Name: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 90 min
Ingredients: 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks, softened); 1 cup packed brown sugar; 3/4 cup granulated sugar; 2 eggs; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or vanilla paste); 2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled); 3 cups rolled oats; 2 teaspoons cinnamon; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1.5 cups raisins; 1 tsp ginger (optional); 1 tsp cardamom (optional); 1 cup powdered sugar; 1-2 tbsp bourbon (can substitute milk if desired); 1/4 tsp vanilla; 1/4 tsp cinnamon

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These oatmeal raisin cookies are soft, chewy, and delicious. Everyone will love this easy oatmeal raisin cookie recipe so try it today!

Oatmeal raisin cookies are such a classic cookies. Unlike these brown butter chocolate chip cookies, this recipe has a 15 minute prep time and you can be eating a warm cookie within an hour!

These cookies have a slight crunch on the outside, with a chewy texture on the inside. Plus, these cookies are filled with tons of raisins and cardamom and ginger for an extra depth of flavor and spice. But, you can omit those spice and stick with the only classic cinnamon.

Ingredients

Oats: this recipe calls for traditional rolled out, but check out below to see the difference between rolled and quick outs
Brown Sugar: you can use dark or light brown sugar. They both work!
Raisins: if your raisins are old or slightly hard, you can soak them in water or simple syrup to plum up.
Cardamon and Ginger (optional): these spices are optional but they add a lovely and unique spiced flavor

Rolled Oats versus quick oats

For oatmeal cookies, I seriously believe this is 100% a matter of preference! Some people swear by rolled oats and others say quick oats.

The difference between quick oats and rolled outs is that quick oats are rolled out that have been rolled thinner and chopped into finer pieces. That’s it. You can actually make your own quick oats by using a food process to chop them up a bit.

If you’re looking for that traditional oatmeal cookie texture, rolled oats are the way to go. But, if you’re looking for that oatmeal flavor with a more subtle cookie texture, you can use quick oats or a mix of quick and rolled oats. No matter which you use, they’ll still be delicious – promise!

How to Make

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough

Cream butter and sugar together until fully combined and flight and fluffy – about 2-3 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl half way through.
Add eggs and vanilla.
Remix until combined.
Add flour, salt, spices, and baking soda and mix a minute or two, until just combined, scraping down sides of the bowl half way through.
Add raisins and mix by hand or on low until combined.
Chill the dough 30 minutes or up to 2 days until ready to bake the cookies.

Baking the cookies

While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat, add 1-2 tablespoon of dough spaced two inches apart. Tip: a small ice cream scoop works really work for this and creates very even sized cookies.
Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Let cool and enjoy.

TIPS for making this recipe

Make sure all your ingredients, particularly your butter and eggs, are at room temperature.
Measure out the flour using the spoon and swipe method of spooning the flour into the measure cups and swiping the excess off the top with a knife. This ensures you do not overfill the measuring cups with flour. If you dip the measuring cup directly into the flour, it packs down and you will add too much flour to your recipe.
If your raisins are old you can soak in water or simple syrup to plump up. Make sure they are dry before adding to your cookies.
If you want a thinner cookie, you can press the cookies down with the bottom of a glass before baking.
A small ice cream scoop makes scooping the cookie dough on pan super easy and creates even sized cookies!
This recipe makes about three dozen 2-inch cookies. You can easily double or half the recipe as needed.

Variations

Like most cookies, you can really jazz up the cookies however you want! You can add chocolate chips, chopped nuts, or a delicious spiced bourbon glaze.

Spiced oatmeal raisin cookies with Spiced Bourbon Glaze

This is super easy, just add the bourbon, vanilla, and cinnamon to the powdered sugar and mix. Then drizzle on your cookies. You can also gently dip the top of the cookie in the glaze, but you might need to 1.5 the recipe.

Storing and freezing OATMEAL COOKIES

These will last up to a week in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also freeze the cookies for up to a month.

To freeze dough or baked cookies – place baked cookies or the ball of dough (leaving room around each cookie so they don’t stick together) on a parchment lined baking sheet and freeze until hard, about an hour. Then, add to a freezer ziplock bag to store until ready to bake or eat.

For dough, you can bake the cookie dough frozen. Just bake an extra 2-5 minutes until done. For baked cookies, let defrost at room temperature before serving.

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Oatmeal Raisin Cookies