My Favorite Oatmeal Cookies
on Nov 16, 2017, Updated Jan 17, 2025
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Big and rather flat, soft but chewy inside and crispy on the edges...this is the perfect oatmeal cookie!
These are my ideal oatmeal cookies. They bake up fairly flat, chewy, and moist in the middle, with crinkly caramelized edges — not cakey or rounded — butterscotch-esque in flavor. The way they are supposed to be!
Serve these cookies with a Coquito or alongside a bowl of vanilla ice cream topped with Caramel Sauce and Perfect Whipped Cream.
Table of Contents
Favorite Oatmeal Cookies: Fairly flat, chewy, and moist in the middle, with crinkly caramelized edges – not cakey or rounded – butterscotch-esque in flavor.
The Perfect Oatmeal Cookies
This recipe is for my perfect oatmeal cookie. It works because it has a slightly lower ratio of flour and oats to butter, a nice amount of salt and vanilla extract, and more brown sugar than white. It also only has one egg, which gets you to that nice chewiness without being too puffy or cakey.
I also like to bake bigger cookies. Only when your cookies are at least 3 inches wide can you approach the nirvana that comes with a cookie that has different texture throughout, a ring of crispness around the very edge, firm but with some give as you head in for the next bite, and finally soft but chewy in the middle.
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour – I used less flour in this recipe to produce a thinner, chewier cookie.
- Baking soda – Allows for the perfect chewy cookie with just the right amount of spread.
- Ground cinnamon – Adds a warm note.
- Salt – Enhances all the flavors.
- Unsalted butter – At room temperature.
- Brown sugar – Adds moisture and a molasses-y flavor.
- Granulated sugar – For sweetness and crispiness.
- Egg – Helps bind everything together.
- Vanilla extract – Adds a depth of flavor.
- Old-fashioned oats – What are oatmeal cookies without oats? Use old-fashioned rolled oats, not quick-cooking oats.
- Raisins – For little pockets of sweetness.
Variations
- Try these with chocolate chips or chopped semisweet, milk, or dark chocolate instead of the raisins.
- Try dried cherries or cranberries instead of the raisins.
- Add 1/2 cup chopped nuts.
How to Make Oatmeal Cookies
- Combine the dry ingredients: Mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
- Mix together all the ingredients: Cream the butter and both sugars. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Gradually add the flour mixture. Mix in the oats and the raisins.
- Bake the cookies: Scoop the dough into balls using a cookie scoop, place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (if you have it), and use the bottom of a glass to flatten. Bake the cookies in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 11 to 16 minutes. Let them cool on a wire rack, and enjoy!
Let Oatmeal Cookie Dough Rest
I also took a page from my favorite chocolate chip (or chunk) recipe and let the dough rest for 2 days. You could skip this step, or you could leave the dough for as long as 4 days before baking.
The resting time allows the dough to absorb all of the extra liquid and develop a deeper, richer, more caramel-ey flavor. It’s the difference between a great cookie and a memorable one (she said opinionatedly).
Pro Baking Tips
Because these cookies are big, you’ll be baking only 6 cookies per sheet. That seems like a small number, but remember: these are big cookies, and they need space. One cookie is definitely a satisfying serving. Also, the recipe makes only about 16 to 18 cookies, so you are talking three sheets and done. Unless you double the recipe. Which you are welcome to do.
- I recommend using a cookie scoop to make the cookies a similar size and to make sure you have the right amount of cookie dough.
- You can use a hand mixer or a stand mixer to make these.
Storage
The uncooked dough will stay good in a sealed container in the fridge for up to four days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Baked cookies can be kept sealed in an airtight container at room temperature for about a week.
What to Serve with Oatmeal Cookies
More Cookie Recipes
- Snickerdoodles
- Crystallized Ginger Shortbread
- Soft Pumpkin Cookies
- Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies
- Big Fat Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
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My Favorite Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup raisins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (postpone this step if you are planning to refrigerate your dough for a couple of days). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper if you have it.
- Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a medium-size bowl.
- Blend the butter and both sugars together in a large bowl with a hand mixer (or a stand mixer) until well blended. Beat in the egg, then beat in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture gradually, mixing at low speed until each batch is incorporated. Mix in the oats and the raisins. If desired, refrigerate the dough for up to 4 days.
- Bring the dough to room temp if you've refrigerated it. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup (or cookie scoop or ice cream scoop) to measure out balls of the dough, which should be placed on an ungreased cookie sheet with at least 3 inches in between each ball (you should bake 6 cookies per classic-sized cookie sheet). Use the bottom of a glass to flatten each ball.
- Bake the cookies for about 11 to 16 minutes (see Note! This is important!) until they are golden brown, but still have nice give in the middle. Let them sit on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
Can you use margarine instead of butter and extra salt
I have never tried these with margarine, but in general that works for most cookie recipes!
I’ve been making these for the last 2 years and they are a huge hit! I was wondering if you’ve ever tried using dried cranberries instead of raisins. Also, what do you think about adding white chocolate chips (and cutting back on the raisins or dried cranberries)? Thank you for this delicious cookie recipe!!!
yes I have definitely used cranberries with great success! And I would absolutely try the white chocolate chips, subbing in or half of the cranberries. Let me know how that turns out!
love that you love these!
Best cookie ever! I added nuts n dried cranberries, but whatever you prefer this cookie dough is scrumptious.
Really delicious! Exactly what I was looking for. I have been a pastry chef for a very long time and cookies are such a unique entity that seems easy but aren’t really. These are on point!
thank you!
Can you make these with chocolate instead of raisins? Unfortunately I’m not a huge raisin fan, but these cookies look fantastic!
absolutely!
Hi Katie,
I have been baking this recipe since you first posted it and hands down this is the BEST OATMEAL RAISIN cookie recipe EVER! I follow your recipe exactly, except I don’t flatten them and they come out perfect! I don’t refrigerate the dough but I allow it to sit for an hour or so at room temperature and then bake the cookies exactly 11 minutes. I allow them to cool down on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes and them transfer them to a cooling rack. Everyone that tastes the cookies say that I should sell them!!! That is how good they are!
Today, as I began to sit out my ingredients to make the cookies, I thought I need to tell you how much I appreciate this recipe. I was never a cookie baker but thanks to you, I am now! I will begin to expand my baking and cooking efforts and explore more of your recipes.
Peace & Blessings
Hi, Dee – what a lovely lovely comment! Thank you so much for writing. Isn’t this a great oatmeal cookie? Maybe you should sell them! Thanks again for letting me know.
These look very interesting, but when you instruct to “use your hand to flatten the balls”, approximately how many inches in diameter will these flattened balls be? It is difficult to judge from the photo, and could be anywhere from2 to 4 inches! Thank you.
they are a little over two inches in diameter, about 1/2-inch thick at most. enjoy!
These cookies are just perfect for late afternoon rich homey crispy …. they say welcome home