Gemma’s Best-Ever Oatmeal Cookies
Save RecipeThe chewiest, tastiest, and easiest oatmeal cookies ever!
Hi Bold Bakers!
No cookie you can buy at the store compares to the flavor and chewy texture of a warm homemade Oatmeal cookie. The recipe for my Best-Ever Oatmeal Cookies makes the tastiest oatmeal cookies, featuring toasty rolled oats, chewy plump raisins, and a sweet cinnamon-y center.
Made in one bowl by hand and baked in only 10 minutes, these cookies aren’t just my Best-Ever Oatmeal Cookies because of the flavor, but also because of the ease. I don’t know of a better, or more satisfying, cookie!
What are the ingredients for oatmeal cookies?
I don’t know about you, but oats are a staple in my cupboard.
These oatmeal cookies have loads of rolled oat, sweet raisins, and the rest are the usual suspects. To make these cookies I combine flour and cinnamon, which give the cookie a lovely hint of warmth and spice. Then, I cream together butter, brown sugar, and white sugar. I add the flour and cinnamon mixture to the fluffy butter and sugar then fold in the oats and raisins.
This one-bowl-wonder perfectly balances flavor and texture, which is really what makes it the Best-Ever Oatmeal Cookies. The oats and raisins are crunchy and chewy while the brown and white sugar add depth of flavor. All of these components create irresistibly chewy oatmeal raisin cookies.
Are oatmeal cookies good for you?
These cookies have an added bonus: My Best-Ever Oatmeal Cookies are packed with a cup and a half of oats and only 3/4 cup of flour.
Oats are one of my favorite ways of getting in some stick-to-your-ribs nutrition. Oats are full of healthy fiber and keep you fuller longer. Sweet raisins, instead of chocolate chips, mean no extra added sugar or fats. The combination of these two ingredients not only gives these chewy cookies their signature flavor, but bump these oatmeal raisin cookies into a healthier territory.
[ Healthy recipes can be fun, easy, and delicious! Try my Healthy Chocolate Banana Bread too! ]
What makes a cookie chewy?
What gives these cookies their extra chew, besides the obvious rolled oats and raisins, is the combination of white and brown sugar.
When creamed with the butter the white sugar adds crunch to the outside of the cookie as it caramelizes super fast. The brown sugar has more moisture, and that molasses flavor, which when combined with white sugar creates the chewiest bite at the cookie’s center.
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Chewy, tasty, and healthier than a lot of other options, my Best-Ever Oatmeal Cookies will knock your socks off!
- 1/2 cup (4oz/115g) butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (4oz/115g) sugar
- 1/2 cup (3oz/85g) brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 egg*
- 3/4 cup (3 3/4oz/105g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups (4 1/12oz/128g) rolled oats
- 2/3 cup (3 1/3oz/94g) raisins
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Pre-heat your oven to 375oF (190oC). Then line to large cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
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In a medium bowl combine the dry ingredients, apart from the sugars. Set aside.
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In a large bowl cream together the butter, white and brown sugar. Once light and fluffy add the egg and the vanilla and whip until combined
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Add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix with a spatula until the flour has just absorbed, do not over mix.
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Lastly, fold in the oats and the raisins.
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using a tablespoon measure scoop heaped tablespoons of the cookie dough onto your lined cookie sheet, leaving about 1 1/2 to 2 inches between the cookies.
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Bake for about 9-10 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown and slightly risen. Don't be tempted to bake for longer or you will loose the gooey center.
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Allow the cookies to cool slightly before transferring on to a wire rack to cool fully. Enjoy!
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Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature.
Watch the Recipe Video!
This dough also freezes really well for up to 3 months. Scoop it and freeze in balls so you can just take them out, defrost, and bake! 🙂
*Don't eat eggs? Use my egg substitute chart for cookies!
Meet Gemma
Hi Bold Bakers! I’m Gemma Stafford, a professional chef originally from Ireland, and I’m passionate about sharing my years of experience to show you how to make game-changing baking recipes with over-the-top results! Join more than 1 Million other Bold Bakers in the community for new video recipes every week!
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Hi Gemma!
How do you make yoir cookies so perfectly round? Mine is always “fluffy”
Hi Gayle! One way to accomplish that is to use a tablespoon measured scoop as it says in the instructions. That way you can get roughly equal sized cookies, AND be sure not to flatten them out. You want them to bake all on their own. 🙂
Im using an ice cream scooper, and i dont flatten thhem. And its always like that. 😣
It could be too much butter or the cookie dough was not frozen?
This is one of my fave and go-to recipe. But my son and bestfriend doesn’t like raisins so, I converted it to a Choco-chip Oatmeal Cookies 🙂
The 1st time I used the recipe I followed the ingredients to the tee but found that the 1cup (in total) sugar made it too sweet so, I slashed the white sugar to just 1/4 cup and other times will just use all brown sugar. Now, its perfect either eay 🙂
Yay! Thanks for sharing and giving it your own spin.
Best oatmeal cookie recipe that I have ever found. Warning to those who have not made them yet, you can’t stop eating them. Do not overbake. Love your videos. Already bought your book. Your tips let’s me cook like a veteran. Thanks!
Thank you for sharing this with other bold bakers. Thanks a million!
And if I replace the vanilla essence with strawberry essence by equal amount will it give a strawberry flavor?
Hi there,
strawberry extract is generally used in frosting, the flavor is light and will not hold up so well in this type of cookie.
There are store-bought manufactured extracts which have an artificial flavor which may work for you, but honestly, I do not think it will be good,
Gemma 🙂
Thanks for the reply Gemma! I replaced it and it didn’t have a strong strawberry flavor but yielded a very wonderful smell and flavor!! My family loves it
Well done, you! Thank you for making my recipes welcome at your dining table.
Can i replace the brown sugar with white powdered sugar? How will it affect the end result?
Hi there,
you can try it, it will change the result for sure, it will make it ‘shorter’ and a little less chewy I think. I did not try it so I cannot be sure,
Gemma 🙂
Oh goodness.. these definitely live up to the expectation! We devoured them! Will be making these many more times.
Well done, you! I’m delighted that you liked my recipe. Thanks a million.
Can you use buckwheat flour for these?
I suppose you can but know that there will be a difference in the result. It’s gluten-free, so you might have to adjust the other liquids or moist ingredients.
Hello gemma,
Plz answer my question. Can I use Quaker instant oats instead of rolled oats? Secondly plz tell me the difference between the two. Thanks.
Hi Hina. You can use instant oats but I would not recommend it for this recipe. It will, for sure, affect the result in terms of texture and even flavor. Instant oats are cut too fine and would require tweaking the recipe; change baking time, temperature, and the amount of liquid added to it. Instant oats easily absorbs liquids compared to rolled oats. I hope this helps.
Hi Gemma,
I have 2 questions plz.
First, can I put less sugar in the recipe and wld it affect the final product ?
Secondly. Can I use rye flour or spelt?
Hi Nora,
when you change an ingredient you change the result. Rye and Spelt have gluten so I am thinking there would not be a good reason not to try it.
The sugar too, though this will have an effect, I think it will work well for you. Reduce both sugars by 1 oz/28g each – that will keep the balance as each sugar has its own purpose in this recipe.
Give it a go Nora, it is worth a shot and wil lnot be a fail,
Gemma 🙂
Amazing recipe. I removed the raisins and instead put a spoonful of peanut butter in which gave it the most delicious flavour. I also cooked them a bit longer to have them really crispy, take them to work everyday, soooo good!!
Hi Gemma ,
I followed the recipe of oatmeal and raisin cookies step by step but my cookies become like a flat bread. In my first attempt I thought may be I did not put it in refrigerator so it turned like that . In my second attempt I had kept the cookies batter in the fridge for about 2 hours but again the cookies became flat . The taste was very nice but can you tell me why the might have become flat . I don’t eat eggs so I had replaced egg with 1 tbsp of flaxseed powder mixed with 3 tbsp of water .
Kindly suggest
Regards
Priyanka
Hi there,
/This may be to do with the fat you used too, did you change that? I am thinking if you changed the egg then you possibly changed the fat too. Some vegetarian margarine is very soft and will not work so well in this type of bake, though very well in others. Choose one which is in a block if you can, this will be useful in all of your baking. Add a little more flour too, that will also help, just a couple of tablespoons extra will stiffen the mix. Have your oven-ready, that means heated to the correct temperature, that too will help to set the cookies up.
I hope this helps, do try again!
Gemma 🙂
This recipe is so good! I love it!
???? thank you so much for sharing????
From philippines???? one of the best cookie recipe????????
Hi there,
thank you so much for this lovely review of this recipe, I appreciate it.
Greetings to you in the Philippines,
Gemma 🙂
I don’t know what it is, but I’ve tried this recipe three times now and the result is always the same – a flat, spread out, crunchy sugar oatmeal disk. And they were only in for four minutes and thirty seconds.
I used margarine instead of butter, and quick oats instead of rolled oats because those are all I have. But I followed the rest of the recipe word for word.
I even tried lowering the heat and adding more oats for some semblance of stability on the last attempt, and after five minutes, they began melting like the other attempts had. What am I doing wrong?
Hi! I was wondering what kind of margarine did you use. Did you use a margarine for baking? Or the spreadable kind in a tub? This one will affect your bake for sure. Let me know. Gemma ????
I never liked oatmeal raisin cookie but made them for my aunt. But I just wanted to taste how they are before giving it to her and OMG I am in love. They are so decadent. Simply perfect. Thank you so much Gemma. You are truly the best.
Yay! A convert! Thank you for the trust and for baking with us.
Please know that i made these last night and they were absolute perfection! I made half – ATE half and froze the others and added more raisins. So delicious!!!
Thrilled to hear that, Melissa!! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
Best,
Gemma.
Hi Gemma, I often visit your site for baking. Love your recipes. Tried Oatmeal resin cookie, and they came out really well. My li’l one and hubby relished them. Thanks.
I’m thrilled to hear that, Rashmi!! Thanks for letting me know.
We are doubling down on recipes so stay tuned for lots more to come :).
Best,
Gemma.
Recipe says 16 servings bot not how many cookies to a serving.
HI Holly,
The recipe makes 16 cookies.
Best,
Gemma.
I am out of flour but I really want to make these so could I just make oat flour and use it. Also would you recommend this recipe or your chocolate chip recipe to make as a treat for my guest.
Hi Trish,
I think you need the wheat flour to bind this oatmeal cookie. If you have an alternative, like coconut flour you can use a little of that, it will work well for you. We love this cookie in my family, and others love it too, and it is easy to make and inexpensive!
The chocolate chip cookie is delicious, rich, and really appreciated too. A little more expensive to make, but worth it.
Both of these can be made ahead – rolled into a sausage shape in kitchen paper, chilled, frozen and sliced for a quick bake.
Keeping them overnight like this also improves the flavor.
You could make both! 😉
I hope you enjoy both making and eating these cookies with your friends,
Gemma 🙂
Hi! I was wondering if I could use buttermilk instead of butter ( i used all my butter on my biscuits) I read you could do that online but would fit work for this recipe. Thanks
Hi Sarah,
I am not sure what you mean by this.
Butter and buttermilk are totally different things. One is the fat of the milk, the other is what remains after the fat (butter) has been removed.
You will need to replace fat with fat. Fat in this context will be something like hard margarine, designed for baking, coconut oil would work too, and oil to a lesser degree, in a smaller quantity. If you use the oil you will need to use about 2/3 the amount of butter indicated by the recipe.
I hope this is of help,
Gemma 🙂
I made this for my nephew’s birthday, as these are his favorite type of cookies. I had to cook them longer than the recommended time by a few mins because they were very soft. I didn’t flatten the balls of dough out prior to baking and also made the cookies slightly larger, so I’m not sure if those factors affected it. I did flatten out the second trailer, and they did require longer cooking. But, all in all, they all came out nice and chewy, and we loved them ????
I’m thrilled to hear that, Lillian! Thanks for trying this out and letting me know.
Best,
Gemma.
Hi Gemma,
I have made these cookies a few times for family gatherings. All the adults loved them, but my 3-year toddler thought they were too sweet. Could I use only half the amount of sugar? (Just brown sugar?)
Thank you!
I’m thrilled to hear that, Penny! Thanks for trying it out and letting me know 🙂
Regarding sweetness just note if you alter the sugar you very likely will alter the final results. So if you reduce the sugar only do it a little.
Best,
Gemma.
Hi, Gemma! I was wondering if I could use whole-wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour, if so, would it still be 3/4 cup?
I think I answered this earlier, but just in case! I think I would use 1/2 white and 1/2 wholemeal. The texture of the cookie may be affected too much, could be crumbly!
Gemma ????
These are so good.
I’ve made them as is ( no raisins, though) and love them!!! Next time, I’d like to add coconut and , chocolate chips, some nuts…do I have these equal the same amount of raisins? I have a recipe for an oatmeal cookie with all of that but the base is a bit different and I like yours better. I don’t want to add too much stuff and ruin them!
Hi Melanie,
If you are leaving out raisins replace that same weight with your preferred add in.
Really glad you like this recipe.
Best,
Gemma.
Hello Gemma,
My kid and I made a Raspberry oatmeal cookie by slightly tweaking – subbed mashed raspberry instead of white sugar plus added a few chocolate chips along with raisins. Oh my goodness, it turned out so delicious. This is our first time making cookie and I guess I could’ve added slightly more oats/ flour – they turned out to be slightly soft, but very yummy. A double thumbs up from kiddo and yours will be our base recipe going forward. Thank you!
Hi there,
so happy to have this lovely review. Thank you for this input too, that kid knows how to tweak a recipe!
The raspberries may have softened the mix a little, so perhaps a little extra of the oats would correct it, well done though, and thank you for telling us about it. A big hug for that ‘kid’.
Gemma 🙂
Is it possible to use oil instead of butter in the recipe?if yes, how much?
Hi Hasna,
yes, but you need to reduce the amount. butter is not all fat, sub about 2/3 of the quantity of butter in a recipe for oil. It will be better in some recipes than in others, you will need to experiment,
Gemma 🙂
Delicious!
Thank you, Joelle, a woman of few words, but a nice one!
Gemma 🙂
Hi Gemma, Is it possible to add desiccated coconut to the recipe? I think it would add more texture. If yes, in which stage do I put it in? Thank you!
Hi Almira,
Sure you can, and it will be delicious too. Just add a handful in with the dry ingredients. I hope you enjoy this cookie,
Gemma 🙂
Thanks Gemma !! Cookies are awesome. I just substituted 120gms of coconut sugar and 50gmsof white sugar to reduce the sweetness (but they still taste a bit sweeter to me, next time will reduce the amount of coconut sugar). And also added little extra oats since I didn’t feel the cookie batter is stiff.
Also added cranberries and chocolate chips, which added taste to my cookies.
Thanks a lot, by the way I tried your crazy cookie dough and was a bomb !!
Well done! Glad you enjoyed! Gemma ????
Hi Gemma,
I tried your recipe and the cookies tasted delicious. I did not have cinnamon so i skipped that. Only thing is they were not crisp on the outside. Just soft all over. Also my convection oven doesn’t have the option of 190° so i baked at 180° for 12 mins. How long do you think i should bake them for? .
Thanks,
Love from India!
Around that time should work. Just make sure to keep a good eye on it! Gemma ????
My husband & I love these cookies! Easy to make & bake. Froze some of them, also. I can’t wait for fresh cookies whenever we want.
Glad that you and your husband enjoy these! Gemma ????
Hi Gemma,
I want to know if the oats you used in the recipe were toasted and if you had coarsely ground them before adding to the recipe. Thanks.
Hi there,
no, the oats were not toasted. Oats, as we know them for eating, are divided into three types.
1. Steel cut oats- porridge oats, these are the least processed, though all are processed to a degree.
2. Rolled oats, again, porridge oats, more processed, and the ones I would generally use for these cookies.
3. Instant oats, the type you just add hot milk to, easy for kids breakfast. These are highly processed and almost powdered in some cases.
Steel cut oats tend to be less absorbent than rolled oats unless they are cooked as porridge. Great added to bread, other breakfast cereals, granola, etc. and delicious toasted.
I hope this helps,
Gemma 🙂
Thanks. This is very helpful. Much love from Pakistan ❤
Yes absolutely! Bake it off in a cookie sheet and cut into slices after.
Best,
Gemma.
Hey Gemma am I able to use lactose free spreadable margarine instead of the butter in this recipe? Thank you
Hi there,
yes, but if this is a tub of spreadable margarine you may need to reduce the amount, it is very soft. A baking block of margarine is easily subbed for butter in a recipe, this is hard margarine designed for baking.
I hope this is of help,
Gemma 🙂
How much would I need to reduce it to? We don’t have blocks of margarine here in Australia 🙂 thank you.
Hi there,
there are 4ozs of butter in this recipe. I think I would take that back to 3 1/2 ozs/100g of the spread, especially for cookies. for sponge cakes, it will not be an issue. (Removing one tablespoon from the weight will do this too).
I hope this is of help,
Gemma 🙂
Hello Gemma,
Silly question maybe but is it possible to make any baking or these cookies with steel-cut (pinhead) oats?
Thanks!
Hi Tala,
I think you could use a mix of rolled and pinhead. The problem with the pinhead is that they are not immediately absorbent and the cookie will struggle to hold together. I use pinhead oatmeal in brown soda bread, where it works really well as an addition, a handful or so in the mix. Try that, that may be very good,
Gemma 🙂
I have used this recipe for years but without the cinnamon.. add a bag of chocolate chips, YUMMMY! Also you can make it gluten free using Brown rice flour. I mix a bit of coconut flour in with the brown rice flour for a great flavor. Organic Brown sugar and some coconut sugar too. They go fast in our house. So tasty!!
I’m thrilled to hear that, Marlene !
Thanks for much for trying it out.
Best,
Gemma.
Well, I did something wrong! The cookies got very dark around the edges and were quite flat, even though I baked them for only eight minutes (on a silicone sheet). After the first two batches, I put the dough in the refrigerator in between cooking them, thinking this might help prevent them from “flattening”. I also raised the oven rack up one slot from the middle of the oven thinking they wouldn’t get so dark. Instead of raisins, I used dried cranberries, since I always have those on hand. They had been in my freezer, so I soaked them in hot water for just a few minutes. I drained and patted them a bit to remove any excess moisture. I also doubled the recipe and used the old fashioned oats. So as you can see, I followed your recipe pretty closely! Any ideas? I must say, however, that the uncooked dough was DIVINE!!!
Hi Marilyn,
Ugh this is frustrating. it sounds like you did everything I would have done. So the burning around the edges in just 8 minutes indicates that something is wrong.
I have heard this before from people so I made it myself the other day and got the same results I always do.
Did you measure in cups? grams or ounces?
Can you just double double check the measurements were correct. It will help me get to the root of the problem.
Thanks,
Gemma.
Well, I sure thought I measured correctly! The edges were not burned but definitely were darker than normal. I’m thinking maybe it needed more flour, since soaking the fruit might have added too much moisture. Oh, well. I will not soak the raisins next time to see if that helps! Thank you so much for replying!
hi Marilyn,
flour in different places behaves in different ways too, and it may indeed be just that, it would take very little more to make a difference. Get this right for you. Make a note of the changes as you make them, then it will be your very own recipe!
Gemma 🙂
I will try again. Thank you so much. I really enjoy your site!
These cookies came out perfect, they’re the best I’ve ever had. Didn’t have to change anything and definitely a crowd pleaser.
Yea! Thank you Samantha for this lovely review and for taking the trouble to let us know, delighted,
Gemma 🙂
I made these with vegan butter, coconut sugar, energ egg replacer, multigrain flower and they were still really good fresh. Plus swapped raisins for chocolate chips.
I’m sure the actual recipe is even better.
Hi Paul,
Haha! this was your very own recipe, thank you for telling us about this, it will be a big help to other bold bakers.
Good that you are baking with us,
Gemma 🙂
Hi Gemma,
It was a lovely oat cookies recipe !! However I was wondering if I can reduce the amount of sugar used in this recipe ?
For these you can use oat flour but i would not reduce the sugar too much.
Hi you told Zach u can use oat flour but told Trish you can’t I am confused
Hi Mary,
using it in its entirety will change the texture of the cookie, you can do it, but I am trying to give a result similar to the wheat flour one. try it, it will not be a fail, it just may not hold together so well,
Gemma 🙂
These were delicious. The first pan was too thin and spread too far but tasted great. I added 1/4 cup extra flour to the second half of the batch and these came out perfect.
I’m delighted to hear that! These are one of my favorites!