Baking · American
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Chewy, cinnamon-warm and gone faster than you can say 'one more batch'.
- Hands-on
- 35 min
- Hands-off
- 40 min
- Total
- 1 h 15 min
- Makes
- 48 cookies
- Serves
- 24
The oven heats while you mix the dough. Each tray bakes 8-10 minutes; with two baking sheets the 48 cookies take about 4 trays (40 minutes of oven time), and you shape the next tray while one bakes. Cooling on the rack takes about 20 minutes after the last tray.
Oven 180 °C · 160 °C fan (350 °F)
- easy
- vegetarian
- cookies
- kid-friendly
- bake-sale
- classic
Verified against at least two trusted test kitchens or food-safety guides · Last checked · What this means
Scaling? Halving works: the recipe uses 2 eggs, so a half batch uses 1. Bake time per tray doesn't change with batch size; only the number of trays does. At high altitude, raise the flour to 1 3/4 cups (210 g). Some items (like eggs) don’t halve neatly: beat them, then measure out half.
Ingredients
You need: large bowl · electric mixer (hand or stand) · measuring cups and spoons · tablespoon for scooping · 2 baking sheets (cookie sheets), ungreased · wire rack · spatula / turner · oven mitts
Contains: milk · egg · wheat
Method
Heat the oven
Turn the oven on to 180°C (160°C fan, 350°F, gas 4). It heats while you make the dough.
Cream butter and sugars
In a large bowl, beat 198 g (1/2 cup + 6 tbsp) soft butter with 160 g (3/4 cup) packed brown sugar and 100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar on medium speed until creamy and lighter in colour.
Otto tried this firstOtto tries to cream butter straight from the fridge and the mixer just throws lumps at him. He waits for soft butter, then it works.Add eggs and vanilla
Beat in the 2 eggs and 1 tsp vanilla until everything is well combined.
Mix in the dry ingredients
Add 180 g (1 1/2 cups) flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp salt (if using) and mix on low just until no dry flour shows.
Stir in oats and raisins
Stir in 267 g (3 cups) oats and 150 g (1 cup) raisins by hand until they're spread evenly through the dough.
Scoop onto trays
Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto ungreased baking sheets, leaving about 5 cm (2 in) between them so they have room to spread.
Otto tried this firstOtto packs the whole tray edge to edge. The cookies melt into one giant cookie-continent. Next tray: 5 cm gaps.Bake
Bake one tray at a time for 8 to 10 minutes. Shape the next tray while this one bakes.
Ready when: Done when the cookies are light golden brown, especially at the edges. The centres can still look a little soft; they firm up as they cool.
Cool
Leave the cookies on the hot tray for 1 minute, then move them to a wire rack and let them cool completely. Let the tray cool before putting the next batch of dough on it.
Swaps
- Instead of raisins (1 cup): 1 cup (about 150 g) diced dried mixed fruit
- Instead of raisins (1 cup): 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or candy-coated chocolate pieces, and leave out the cinnamon Other dried fruit works too.
Make ahead, store & reheat
- Storage
- Once completely cool, keep the cookies in a tightly covered container.
Good to know
- Add-in: stir in 1 cup chopped nuts along with the oats and raisins.
- Bar cookies: press all the dough into an ungreased 33 x 23 cm (13 x 9 in) pan and bake 30-35 minutes until light golden brown; cool completely in the pan on a rack, then cut 24 bars.
- High altitude: use 210 g (1 3/4 cups) flour and bake as written.
Safety
- Don't taste the raw dough. Raw flour and raw eggs can carry bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella; only baking makes them safe. Don't give raw dough to kids to play with either.
- Wash your hands, bowl and tools with hot soapy water after handling raw egg.
- Baking sheets come out of the oven very hot. Use oven mitts, and kids should let an adult move the trays.
- If you use the nut variation, the cookies contain tree nuts.