soft and chewy oatmeal raisin cookies
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Cookie
A cookie is a baked or cooked snack or dessert that is typically small, flat and sweet. It usually contains flour, sugar, egg, and some type of oil, fat, or butter. It may include other ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips, nuts, etc.
In most English-speaking countries except for the United States, crunchy cookies are called biscuits. Many Canadians also use this term. Chewier biscuits are sometimes called cookies even in the United Kingdom.[3] Some cookies may also be named by their shape, such as date squares or bars.
Biscuit or cookie variants include sandwich biscuits, such as custard creams, Jammie Dodgers, Bourbons and Oreos, with marshmallow or jam filling and sometimes dipped in chocolate or another sweet coating. Cookies are often served with beverages such as milk, coffee or tea and sometimes “dunked”, an approach which releases more flavour from confections by dissolving the sugars,[4] while also softening their texture. Factory-made cookies are sold in grocery stores, convenience stores and vending machines. Fresh-baked cookies are sold at bakeries and coffeehouses, with the latter ranging from small business-sized establishments to multinational corporations such as Starbucks.
Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
How to make oatmeal raisin cookies that are soft in the middle, a little chewy on the outside and full of warm flavors like cinnamon and vanilla. Jump to the Oatmeal Cookies Recipe
How to Make Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
These oatmeal cookies are very easy to make and you don’t need any fancy equipment – only a hand mixer. We love easy recipes like this one. Another bonus to this recipe is that you can adapt it — we love to use a combination of regular and golden raisins, but you can add dried cranberries, dried cherries, nuts or even chocolate chips to make chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.
You can make these oatmeal raisin cookies in minutes. Below are our top tips for making them.
Make the cookie batter by beating softened butter with sugar until creamy. I like to use brown sugar when making oatmeal cookies since it helps to make the centers soft and adds a little extra caramel flavor to the batter.
For structure, we add egg. Then for even more flavor, we pour in some vanilla extract. It’s the combination of brown sugar, butter, and vanilla that makes this cookie batter taste so good! (For vegan cookies, take a look at our extra easy oatmeal cookies recipe.)
For the dry ingredients, we add flour, oats — we prefer rolled oats for their texture, warm baking spices, and some salt. Since posting this recipe, we’ve been asked about using different kinds of oats in the batter. While instant oats will technically work when making these cookies, we highly recommend rolled oats. The rolled oats provide a lovely chewy texture to the cookies. Steel cut oats are not a good option for these cookies.
If you don’t usually have rolled oats in the house and are looking for more ways to use them, try our strawberry banana baked oatmeal, blackberry baked oatmeal, and this apple crisp, which uses rolled oats to make the topping.
To combine the wet and dry ingredients, we add the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture in a few batches and then stir in raisins. A hand mixer makes quick work of this.
As I mentioned above, we love using a combination of golden and regular raisins for these cookies. In addition to that, we actually “plump up” the raisins before adding them. To do it, just add some hot water to the raisins and leave them for a few minutes. In this time, the raisins rehydrate a little and plump up. Drain them, then stir them into the batter.
By the way, for a slightly less traditional oatmeal cookie, take a look at our oatmeal cookies with cranberries and white chocolate chips or our recipe for edible oatmeal cookie dough.
To bake the cookies, you can make the cookies as big or little as you like. Just before baking, we lightly press balls of dough down onto the baking sheet to help them spread and bake into perfectly shaped cookies. After some time in the oven, the cookies smell incredible and ready to be devoured.
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (Soft & Chewy)
Ingredients for Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
This is a recipe adapted fairly closely from a Cook’s Illustrated recipe. I read that it took them 6 months to come up with the perfect soft and chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookie. I applaud them for their persistence, not least so we may feast on the sweet fruits of their labour!
Here’s what you need:
- Butter (at room temperature) – When recipes call for butter at room temperature or softened butter, the butter needs to be firmer than you probably think. Ideally it is 18°C / 64°F. This is soft enough to whip until creamy, but still cool enough such that when you touch it, you don’t end up with a slick of grease on your finger.Butter that is too soft can lead to cookies that split or spread too much in the oven. In fact, this is one of the most common problems people have when making cookies!A quick way to bring butter to room temperature: Cut fridge-cold butter into 1.5cm cubes (1/2″ thick slices if you have a US stick of butter). Scatter on plate. Microwave 2 cups of cold tap water for 4 minutes on high. Remove jug, quickly put plate in, close door. DO NOT turn microwave back on. The residual heat will soften the butter in 5 minutes.
- Baking powder – Most recipes call for baking soda / bicarb, or a combination of baking soda and baking powder. This recipe specifically calls for only baking powder which Cook’s Illustrated found makes the cookie chewier. So, just baking powder it is!;
- Flour – Just plain / all-purpose flour. For this recipe, self-raising flour cannot be used in place of the flour and baking powder, because self-raising flour has too much baking powder in it;
- Brown sugar AND white sugar – Brown sugar makes the cookie chewier and adds a pleasing caramelly note, while the white sugar gives the cookie crispy edges. The contrast some crispiness around the edges brings to the soft cookie centre is part of the magic of these cookies!;
- Raisins – I like my raisins tender and plump, so I soak them briefly in hot water. This not a step in the Cook’s Illustrated recipe, it’s just something I like to do – a personal preference!
- Eggs at room temperature – The eggs need to be at room temperature and not fridge-cold, to ensure it incorporates properly into the cookie dough easily. A quick way to warm up fridge-cold eggs: Place eggs in a large bowl, cover with warm tap water (just warm, not hot) and leave for 5 min. Wipe dry, then use per recipe. Egg size (“large eggs”): 50 – 55g / 2 oz per egg the industry standard of sizes sold as “large eggs” in Australia and the US. If your eggs are significantly larger or smaller in size, just weigh different eggs and use 100-110g / 4 oz in total (including shell) or 90 – 100g / 3.6 oz in total excluding shell (useful if you need to use a partial egg to make up the total required weight. Crack eggs, beat whites and yolks together, THEN pour into a bowl to measure out what you need);
- Cinnamon – The king of cookie spices! Just a hint in the mix so you know it’s there, but it doesn’t overwhelm. This another deviation from the Cook’s Illustrated recipe. They omit it so you can taste the oats more. I cannot process that idea! I need the cinnamon!
- Salt – Just a touch to bring out the flavour in sweet baked goods.
BAKING INSTRUCTIONS
- We used a 2 tablespoon ice cream scooper to get these uniform cookie dough balls. You can also use a food scale and measure 2 ounces of cookie dough and roll it into a ball.
- Bake the Oatmeal Cookies in a 350-degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.
- So yummy. Soft and moist and delicious! These really are The Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies we’ve ever eaten. Soaking the raisins is a great technique that makes a moist, soft and chewy and delicious Oatmeal cookie.
Oatmeal raisin cookies with a soft, chewy center and crispy edges. The whole family will love this old standby!
