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These Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are sweet and chewy with crispy edges. Load them up with raisins, currants and nuts – or bake them as plain oatmeal cookies.
At our house – if someone proposed the idea of baking some cookies – my husband Jack would vote for a batch of Oatmeal Raisin Cookies any and every day of the week!
Over the years, Jack has tried all different kinds of Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipes – some chewy, some cakey, and some crispy – with the ultimate goal of developing his own recipe for the best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies ever.
Like any recipe I suppose, Jack’s idea of the perfect Oatmeal Raisin Cookie is subjective. He’s not a fan of soft and cakey-textured oatmeal cookies – so that led him to develop today’s recipe that yields a large, flat chewy oatmeal raisin cookie with a bit of a crispy edge.
The cookies are lightly flavored with cinnamon and vanilla, which perfectly complement the oatmeal-raisin flavors. We used a blend of both butter and shortening and a blend of both granulated and brown sugars – each ingredient lending its own flavor and properties to the final texture of this delicious oatmeal cookie!
We also added a small amount of finely chopped walnuts to our Oatmeal Raisin Cookies for a little extra texture and flavor. You can leave the nuts out if you prefer.
You can make these Oatmeal Raisin Cookies with whatever type of raisin you’d like. Our recipe today was made with a mix of your typical dark raisins, as well as golden raisins – plus some currants for a little extra, different sweetness.
If you are looking for just a plain oatmeal cookie recipe, you can also use this recipe – leaving out both the fruit and nuts. (You may want to check out this recipe too.)
No matter how you tweak this cookie recipe to suit your tastes, you do always want to make any Oatmeal Raisin Cookie with rolled oats to ensure the best texture. Quick oats, instant oat or steel cut oats won’t work in this recipe.
You may enjoy these other oatmeal recipes:
- Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oatmeal Snickerdoodles
- No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
- Almond Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oatmeal Raisin Ice Cream
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons butter, softened
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 whole eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup currants
1/4 cup walnuts, finely chopped
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter and shortening until combined.
Add both sugars and beat to combine. Scrape sides.
With mixer running, add one egg at a time then add vanilla and mix.
Add flour-cinnamon mixture to butter mixture and mix until just combined. Then add oats, both raisins, currants and nuts and switch on and off a few times to mix then remove bowl and finish mixing by hand.
Line two sheet trays with parchment paper. Also have a small bowl of water standing by.
I made these cookies two ounces each using a heaping one-ounce small scoop but you could just as easily use a level scoop and get three dozen smaller cookies.
Scoop nine per pan alternating the rows so they have room to spread. Keep dipping the scoop in the water to make it easier to release the dough.
Wet your hands slightly and pat the balls of dough down to about a half inch thick.
Bake one pan at a time in the upper section of your oven for 9-10 minutes, rotating pan half way through.
The center should still look raw and the outside slightly crisp with the bottom browned.
Let cookies sit on the hot pan for five minutes. They will continue to cook.
Remove to a rack to cool further.
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Notes
*The dough is sticky so wetting your hands is a must.
If you don’t like the dried fruit in the recipe, feel free to remove.
What about high alt do you do anything different.
Hi Doreen – We have no experience at all baking in high altitudes – you might find this article helpful: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking
Could I leave out the butter and just use shortening? Or could I replace it with vegetable oil? Need this to be dairy free for my little guy ❤️
Hi Olivia – I’d go with all shortening vs vegetable oil. The cookies probably won’t spread as much without the butter and the flavor might be a little different but overall, it should work as a dairy-free alternative.
Turned out really good. Thank you!
You’re welcome Pam – glad you enjoyed the cookies!
Hi Martha,
This is a favorite
cookie of my DH. He loves an oatmeal and raisin cookie and it just occurred to me I’ve never made them. We usually just look for them in bakery shops. I’m not a huge fan of raisins, my Mother used them in so many dishes, even buying them still on the stems. Thanks for the idea for a new treat.
Loving our Fall here in the Mid South, hope it is beautiful near you.
Linda
Hi Linda – I’m not a huge fan of raisins either (I’d much rather chocolate chips in my cookies!) – but I do hope your DH enjoys the recipe! Thanks as always for taking the time to write to us – our beautiful Fall weather is now quite cold…winter in New England is just around the corner! Take care, Martha
“In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda. Set aside”
I may have read it incorrectly but when do you mixed both bowls together.
Hi Paul – You’re absolutely correct – we missed that step! I’ve fixed and updated the recipe now. Thank you for letting us know about the error!