I don't often call recipes perfect, but these oatmeal cookies are soft, chewy, and warmly spiced—everything a good oatmeal raisin cookie should be.
These oatmeal cookies are truly the best! From Sarah Copeland’s cookbook Every Day Is Saturday, they’re soft and chewy, warmly spiced, and flecked with raisins and nuts. Perfect, if you ask me.
A few weeks ago, I got an intense craving for good oatmeal raisin cookies and hastily threw together ingredients that I had on hand. I ended up with oat-ball-type cookies that were…just ok, and my craving continued. So when I flipped through Every Day Is Saturday this week, Sarah’s oatmeal cookie recipe grabbed my attention.
She writes, “these [oatmeal cookies are] little nuggets of joy you can’t stop eating—that just-right kind of cookie.” I completely agree. These oatmeal cookies were exactly what I was craving. The only problem was that they disappeared too quickly!
Oatmeal Cookie Recipe Ingredients
This recipe has simple ingredients. You likely have them in your pantry already! Here’s what you’ll need:
- All-purpose flour and whole rolled oats form the base of the dough. Old fashioned oats give these cookies the best chewy texture. I don’t recommend using quick oats instead!
- Baking powder and baking soda make them nice and puffy.
- Brown sugar adds the perfect caramelized sweetness.
- Sea salt offsets the sweet sugar and raisins.
- Cinnamon and vanilla extract give them that delicious warm, spiced oatmeal cookie flavor.
- Coconut oil or melted butter adds moisture and richness. I used coconut oil, and these tasted wonderfully buttery just the same!
- 1 large egg + an extra egg yolk give them a rich, thick dough and a moist, light final texture.
- Raisins dot them with chewy pops of sweetness.
- And walnuts add nuttiness and crunch.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Making this oatmeal raisin cookie recipe couldn’t be easier. No stand mixer (or even hand mixer) required! Here’s what you need to do:
First, make the dough. Whisk together the wet ingredients in one mixing bowl and the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in another.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Then, fold in the walnuts, oats, and raisins. The mixture will be thick!
Next, let the dough rest for 20 minutes. This time gives the wet ingredients a chance to hydrate the flour and oats, making it easier to work with the dough. The cookies come out chewier, too!
Then, shape and bake the cookies. Roll the dough into balls and place them on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake at 350°F for 10 to 11 minutes, or until golden brown.
Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to wire racks to cool completely. Enjoy!
Oatmeal Cookie Recipe Tips
Sarah has a few excellent pointers in her book. These are her tips for making the best oatmeal raisin cookies:
- Use brown sugar. Instead of using a mix of brown sugar and granulated sugar, Sarah opts for all brown sugar. It gives these oatmeal raisin cookies a delicious caramelized sweetness.
- Go for melted, not creamed, butter. According to Sarah, creamed butter cookies are unpredictable: they can easily spread too much or be too firm. With melted butter, though, you’ll get moist, chewy cookies every time.
- Let the dough rest for 20 minutes before baking. Those 20 minutes will make your dough easier to roll into balls, so the cookies will keep their shape and develop a yummy chewy texture in the oven.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely for the best texture and flavor. It may be agony, but letting these oatmeal raisin cookies cool completely only makes them better. They’ll be chewier and fully infused with brown sugar flavor. Sarah likes these best a few hours to 1 day after baking. (Though I can attest that they’re still good if you can’t wait that long.)
Oatmeal Cookies Variations
If you follow this recipe as written, you won’t be disappointed. These oatmeal cookies are buttery, nutty, and perfectly spiced. But if you want to step outside the traditional oatmeal raisin cookie box, feel free. Here are a few great ways to change up this recipe:
- Substitute chocolate chips for the raisins to make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, or use a mix of both. White chocolate chips are a fun option too.
- Use pecans instead of walnuts.
- Swap the raisins for dried cherries or cranberries.
- Add a dash of cardamom or ginger to the dough.
- Replace the raisins with butterscotch chips to give the cookies an extra-buttery taste.
How do you like to make oatmeal cookies? Let me know in the comments!
How to Store Oatmeal Cookies
To keep these oatmeal cookies soft and chewy, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. They also freeze well for up to 3 months.
Make-Ahead Oatmeal Cookies
If you’re someone who likes to keep cookie dough on hand in the fridge or freezer, this oatmeal cookie recipe is for you. You can store the cookie dough in the fridge for 7 to 10 days or freeze it for up to a month.
To store the dough, roll it into balls and freeze them briefly. Then, transfer the cookie dough balls to airtight containers or Ziploc bags and refrigerate or freeze. You can also roll the dough into a log, using an 8×12-inch piece of parchment paper as a guide. Wrap the log tightly in parchment to refrigerate or freeze, and slice the cookies into rounds before baking.
Bake your cookie dough straight from the fridge. If it’s frozen, allow it to rest for 15 minutes at room temperature before putting it in the oven.
More Favorite Cookie Recipes
If you love these oatmeal cookies, try one of these yummy cookie recipes next:
- Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Easy Sugar Cookies
- Best Peanut Butter Cookies
- No Bake Cookies
- Thumbprint Cookies
- Chewy Molasses Cookies
- Homemade Brownies (not a cookie, but still delicious…)
- Or any of these 17 Easy Cookie Recipes!
Perfect Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour,
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 1/2 cup whole rolled oats
- 3/4 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted coconut oil, sugar, whole egg, egg yolk, and vanilla, whisking vigorously.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir in the oats, raisins, and walnuts, if using, folding into a tight batter. Set the dough aside for 20 minutes while the oven preheats. (Note: if your dough seems too wet to become scoop-able, chill it in the fridge for this 20 minutes and it'll firm up). If your dough is too crumbly, stir in 2 to 3 tablespoons water.
- Use a cookie scoop to divide the dough into 20 tablespoon-sized balls. Roll lightly in barely damp hands to make them round. Spread out onto the prepared baking sheets and bake until puffed, golden, and a touch underbaked-looking, 10 to 11 minutes. Let cool on the pans for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Perfect oatmeal and raisin cookie! Chewy, not too sweet, but sweet enough to enjoy with a cup of tea or a glass of milk. Easy to make. I needed a minute or two over the suggested time.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Hi Holly, I’m so sorry to hear, I wonder if the right amount of sugar and salt was added.
My husband loves oatmeal cookies. I was looking for a recipe that didn’t require so much sugar and oil. Your recipe came up and I had all the ingredients to make them. I made them yesterday and my husband LOVED them! My sister and daughter did too. Even my picky little granddaughter was surprised that she liked them. I will definitely be making these again.
Great recipe. We’re lucky to have a Gravenstein Apple and added a cup with the raisins. Needed 5 minutes more. Thanks
Hi Andy, That sounds delicious! So glad you loved the cookies.
Baked today to the letter and can’t wait for my hubby for a taste test. Soo good. I used coconut oil . Nutty and chewy. Thank you for sharing the recipe. Will try with pecans and dried cranberry..
Hi Dorie, I’m so glad you loved the cookies! Pecans and dried cranberries would be SO delicious here. 🙂
Delicious! Love that it uses half the fat (I used butter) and sugar than other recipes I had to bake them for 16 minutes to get browned edges, but I’m at 5,000 feet, so it may be an altitude thing. Thanks so much for this!
I’m so glad you enjoyed!
These are great! We had just made oatmeal cookies from a recipe that required almost a sick and a half of butter and double the sugar which we really liked, wanted to make them again, didn’t have enough butter and came across this recipe with oil and half the amount of sugar and like it even more!! The texture is awesome, almost cakey- chewy and the edges crisp up nicely a little. We used macadamia nut oil and added dried blueberries and ended up keeping them in the oven a little longer ~15 min.
Thank you for sharing this recipe with us!!
I’m glad you enjoyed them!
Can I use canola oil instead?
Hi Jes, yes! Canola oil should work fine here.
Hi Roxy, did you change anything about the recipe?
Have you made the with butter and coconut oil?
Are they pretty much the same.
Hi Bonnie, the original author made them with butter but I like to make them with coconut oil (coconut oil version is pictured). They should be really similar.
This recipe sounds amazing! What would be an alternate ingredient to the egg + egg yolk?
Hi Bella, we use 2 tablespoons flaxmeal plus 5 tablespoons water. Mix it together and let it sit for 5 minutes, then add where the recipe calls for the egg. Hope that helps!
These ARE perfect! Minimal mess when mixing, easy to make the cookies with a 1 Tbsp. Scoop, and absolutely, positively delicious! Beautiful texture too! This will be my go-to recipe from now on!
I’m so glad you loved them!
I have quick 1 minute oats – could they work for this?
Hi Kim, no, whole rolled oats are require for this one.
This is my new favorite oatmeal cookie recipe and I’ve made many. I was searching for a coconut oil cookie recipe and luckily found this one, the only changes I made was I soaked the raisins in the egg/vanilla for about 15 minutes to soften and plump them, and I chilled the dough for about 2 hours. Thank you for a easy recipe that accommodates my non-dairy needs. I honestly seldom comment on recipes online but I had to for this gem.
I was wondering how these turned out I have coconut oil and I would love to try coconut oil, but I don’t want to ruin an entire batch of cookies trying it
I’ve made this recipe 5 times now and the cookies always come out great with the coconut oil, chewy and delicious. I use a refined coconut oil.
Thanks again for this amazing recipe Jeanine. My last batch was with dark chocolate chunks and dried cherries, this is a great base recipe to add any of your favorite “mix-ins” if you want something different than raisins and nuts.
Made your oatmeal raisin cookies for my elderly parents today and was so impressed that I went home and made two more batches! For mine I lefts out the nuts and substituted chocolate chips for raisins in one batch, and butterscotch chips in the other batch.
BEST oatmeal cookies I’ve ever made!! Thanks for sharing your recipe!!
I will take a photo for Instagram and tag you.
P.s. Thinking I will try with chocolate chip & cherries next time. Thanks again!!
I’m so glad you loved them!! All these variations sound fantastic.
This is a perfect cookie! I added chocolate chips and dried chopped dried cherries and so good. So good in fact this is my new go to recipe
Hi Lorie, I’m so glad you loved the cookies. The chocolate + dried cherries combo sounds delish.
These cookies are amazing! As others have said, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. They are also the first I’ve made that have the perfect amount of cinnamon – not overwhelming, but still discernible..
I have baked them many times in the last week, and last time I doubled the recipe, cut it into three parts, and added almond extract to one batch, and lemon (extract and rind) and coconut to the other. Both alterations were fantastic. This is simply a perfect cookie recipe – thank you so much for sharing it!
Hi Amy, I’m so glad you love the recipe. Those variations sound fantastic!
Would these be okay as a bar cookie?
Hi, we haven’t tried this, so I’m not sure.
I did and works great!
Fantastic! Thanks for sharing that!
Lovely recipes, it’s a shame yhe white text foesnt show up over the images when the videos are playing , I just stop watching .
I love these cookies! They’re easy to make and crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. What’s the best method for storing them? I’d like to freeze a few if possible; though, they’re so good they may not last long!
They keep well in an airtight container at room temp for a few days, and they freeze perfectly. So glad you love them!