Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
by Sommer Collier — last updated on Aug 28, 2025 
The Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Recipe – There’s nothing quite like a classic oatmeal raisin cookie—soft, chewy, and packed with warm spices and sweet raisins. These cookies have the perfect balance of hearty oats, rich butter, and a touch of apple pie spice for extra flavor. Grab a glass of milk and enjoy!
Sommer’s Recipe Notes
Oatmeal cookies are one of the simplest cookies to make well. Even grocery stores can do it. If I ever grab a cookie off a pre-made cookie platter, I always go for the oatmeal raisin cookies because they are the most likely to taste somewhat homemade.
Even so, there are definite standouts in the oatmeal cookie category. Today I’m sharing The Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies I’ve ever made or tasted. Although the ingredients are humble pantry staples, the cookies are ridiculously divine. I’ve been tweaking this recipe for a long time, so I’m very excited to share it with you!
Why You’ll Love This Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe
- Simple Ingredients – You most likely have all the ingredients in your fridge and pantry right now.
- No Chill Time – If you measure your ingredients properly, they will spread and puff up to perfection, without having to chill the dough first.
- Textural Bliss – Crispy edges and a soft, chewy interior make these cookies a textural delight!
Ingredients You Need
- Flour – use all-purpose flour, or you can substitute Gluten-Free Baking Mix in this recipe.
- Baking powder – to help the cookies rise
- Salt – enhances and balances all of the flavors mingling together
- Apple pie spice – you can also use a mixture of cinnamon and nutmeg to achieve the same taste
- Unsalted butter – softened, and use three sticks (1 1/2 cups), which sounds like a lot, but trust me on this one
- Granulated sugar – to add sweetness
- Brown sugar – to sweeten with a molasses taste, the darker the brown sugar the more molasses flavor
- Eggs – for structure
- Vanilla extract – a simple yet important ingredient to add depth
- Old-fashioned oats – these are the flat and flaky oats, also called rolled oats
- Raisins – you can also use other dried fruits here
How To Make Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Tips for Success – Two things affect the outcome of your baking more than anything else… Proper measuring, and accurate oven temperature. When measuring dry ingredients, be sure to level your measuring cups. For flour specifically, stir the flour to fluff it up, spoon it into your measuring cups, then level each cup.
As for baking temperature, don’t just trust what your oven says. It’s very common for well-loved ovens to run too hot or too cold over time, regardless of the temperature stated. Place a new hanging oven thermometer in your oven to get an accurate read on your oven. Then find a YouTube video on how to calibrate your oven’s make and model.
Find the full Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Recipe and video tutorial in the printable form at the bottom of the post, with ingredient proportions, detailed instructions, and baking tips to make your baking day successful!
Recipe Variations and Add-Ins
- Chocolate Chip – Swap out the raisins for chocolate chips for a classic, chocolatey twist.
- Nuts – Add chopped walnuts or pecans for extra crunch and flavor.
- Cranberry Orange – Replace the raisins with dried cranberries and add orange zest for a bright, citrusy touch.
- Coconut – Stir in shredded coconut for a chewy, tropical cookie.
- Peanut Butter – Add creamy peanut butter to the dough for a nutty, rich flavor.
- Butterscotch – Swap the raisins for butterscotch chips for a caramel-like variation.
- Spiced – Increase the spice by adding extra cinnamon and a pinch of cloves for a more robust, warm flavor.
- Gluten-Free – Use a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend in place of all-purpose flour, and ensure your oats are certified gluten-free.
Frequently Asked Questions
Oats have a distinct ability to hold in moisture. When combined with just the right amount of sugar and butter, oats keep cookies from drying out.
That means The Best Oatmeal Cookies are crisp when they first come out of the oven, but soften after several hours.
This also makes this Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe a marvelous treat to make-ahead for school or work events and weekend gatherings!
Old-Fashioned Oats are the best choice to create the right flavor and texture in oatmeal cookies. However, in a pinch, you can use Quick Oats.
Yes! Make sure your oats are fully gluten-free, and processed in a gluten-free facility. Then swap the wheat flour for Gluten-Free Baking Flour Mix.
There are three possibilities… There’s a chance you mismeasured the flour, or you didn’t add enough butter, or you might have baked the cookies for too long. Be extra careful when you measure your ingredients to ensure soft cookies.
The two most common causes of flat cookies are A) Skipping the parchment paper and putting the cookies straight on the baking sheet. B) Using an oven with a faulty thermostat. It is common for thermostats to wear out over time. You can check the accuracy of your oven temperature by hanging a small oven thermometer from the rack.
Yes! Freeze them flat on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet. Once frozen, move the cookies to an airtight freezer bag or container. You can freeze these cookies for up to 6 months.
Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon apple pie spice or 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon + 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened (3 sticks)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 1/2 cups raisins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line several baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and apple pie spice.
- In another bowl, with an electric mixer, cream the butter and both sugars on high until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Scrape the bowl with a spatula, then beat in the vanilla and eggs. Turn the mixer on low and slowly add in the flour mixture. Scrape the bowl again then turn the mixer on low and mix in the oats and raisins.
- Using a 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the dough into equal portions and spread the balls out two inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes, until slightly golden around the edges. Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets before moving.
Have tried numerous “best oatmeal raisin cookies” in my life, never been happy with any of them. Although oatmeal raisin cookies are not my favorite, these are the best of the best. Only one’s i liked better, and can’t get the recipe for (store closed now) along with their chocolate chip cookies was at Isalys. Thanks for the “second best oatmeal raisin cookie recipe.
Made this recipe tonight it is excellent flavor I also added walnuts and chocolate chips. I do like putting the dough in the refrigerator makes a huge difference cookies are plumper just like they said. Husband agreed delicious
THIS IS A REAL HIT WITH MY FAMILY !!!! Thank you so much! I love to bake wholesome snacks & after using the Betty Crocker’s Oatmeal mix for many years as my usual go to recepie, I told myself someone has to have the perfect recepie for oatmeal cookies and I have found yours!! Thanks for sharing it!!! My only question is, can you use whole wheat flour instead of white flour?
best cookies I have ever tasted!
Really good flavours but 375 was too hot, kept coming out overdone. I turned oven down to 350 and reduced cook time to 9 minutes. Very good.
Chiming in for those who don’t prefer super sweet cookies. These were WAY sweet for me. The recipe worked well, baked lovely but whoa, way too much sugar. I will try to adjust for my taste next time. Hoping I don’t have to throw them all out:(
Pretty great. Easy to follow directions. Thank you
Howdy from Fort Worth, TX.. Just baked your cookie recipe,
You said they were The Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Well
you were wrong!! No they are “The Bestest Oatmeal Raisin Cookie in Whole World I have ever Had”!!!!! Wow!!
Now I did change one thing, I used unsalted Brown Butter instead of unsalted butter ( I really like brown butter it adds
so much more Butter-lish-es-ness,, I know that’s not a real word,,
to any cookie!!! So much more depth and taste appeal!!!
But that’s just me!! Again thank you so much for such a wonderful recipe!!!!
If you like a soft cookie, this is it. It is very tasty and full of favor.
I plan to make it again. I would use a larger mixer next time.
The parchment helps to make it easy to take off the sheets.
I cooked them at 350 for a little longer.
I followed the recipe exactly and mine came out SO buttery tasting! I see I am alone in my experience as all the other reviews say how wonderful they are but both me and my husband looked at each other and decided although they are good, the butter and salt flavor just took over way too much. I am thinking these are better the next day and days after, not so much right out of the oven. I made them last night and will try them today!
Hello! Can you help me to convert the cups of the ingredients from the recipe to European grams?
Kind regards,
Sylvia
Hi Sylvia,
We actually have a metric converter button in the recipe from. Happy Baking!
Hi I too have been searching the net for the best recipe for these cookies Have too make for work so my question is will they freeze ok Thanks Lori
Hi Lori,
Yes, you can either freeze the dough, or bake the cookies and freeze them after baking. Either way, just make sure to wrap them well, to avoid freezer burn.