Classic Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies

By Melissa Clark

Updated Feb. 3, 2025

Classic Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies
Craig Lee for The New York Times
Total Time
45 minutes
Rating
5(6,560)
Comments
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Full of nubby oats and plenty of sweet raisins, these lightly spiced cookies are pleasingly chewy in the center and crisp around the edges, with a hint of butterscotch from the dark brown sugar. They keep really well, so you can make them up to a week in advance and store them in an airtight container at room temperature. They’re also great for mailing when a package of cookies is in order.

Why You Should Trust This Recipe

Melissa Clark, a food writer for more than 25 years, creates her fresh takes on classic recipes by trying at least half a dozen different approaches. A professional recipe tester then makes her recipe a minimum of three times (and sometimes more than 12) to ensure it’ll come out perfectly for all home cooks. For these cookies, Melissa achieved the ideal balance of chewy center and dark, crinkly edges by glossing the oats with brown sugar.

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Ingredients

Yield:3 dozen cookies
  • 1cup/227 grams (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, more for pans
  • 1cup/200 grams dark brown sugar, packed
  • ⅓cup/66 grams granulated sugar
  • 2large eggs
  • 1tablespoon/15 milliliters vanilla extract
  • 1½cups/187 grams all-purpose flour
  • ¾teaspoon salt
  • 1teaspoon baking soda
  • 1teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • ¼teaspoon ground cardamom or ground ginger
  • 3cups/270 grams rolled oats (not instant)
  • 1½cups/225 grams raisins
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (36 servings)

144 calories; 6 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 0 grams polyunsaturated fat; 21 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 11 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 84 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two large cookie sheets, or line them with parchment paper or reusable silicone liners.

  2. Step 2

    Using an electric mixer, beat butter in a large bowl until creamy. Add brown and granulated sugars, then beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Then, beat in vanilla extract.

  3. Step 3

    In a separate bowl, use a wooden spoon or spatula to mix together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom.

  4. Step 4

    Set mixer on low speed, and beat flour mixture into the butter mixture.

  5. Step 5

    Stir in oats and raisins.

  6. Step 6

    Spoon out dough by large tablespoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets, leaving at least 2 inches between each cookie.

  7. Step 7

    Bake until cookie edges turn golden brown, about 9 to 13 minutes. Centers will still be quite soft, but they will firm up as the cookies cool. Cool completely on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
6,560 user ratings
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Comments

Hugh Cheney

For the few, the brave, the naughty; soak the raisins in dark rum while you prepare the dough. Add the raisins and the remnants of rum as the final step. Enjoy the cookies warm out of the oven with cold milk or as a cocktail.

Lynda H.

The best thing you can do for oatmeal, chocolate chip, etc. cookies is to refrigerate the dough for 8 hours or overnight. Chilling the dough firms the fat, so cookies spread less. It also concentrates the flavors and creates cookies with chewy-crisp (rather than soft) texture. (If you urgently need cookies--and don't we all?--bake what you need right away, then chill the rest of the dough. And see for yourself the improvement in the cookies made with chilled dough.)

Susan

If you soak the raisins in hot water for about 15 minutes before adding them the cookies will be more moist and chewy.

Janet

OK, my first batch on a buttered sheet pan spread into wafers, even though I had refrigerated the dough overnight. For the second batch, I baked very cold scoops of dough on parchment for 14 minutes. Perfect! I used chips, raisins, and chopped walnuts but no spices. The cookies are crisp around the edges, chewy in the middle, not too sweet. The wafers would work as sandwich cookies.

Mary

I added a half cup of chocolate chips and a cup of walnuts. It was a success. I highly recommend the cardamom. It sets this cookie apart from your usual oatmeal raisin recipe. Thank you.

Sunny

I’ve never been a great fan of the oatmeal cookies until I baked this! Oh my, it was SO GOOD, another wonderful recipe recipe from Ms. Clark!

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