Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are the recipe that Teresa makes whenever she wants to fill the kitchen with the most warm and completely nostalgic combination of butter and cinnamon and brown sugar baking fragrance that makes every person who walks through the door feel immediately and completely at home in the most deeply comforting and genuinely familiar way.
She creams the softened butter with more brown sugar than granulated for the most deeply flavorful and most moist finished cookie, adds the eggs and vanilla and the single tablespoon of molasses that is her most beloved secret ingredient for the most extraordinary depth of caramel-butter-cinnamon flavor enhancement that every person who tastes these cookies notices without being able to name, beats in the oats and the plump pre-soaked raisins, chills the sticky dough for thirty minutes, and bakes until the edges are just golden while the centers still look dangerously underdone. She removes them exactly on time. They set perfectly on the sheet. They are the best oatmeal raisin cookies she has ever tasted.
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are the most soft and deeply chewy classic cinnamon cookies made with creamed butter brown and granulated sugar eggs vanilla and a secret tablespoon of molasses combined with flour baking soda cinnamon salt old-fashioned oats and plump soaked raisins chilled and baked at 350°F for 12 to 13 minutes for the most perfect classic cookie. Come follow us on Pinterest where we share beautiful classic cookie recipes and easy everyday baking favorites from our kitchen every single week.
Table of Contents
Why You Will Love This Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Recipe
This Oatmeal Raisin Cookies recipe is the classic homemade cookie that makes every person who tastes one immediately and completely transported to the most beloved and deeply familiar memory of the most beautifully warm and home-baked afternoon imaginable through the most perfectly executed combination of soft center, slightly crisp edge, plump chewy raisin, and warmly fragrant cinnamon in every single deeply satisfying bite.
The molasses is the single most transformative secret ingredient in this recipe. Just one tablespoon of unsulphured dark molasses added to the creamed butter and egg mixture produces a depth and complexity of caramel-butter-cinnamon flavor enhancement that makes these cookies taste completely different from any oatmeal raisin cookie made without it. Every person who tastes these cookies knows something special is happening in the flavor but cannot identify exactly what. Our Best Oatmeal Cookies make a beautifully equally classic and equally deeply satisfying companion for a complete and wonderful everyday cookie collection.
Ingredients Needed for This Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Recipe
- 1 cup (226g) Unsalted Butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) Packed Light or Dark Brown Sugar
- ¼ cup (50g) Granulated Sugar
- 2 large Eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 tbsp (15ml) Unsulphured or Dark Molasses (not blackstrap)
- 1⅔ cups (209g) All-Purpose Flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1½ tsp Ground Cinnamon
- ½ tsp Salt
- 3 cups (255g) Old-Fashioned Whole Rolled Oats
- 1 cup (140g) Raisins (soaked in warm water 10 minutes then blotted dry)
- Optional: ½ cup (64g) Chopped Toasted Walnuts
How to Make This Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Recipe
Begin by soaking the raisins. Place them in a bowl and cover with warm water. Allow to soak for 10 minutes to plump completely. Drain and blot very thoroughly dry with paper towels. Set aside.
Using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the room-temperature softened butter with both the brown sugar and granulated sugar on medium speed for approximately 3 minutes until smooth and well combined. Add the room-temperature eggs and mix on high until combined, approximately 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla extract and the tablespoon of molasses and mix on high until combined. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, and salt together. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix on low until just combined. Beat in the old-fashioned oats, the plump blotted raisins, and the optional chopped toasted walnuts on low speed, cara mia. The dough will be thick and very sticky.
Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 30 to 60 minutes. Do not chill for significantly longer as the oats will begin to absorb the moisture from the eggs and butter and the cookies will not spread properly during baking. If chilling longer than a few hours, allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling and baking.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Roll approximately 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie into balls and place 2 inches apart on the prepared sheets. A cookie scoop makes this step significantly neater for this sticky dough. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look very soft and underdone when removed from the oven. This is correct. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. The cookies continue to set on the hot sheet during this rest period.
How to Serve This Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Recipe
Serve warm from the sheet for the most completely extraordinary and deeply comforting oatmeal raisin cookie experience when the chewy centers are at their most warm and most fragrant. Arrange in a beautiful pile in a rustic wooden bowl or on a white platter for the most classically homey and completely inviting cookie presentation.
Pair alongside a tall cold glass of whole milk for the most completely perfect and deeply nostalgic oatmeal raisin cookie afternoon moment that has been the most beloved classic cookie pairing in home kitchens for generations. Our Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies make a beautifully equally classic and equally deeply satisfying companion for a complete and wonderful everyday homemade cookie collection.
How to Store This Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Recipe
Store covered at room temperature for up to 1 week. Baked cookies freeze beautifully for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls also freeze for up to 3 months. Bake frozen dough balls for 1 extra minute without thawing. These cookies actually improve on the second day as the flavors continue to develop and the oats soften further into the most completely extraordinary texture.
Tips to Make This Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Recipe
Soak the raisins in warm water for 10 minutes before using and then blot completely dry. This single preparatory step guarantees the most plump, soft, and juicy raisins in every finished cookie rather than the shriveled and tough raisins that baking with unsoaked raisins produces. The texture difference between soaked and unsoaked raisins in the finished cookie is immediately and dramatically noticeable.
Remove the cookies from the oven when the centers still look underdone and the edges are just barely golden. The cookies continue setting from the residual heat of the baking sheet during the 5-minute cooling period on the sheet. Removing them at the perfect underdone moment produces the most soft and chewy center. Waiting until the centers look fully done produces an overbaked and dry cookie.
Helpful Notes for This Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Recipe
Old-fashioned whole rolled oats are specified and are non-negotiable for the most authentic and most deeply chewy oatmeal raisin cookie texture. Quick oats are significantly finer and produce a much less texturally interesting and much less chewy finished cookie. The hearty texture of whole rolled oats is what produces the most characteristic and most deeply satisfying oatmeal cookie chew.
Chill the dough for the full 30 to 60 minutes but not significantly longer unless prepared to allow it to come back to room temperature before baking. Oats absorb moisture during extended chilling periods and overly chilled dough produces cookies that do not spread to the proper thickness and produce a drier and less beautifully chewy result.
Variation of This Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Recipe
Maria made a version substituting dried cranberries for half the raisins and adding a quarter cup of white chocolate chips for the most beautifully fruity and creamy white chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookie that was completely extraordinary. Teresa tried adding a tablespoon of finely grated orange zest to the dough alongside the vanilla for the most fragrant and bright orange cinnamon raisin oatmeal cookie that was deeply beautiful and completely extraordinary.
For a chocolate chip oatmeal cookie version, simply replace the raisins with the same quantity of semi-sweet chocolate chips for the most deeply indulgent and completely irresistible oatmeal chocolate chip cookie using this same deeply flavorful molasses and cinnamon enriched dough. Our Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies make a beautifully equally fruity and equally deeply satisfying companion for a complete and wonderful classic oatmeal cookie collection.
FAQs About This Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Recipe
What does the molasses do in this cookie recipe?
The single tablespoon of unsulphured dark molasses acts as a flavor amplifier that deepens and enriches the combined flavors of butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a way that no other single ingredient can replicate. Molasses adds a warm, slightly caramel, and deeply savory background note that makes every person who tastes these cookies immediately sense that something beautifully different and more complex is happening without being able to identify the specific ingredient responsible.
Why use more brown sugar than granulated?
Brown sugar contains molasses naturally from the refining process and therefore has a significantly richer and more complex flavor than granulated white sugar. Brown sugar also contains more moisture than granulated sugar and produces a softer and more moist finished cookie that stays chewy and tender for longer. Using more brown sugar than granulated guarantees the most flavorful and most beautifully moist and chewy oatmeal raisin cookie possible.
Can I skip the cookie dough chilling step?
The 30-minute chilling period is strongly recommended for the most beautifully shaped and most properly textured oatmeal raisin cookie. Without chilling, the dough is too soft and sticky to form into neat balls and the cookies spread too aggressively during baking, producing thin and flat rather than the most thick and chewy result the recipe is designed to deliver.
Conclusion
These Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are the most completely soft and deeply chewy classic cinnamon molasses cookie that makes every kitchen feel like the most warm and completely beloved home baking moment and makes every person who receives one feel genuinely and deeply nourished and happy through the most beautifully simple and deeply extraordinary combination of buttery cookie, plump juicy raisin, warm cinnamon, and secret molasses depth in every single perfectly soft and completely irresistible classic oatmeal raisin bite.
We hope they bring the same deeply nostalgic homemade warmth and the same completely satisfied gathering to your kitchen that they have always brought to ours. Make them, share them, and come back to tell us all about it. With all our love, Maria, Lucia, and Teresa
Print
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies The Most Soft and Chewy Classic Cinnamon Molasses Cookie You Will Bake
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 26 to 30 cookies 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
The most soft and chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies made by creaming room temperature butter with brown and granulated sugar 3 minutes then beating in room temperature eggs vanilla and a secret tablespoon of molasses combining with flour baking soda cinnamon and salt beating in old-fashioned rolled oats and plump warm-water-soaked raisins chilling 30 to 60 minutes rolling into balls and baking at 350°F for 12 to 14 minutes until edges golden and centers still very soft cooled on sheet 5 minutes. A completely extraordinary classic oatmeal cookie recipe.
Ingredients
1 cup 226g Unsalted Butter softened to room temperature
1 cup 200g Packed Light or Dark Brown Sugar
1/4 cup 50g Granulated Sugar
2 large Eggs room temperature
2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1 tbsp 15ml Unsulphured or Dark Molasses not blackstrap
1 2/3 cups 209g All-Purpose Flour spooned and leveled
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Salt
3 cups 255g Old-Fashioned Whole Rolled Oats
1 cup 140g Raisins soaked in warm water 10 minutes then blotted dry
1/2 cup 64g Chopped Toasted Walnuts optional
Instructions
1. Soak raisins in warm water 10 minutes. Drain and blot thoroughly dry. Set aside.
2. Cream softened butter with brown and granulated sugar on medium 3 minutes until smooth.
3. Add room temperature eggs. Mix on high 1 minute until combined. Scrape bowl.
4. Add vanilla and molasses. Mix on high until combined. Set aside.
5. Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in separate bowl.
6. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients on low until combined.
7. Beat in oats, soaked raisins, and optional walnuts on low. Dough will be thick and very sticky.
8. Chill dough in refrigerator 30 to 60 minutes.
9. Preheat oven to 350°F 177°C. Line two large sheets with parchment.
10. Roll approximately 2 tbsp dough per cookie into balls.
11. Place 2 inches apart on prepared sheets.
12. Bake 12 to 14 minutes until lightly golden on sides with very soft centers.
13. Cool on sheet 5 minutes. Transfer to wire rack.
- Prep Time: 45 minutes including chilling
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 185
- Sugar: 14g
- Sodium: 95mg
- Fat: 9g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 25g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 35mg
Keywords: oatmeal raisin cookies, soft chewy oatmeal raisin cookies recipe, best oatmeal raisin cookies with molasses and cinnamon, easy classic oatmeal raisin cookies brown sugar
- Apple Cider Coffee Cake Recipe The Most Easy Reduced Apple Cider Cream Cheese Swirl Brown Sugar Streusel Individual Fall Brunch Cake - September 29, 2026
- Apple Cider Coffee Cake The Most Easy Moist Reduced Apple Cider Sour Cream Butter Brown Sugar Streusel Cider Glaze Individual Fall Cake - September 28, 2026
- Apple Cider Cake Recipe The Most Easy Moist Bundt Reduced Apple Cider Oil Brown Sugar Cinnamon Nutmeg Apple Cider Glaze Fall Cake - September 28, 2026
