[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.
Loved this recipe! Used a vegan butter spread (left over from baking for my daughter), demarara sugar, added two T. ground flax, 1/2 cup chopped pecans and soaked some golden raisins in brandy to plump them up! They are wonderful! Chewy but soft and dense!
Amazing! These are everything I want in an oatmeal raisin cookie. I almost never make cookies, but these turned out beautifully.
And the allspice is a brilliant ingredient. It adds something special.
These looked amazing!.Followed instructions to the letter, but ended up with enormous cookies that ran all over the sheet and deflated to underdone burntness. What happened?? Mystery.
They still look amazing.
Alice, I made your oatmeal raisin cookies and made them and made them……………..amazing. Then, I had to find a gluten free cookie so I decided to make yours with gluten free flour and oatmeal. Guess what? They were still delicious!!! I am making the choc chip tonight! Thanks.
I’ve read all of the comments – “interesting”…
I made some Chocolate Chip Cookies the other day and a friend said that he’d had better – he’s 45. His father asked him “What’s your favorite CCC?” Before he answered, I told the dad that was not a great question. You see, there are dozens of CCC types: texture, soft, hard, crunchy, chewy, chocolaty, sweet, bittersweet, chips, chunks, nuts, nutless, etc.
Seriously, people, you need to realize that taste is subjective. I’ve made these cookies about 30 times and everyone agrees they are awesome. Those who didn’t like – guess what? I probably won’t like the ones you like. Maybe Ms. Currah should add a prefix and call them, “IMO, the best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies ever.” But, that’s not how bloggers roll. In lieu of this large post, I could have commented with three words: Taste Is Subjective.
I’ve just bakes these yesterday and they are truly the best oatmeal raising cookies! Although I added white chocolate chips and reduced the cook time to 9 mins. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Hi made these two times same day first time followed exactly and my cookies became one. Second time changed up a bit half reg sugar other raw and put in fridge for 15 after all mixed . In oven and let just say they are all kissing not as bad but still not correct. Good flavor but don’t know what is wrong. Prob will try another receipt. Sorry
Disappointing. Flat, hard, scraped them off the pan. Very sweet and definitely not what I was looking for and far from the “best.”
I commented above that I love these cookies, and I do-I’m making them again now! I do agree with a couple of the other commenters…the sugar needs to be mixed much longer than two minutes. And I also think the dry ingredients should be mixed separately and then added to the rest of the mixture to ensure an even blending of the baking powder, baking soda, and salt- leaving the raisins for last to be stirred in by hand. Yum!
I just made these. They taste pretty good but went awfully flat! The only thing I did differently was to use whole wheat flour instead of white. . . . . I’d make them again. I don’t mind flat cookies, lol. They’re actually slightly crispy which I prefer over a chewy cookie.
I’ve never reviewed anything before, but had to say these ARE the best oatmeal cookies ever!! Thanks so much!
Wow just made these, amazing. I used a mixture of brown, golden caster and granulated sugar and slightly less than stated, and self raising flour less some of the baking powder, as was out of plain. I love the salty flakes running thru them. Eaten 2 already– and not even hungry.
Dangerous!
X
In the oven now! They look and smell delicious. Can’t wait to try them, Thanks!
THESE WERE PERFECTION. The key is to beat the butter and sugar for a long time. I think I beat it for about 10 minutes. It’s definitely worth it though! I’ve made a lot of oatmeal raisin cookies and these were BY FAR the best!
I am a veteran cookie maker (have tested well over 500 cookie recipes) and was skeptical about the turbinado sugar in this recipe. This was the first time I’ve come across a cookie with turbinado sugar in the batter. Because it’s very coarse it doesn’t dissolve when creaming with the butter and the cookies have a gritty texture. I was tempted to process the sugar before using it but try not to make any changes to a recipe the first time I try it. Muscovado, demerara and cane sugar are much finer than turbinado and I’ve always had good results with those. Unlike other reviewers I didn’t have a problem with the cookies spreading. They were a nice thickness, moist and chewy, and the flavor was great. It’s unfortunate that they were too gritty to enjoy. They’re a bit too sweet but that could be because of the coarse sugar. I got 14 medium-sized cookies from a single recipe. I think these cookies would be excellent with a different sugar.
…I said blender to mix, I meant mixer to blend…;)
Word of advise to the author….always mix your dry ingredients separately. This is done to evenly distribute the baking powder, soda and salt throughout the flour mixture. If you simply add the dry ingredients as per the above instructions, your cookies will come out flat. It’s 101 in cookie making. I was foolish not to question Alice’s approach. I also would not recommend using the blender to mix your raisins. Or your oatmeal for that matter. This recipe is riddled with novice errors. Sorry, Alice.
It’s the back of the class for you on this one. Double your dough, mix your dry ingredients separately, and perhaps try using crisco instead of butter. I’ve been baking cookies for over 40 years and can guarantee you’ll find this recipe as problematic as I did.
I’m sorry to report these are from the best oatmeal cookies, ever. I followed the recipe exactly as instructed. My cookies came out as flat as flat could be. And worse than that, to recipe only makes 2 dozen. I stretched that out to 27 cookies in total. But most popular oatmeal cookie recipes make 3 to 4 dozen. It was a lot of work creaming the butter with a hand blender to have made so few cookies. And a cup of raisins is the correct amount in double this amount of dough. Not for half the amount of most recipes. This was a huge disappointment.
I made these for my parents who are visiting today. My mother doesn’t like overly sweet things, so when I tasted the specks of salt, these were perfect!
The first batch came out flat, but I shrunk down the size of the dough I was placing on the sheet and added about 1/3 cup more flour to the batch. The next ones came out perfect! Thank you so much!
Mrs. Currah,
I can’t begin to express my overwhelming thanks and even more my compliments on what I personally feel is the one and only ultimate oatmeal cookie recipe I will ever use from this day forward. You ma’am have split the arrow of all other recipes for oatmeal cookies I have used in my kitchen. Kudos ma’am! Now for the chocolate chip cookie recipe. I have no doubt these two will be off the chain too.
Best cookies I’ve ever made! Thanks Alice for the great recipe.
Hi Alice, I made the cookies last night, though they came out flat but nevertheless the cookies were deliciously yummy. Abit of crunchiness, chewiness with a hint of saltiness too. My husband, kids & I enjoyed the cookies very much. Thank you 🙂
Same problem as Kara, spread completely flat.
I am a big fan of your Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, and had every intention of making them again for the umpteenth time…that is, until I saw this recipe. I love oatmeal cookies but haven’t made them in years because I didn’t have a recipe I loved and well, a few others that I do love (that didn’t stop me from buying a Starbucks oatmeal cookie on occasion though). I happened to have raw sugar (brilliant!) and oh my word, they turned out fantastic. I made one batch just like your recipe and one batch with added craisins, chopped walnuts, and semi sweet chocolate chips (I really like cookies chock-full!). So good! Thank you, this will now be in my cookie rotation.
Glad you liked them Nikki. I personally like little flecks of salt to offset the sweetness of the cookie but you can easily use table salt. I would just decrease the amount by half. Thanks for stopping by.