oats one cup at a time, mixing well after each cup. Drain the raisins and gently fold them into the dough, mixing until completely incorporated.
- Cover your dough with plastic wrap and place the bowl into the refrigerator. Let the dough chill for at least 15 minutes, 30 minutes if you can!
- While your dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350℉ and line your cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Using a spoon or a cookie scoop, make 2” balls with the dough and place on your cookie sheet.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes until the edges are just set. The center will still be soft and look underdone, but trust me you want to pull these out when they're still gooey!
- Let your cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Serve and enjoy!
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