[Written yesterday]
Today is a proud mama day. My 4th grade daughter Mimi who is quite gifted in sports played in her 2nd softball game. This is a new sport for her. While practicing pitching with my husband and her older 6th grade sister for the last few weeks, she went into the game as the backup pitcher to the 2 starters. Well, she was called up and struck out the first batter, then walked the next one, and struck out the 3rd and 4th batters. Everyone went nuts and I made victory cookies.
Not just any cookies. These cookies were inspired by a Savory Sweet Life reader (Hi Evie!) who emailed me this morning asking whether or not I had any oatmeal raisin cookie recipes on my site that are as good as my famously viral Best EVER Chocolate Chip Cookies. As I read her email, I knew what she was getting at and looking for. I told her how I personally liked the Quaker Oats recipe on the box but that I would give it some thought and get back to her. As I thought about all the oatmeal cookies I have ever tasted and personally enjoyed, I started to think about what would be the quintessential oatmeal raisin cookie I would consider the best and most memorable. A cookie so good, that when shared, people would devour them.
As I was telling someone yesterday, when I develop recipes I always think about the end product in mind. Trusting my own finicky palate, then working backwards. This means thinking about certain characteristics I want the final baked good to have, then approaching the recipe like a food scientist understanding how technique is as important as ingredients. I know this all sounds silly but it is completely true. Just last week I spent long late night hours over 5 days with 3 failed attempts at perfecting a vegan vanilla cupcake that was so good and that I could be happy with. Because at the end of the day, I am the one who wants to be satisfied and happy with my work. And in case you’re wondering, I made a pretty amazing vegan vanilla cupcake yesterday, waking up at 3 am to give it one more shot before bringing them to a birthday party alongside my favorite chocolate ones.
Back to the oatmeal cookies. To call your cookies the best takes courage and guts, especially on the internet. Well, these are the best! I realize I just threw a gauntlet down. But when I eat these cookies, I can’t recall a more satisfying, delicious, crispy and toffee tasting on the outside and every so chewy on the inside oatmeal raisin cookie. I think the blend of spices is perfect, the texture, height, and flavor is perfect, and the overall look of the cookie is perfect. They aren’t runny and flat nor do they look dense and heavy.
My husband’s favorite cookie is oatmeal raisin and I consider him a pretty good judge when it comes to this type of cookie. He has fond memories of his grandma baking them for him as a child. They remind him of his childhood in the same way a Hershey bar reminds me of mine. But my kids aren’t crazy about cookies with raisins in them. They are my hardest critics, sometimes brutally too honest. When my kids told me these cookies were awesome, I knew they were special. If I can get my kids to love and rave about these cookies then I stand by my claim. Yep, these are the best. If you are looking for a classic oatmeal raisin cookie that will make have you smiling bite after bite, look no further.. you’re home. Enjoy!
- ½ cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup turbinado (raw) sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 - ¼ cup old-fashion oats (not quick or instant)
- ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Using a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high for 30 seconds, then increase the speed to high for up to 2 minutes until the sugar-butter mixer looks whipped like frosting and not like wet sand.
- Reduce the speed to medium and add the egg and vanilla until well combined.
- Add the oats, flour, raisins, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and allspice.
- Continue to mix on medium speed for about 30 seconds until the dough is completely mixed.
- Using a medium cookie scoop, scoop the cookie dough approximately 2 inches apart on a baking sheet that is lined with either parchment paper or a silicon mat.. A medium cookie scoop is slightly bigger than a tablespoon.
- Bake for 11-12 minutes turning the baking sheet around half way through the baking time until the cookies are golden brown, slightly lighter in the center.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes before transferring them to a plate or wire rack. Best when eaten slightly warm, the edges of the cookies will become crispy when cooled down.
I made these tonight and made a few adjustments. I have tried several other oatmeal raisin cookies. One batch flattened out completely and became lace type cookies. Too much butter to flour ratio. Another batch was hard and dense (too much flour to butter ratio). I tried your recipe but with brown sugar/granulated sugar combo, but only 3/4 of a cup instead of 1 cup of turbinado sugar. They came out perfect! I would have to say they are the best oatmeal raisin cookies EVER. One side note, with kosher salt, I think the granules are much larger than table salt and didn’t dissolve completely. When we ate the cookies, I tasted the salt bits. Next time, I would either decrease the kosher salt amount or use table salt. So with that said, I want to say “Thank you Alice”!!
I and my nieces just gobbled a few warm cookies, and it really is crunchy on the outside, yet soft and chewy on the inside. The first batch we baked was a bit salty – I used table salt but this time I did use kosher and it came out just right! Thank you for this wonderful recipe!!
These look crazy good. Congrates to your clever girl
Awwwwe, I’m sad cause my cookies came out flat and we super crispy on the bottom instead of chewy. I tried baking them for 10 mins instead and it didn’t help. =(
Hi Alice, I just made these fabulous cookies today and they came out perfectly! The turbinado sugar definitely made these cookies stand out. My hubby and son lovesd these and gobbled them all up. Thanks so much for the recipe Alice:)
I used regular sugar, that may have been my downfall, but sadly my cookies were flat, flat, flat. Also, way too sweet for my tastes. I’d suggest sticking to the turbinado sugar if you’re going to try this recipe. My butter was room temp and I creamed the butter/sugar just like the recipe stated.
UPDATE….original crunchiness of the cookies after they had just cooled has been replaced by a chewiness after a night covered in a container…and my husband described them as “super chewy” and “sugary,” which makes him a very happy man (and me a loved wife)!
Made these today, and, unfortunately, had the same results as Kara D above. If you like thin and crunchy cookies, then these would be perfect for you, but we like puffy and chewy for ours, and there just didn’t seem to be the correct flour to fat ratio in this recipe for that to be the outcome…though it was a yummy experiment!
These look amazing! Alice I made your best ever chocolate chip cookies last weekend & I was surprisingly blown away 😀 they were chewy deliciousness!
I made it with fresh milled pastry flour too. So I’m torn between this recipe or your Choc chip cookie recipe for tonight….would it be wrong to add chocolate chips to this?!
Hi Kara,
If the butter was too soft or partially melted, this could be an issue. Also, the creaming of the butter and sugar is an important step. You really have to beat it to the point it is like fluffy whipped butter. Let me know if this helps.
Hi Dee,
You can sub and I am sure it would taste good but it will be slightly different than using turbinado which is less sweet and the texture will be slightly different.
Can you use brown sugar instead?
Yum, these look delicious Alice! Thank you, I definitely have to try these soon:)
I made these and unfortunately they spread completely on the cookie sheets and were almost like lacy cookies! Any idea on why they would do that?
Would it be possible to use regular sugar in place of the raw sugar?
I can’t wait to try these!
Amazing! I just made these for my daughters school Easter party and they are super quick, easy and ssooo delicious. Thanks again for another great recipe Alice! You never let us down!
These look pretty near perfect to me! And I hadn’t seen your perfect chocolate chip cookies before so now I’ve got two amazing new recipes 🙂
Awesome! I’d almost talked myself into making the Quaker Oats recipe, which has way too much sugar. Thanks a bunch.
Thanks so much – these look amazing. I am going to have to try to whip some up soon. Raisins are my favorite, so this will be added to the arsenal quickly.
Alice!! How did you know I needed a oatmeal raisin cookie recipe? I was just poppin over to see what you had here, not really even looking for my oatmeal raisin cookie yet and Voila! Can’t wait to try these later today! My recipe is well…let’s just say it falls flat 😉
This oatmeal raisin recipe fun and simple to make.
those look lovely…nice to see ya back Alice…
I am pretty sure these are the best! look amazing 🙂 But I have to ask when do we see the vegan vanilla cupcake? Have been desperately looking for a vegan cake to replace the banana and chocolate we make over and over again! Soon pleaseee!
Yummy! I love oatmeal raisin (although I always sneak in some chocolate chips along with the raisins). These look fabulous!