Crisp on the edges and chewy in the middle, these Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are an absolute delight to eat. Using whole wheat flour makes these whole-grain oatmeal cookies a bit healthier, so you can go ahead and reach for a second without any guilt. Best of all, the prep takes just 20 minutes!
Table of Contents
About Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Who doesn’t like an old fashioned cookie recipe with a twist? This recipe is just that!
Oatmeal raisin cookies are about as classic as they come, but true to my healthy nature, I’ve made them on the more nutritious side.
Using whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose means these cookies are made with only whole grains, which means they have a decent amount of fiber and nutrients.
I also opted to use unrefined cane sugar to cut down on processing chemicals, and old-fashioned rolled oats are already a healthy choice. Add some dried fruit to the mix in the form of raisins and you have a pretty darn virtuous cookie!
While the method of making these tasty cookies is different from what you’re used to, it’s very easy. Instead of creaming, butter is cut into the flour which leads to a crispy texture around the edges.
Chewy oats and raisins round them out, making these oatmeal cookies the perfect mix of salty & sweet, chewy & crispy, decadent & healthy.
Whether you serve these addictively delicious oatmeal raisin cookies with milk, tea, or coffee, one thing is certain: they’ll be gone before you know it!
How To Make Oatmeal Cookies
Prep and Make Cookie Dough
1. Take ⅓ cup sugar (60 grams) in a mixer or grinder jar.
2. Powder finely. Keep aside.
If you prefer, you can use ⅓ cup + 2 tablespoons of store-bought powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar or castor sugar.
3. Grease a pan or tray with some softened butter and keep aside. Also preheat oven at 180° C (356° F) for 15 minutes.
If using an OTG or a regular oven, then use both the top and bottom heating elements on.
For convection ovens you can preheat at 180 degrees Celsius 180° C (356° F) for 15 minutes.
4. Take ½ cup whole wheat flour or atta (60 to 70 grams) in a mixing bowl. Also add ⅓ cup chilled unsalted butter (50 grams).
5. With a knife or pastry cutter, cut the butter into flour to make a breadcrumb-like texture in the flour.
Alternatively, a stand mixer also can be used. If the butter starts melting, then keep the mixture in the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes.
You can also use your fingertips to mix the cold butter in the flour till the mixture resembles a breadcrumb-like texture.
6. Next add the powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar or castor sugar.
7. Then add ¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder and ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract.
You can also add ⅛ teaspoon vanilla essence instead of vanilla extract.
8. Mix very well with a spoon.
9. Next add ½ cup rolled oats (60 grams) and 2 tablespoons golden raisins.
10. Mix again well with a spoon.
11. Now add 2 to 4 tablespoons of chilled (cold) milk in parts, as needed.
The amount of milk to be added will depend on the type and quality of whole wheat flour. Only add enough to help the mixture gather into a uniform dough.
12. Mix and bring the mixture together so that it binds into a dough. Do not knead.
13. Just add enough milk in parts to mix and bind the mixture very well. The cookie dough will be sticky.
14. Now scoop out the dough with a tablespoon or any spoon.
15. Place the scooped dough on the greased tray. Keep a space of about 1.5 to 2 inches between the cookies.
16. Repeat with all of the cookie dough. While working on the cookies, do note that the dough is sticky.
17. Now gently press the top of each oatmeal cookie with a spatula or the bottom of a glass to even it and make it smooth.
Bake
18. Place the cookie tray in the preheated oven in the center rack of an OTG. Bake oat cookies at 180° C (356° F) for 12 to 14 minutes or till the cookies become light golden.
Do not over-bake them or you’ll risk ending up with hard, crunchy cookies that resemble granola bars. To see if your cookies are ready, press the top of a cookie with a fork or spoon. It should not create any impression on it.
Since oven temperatures vary do keep a check. The timing can be less or more depending on the oven model, size and heating type.
19. Remove the tray from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 2 to 3 minutes.
20. After a few minutes, use a spatula to place the oatmeal cookies on a wired rack till they are cooled completely to room temperature.
21. Below is a photo of the bottom of the cookie. It should have a golden texture like this.
22. Once cooled, then store oatmeal cookies in an airtight jar. Serve oatmeal raisin cookie with milk or tea or coffee.
Oatmeal Cookies Substitutes & Variations
While I love these oatmeal raisin cookies just the way they are, there are plenty of opportunities to customize them to your liking:
- Use Quick Oats: I love the chew that old-fashioned rolled oats give these cookies. That said, you could use quick cooking oats or instant oats, but then you’ll need to add less milk for the dough.
- Make Them Softer: For a lighter texture in the cookies, use all-purpose flour. Adding a pinch of baking powder will also make them lighter.
- Make Them Vegan: Use vegan butter and almond milk or lite coconut milk.
- Switch Out Your Mix-Ins: Instead of (or in addition to) raisins, you could use any dried fruit or berries (e.g. cranberries, blueberries, blackberries, or currants), chopped dried dates, chocolate chips, or nuts like cashews, pecans, almonds, pine nuts, or pistachios.
- Swap Out Your Sugar: White granulated sugar can be powdered and used in the recipe. You can also use ⅓ cup + 2 tablespoons castor sugar or confectioner’s sugar or, ⅓ cup brown sugar or ⅓ cup maple syrup. For brown sugar, there is no need to powder it.
Expert Tips
Despite being a simple oatmeal cookie recipe, I do have a few words of wisdom for you. Here are some notes to keep in mind:
- Baking: Bake till the cookies are just beginning to turn light golden. Do not bake for a longer time as the cookies will harden.
- Use the right raisins. Do not use raisins with seeds in them. Either golden raisins (sultanas) or regular raisins can be used.
- Freezing: If you like the idea of always having a cookie warm from the oven within reach, freeze the dough into balls on a parchment-lined sheet. Once frozen through, you can add them to a container or zip-top bag to be frozen for up to 1 month.
Whenever you get a craving for a cookie, pop out however many you need and bake from frozen. You’ll just need to add 1 to 3 minutes of more bake time for them to come out perfectly.
FAQs
Sure! Just swap in a cup-for-cup all-purpose gluten-free flour substitute.
I use the method of cutting butter into the flour, which is usually employed for making shortbread-style cookies. Doing so helps to create an irresistibly crisp exterior, which pairs beautifully with the chewy oat center.
I personally prefer using old-fashioned rolled oats for the best, chewiest texture. That said, you can swap in instant or quick-cooking oats if you prefer. Just be sure to add the milk slowly, as doing so will require less liquid than regular oats.
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Oatmeal Cookies | Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup raw sugar – 60 grams or add white sugar
- ½ cup whole wheat flour – 60 to 70 grams
- ⅓ cup Butter – cold & unsalted, 50 grams
- ½ cup rolled oats – 60 grams or add quick cooking oats
- 2 tablespoons golden raisins
- 2 to 4 tablespoons milk – cold or chilled, add as required
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder (ground cinnamon)
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract ⅛ teaspoon vanilla essence
Instructions
Preparation
- Take the sugar in a grinder jar or coffee-grinder.
- Powder finely. Keep aside.If you prefer, you can use ⅓ cup + 2 tablespoons of store-bought powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar or castor sugar.
- Grease a pan or tray with some butter and keep aside. Also preheat oven at 180° C (356° F) for 15 minutes.Heat both the top and bottom heating elements of your oven or OTG.
Making oatmeal cookie dough
- Take whole wheat flour and cold unsalted butter in a mixing bowl.
- With a knife or pastry cutter, cut the butter in flour and make a bread crumb like texture in flour.
- You can also use your fingertips to mix the cold butter in the flour till the mixture resembles a bread crumb like texture. Alternatively a stand mixer also can be deployed. If the butter starts melting, then keep the mixture in the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Then add the powdered sugar or confectioner's sugar, cinnamon powder and vanilla extract.
- Next add rolled oats or quick cooking oats and 2 tablespoons golden raisins. Mix again well.
- Now add 2 to 4 tablespoons chilled (cold) milk in parts.
- Mix and bring the mixture together so that it binds into a dough. Do not knead.
- Just add enough milk in parts to mix and bind the mixture very well. The cookie dough will be sticky.
Making oatmeal cookies
- Now scoop out the dough with a tablespoon or any spoon.
- Place the scooped dough on the greased baking tray. Keep some space of about 1.5 to 2 inches between the cookies.
- Make cookies this way with the entire cookie dough. While working on the cookies, do note that the dough is sticky.
- Now gently press the top of each oatmeal cookie with a spatula just to even it and make it smooth.
- Place the cookie tray in the preheated oven in the center rack of an OTG or a regular oven.
- Bake the cookies at 180° C (356° F) for 12 to 14 minutes or till the cookies become light golden.
- Do not over bake them or make them too much golden as then oatmeal cookies will become hard. A way to test is with a spoon or fork press the top of the cookie. It should not create any impression on it.
- Remove the tray from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the pan for 2 to 3 minutes.
- Then using oven mitts and a spatula remove the cookie and place them on a wired rack.
- Once cooled then store oatmeal cookies in an airtight jar. Serve these chewy oatmeal raisin cookies with milk or tea or coffee.
Video
Notes
- Oats: You could use quick cooking oats or instant oats, but then add less milk while making the cookie dough.
- Flour: For a lighter texture in the cookies, use all-purpose flour. Adding a pinch of baking powder will also give a lighter texture.
- Vegan options: Use vegan butter and almond milk or lite coconut milk.
- Dry fruits, berries and nuts: You could use dried berries (cranberries, blueberries, black berries) or even chocolate chips or nuts like cashews, pecans, almonds, pine nuts, pistachios instead of raisins. Do not use raisins with seeds in them.
- Sugar: White granulated sugar can be powdered and used in the recipe. You can even use ⅓ cup + 2 tablespoons castor sugar or ⅓ cup brown sugar or ⅓ cup maple syrup. For brown sugar you do not need to powder it.
- Baking: Bake till the cookies are light golden. Do not bake for a longer time as the cookies will become dense and hard.
Nutrition Info (Approximate Values)
This Oatmeal Cookies recipe from the archives, originally published in November 2017 has been updated and republished on February 2023.
Hello, I am a big fan of ur recipes, always try ur recipes and it comes out perfect but I don’t have oven. So, please share recipe of choco chip cookies with out oven.
Thank you. Will try to add.
Hi dassana, can we skip vanilla essence or vanilla extract, this is for just smell purpose or does it give any extra taste, can we add cinnamon powder in this, if yes, what’s the quantity
It is for the aroma. You can add 1/4th to 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon powder.
Hi dassana, thanks for this lovely and healthy recipe, I have a doubt, in convection otg which mode should I use (both bottom and top rod on or only bottom rods on)
Both the top and bottom rods can be used and give better results
Can we use peanut butter (crunchy) instead of regular butter?
you can try. but with peanut butter the taste and texture will be different.
Hi,
At what temperature and for how long will I need to bake these in a convection microwave?
in the convection mode of microwave oven preheat as well as bake for 170 degrees celsius.
Hi Dassana, can chocolate chips be used in this recipe instead of raisins? Thank you!
yes apurva you can add chocolate chips instead of raisins.
Thanks a million times ????????????????????????
I needed an oatmeal cookie recipe for so long and this is even the cherry on cake as it has no baking powder or soda
How better can healthy be defined
Again Thanku
I just had one query can we make it more healthier by adding gur powder like you added in the coconut biscuit recipe ????
thanks amandeep. yes of course you can add jaggery powder. but taste and texture will be different with jaggery powder. jaggery will give some moistness in the cookies.
Superb recipe turned out great. But the raisins turned black which I see also in your picture. Anything I can do to avoid that? Also can I replace sugar and butter with jaggery powder and ghee or olive oil ? If yes then what would be the quantity required. Thank you
thanks khaitan. the color or raisins will change as they will get caramelized due to the baking. at the most if you see any raisin on top of the cookie, then remove it and keep it inside the cookie. you can also skip raisins. you can use ghee or olive oil and even jaggery powder. with oil or ghee and jaggery powder the texture will be soft and the taste will be different. jaggery you can take the same amount as that of sugar. oil you can take about ¼ cup. ghee can be ⅓ cup.
Hi I wanted to know if I could use jaggery powder instead of sugar powder and if yes how much quantity to use? Also can I use olive oil instead of butter?
Khaitan, use the same amount of jaggery. Yes you can use olive oil.
Hi Dassana,
How can I make the cookies soft and chewy instead of crisp. I want to make these for my toddler who only has 4 teeth 🙂 Please advise!
Thank you!
jinal, for soft cookies, do not add butter. add oil. then like we do for samosa or kachori dough, mix the oil with the flour till you get a breadcrumb like consistency. also add some more milk and make a softer and more sticky cookie dough consistency. generally for softer and cake like cookies baking soda is added, but for a toddler i would not advise addition of baking soda or baking powder. some apple sauce or banana puree added in the cookie will also make them soft. in case you add apple sauce or banana puree, then reduce the sugar and reduce the amount of milk.
jinal, for soft cookies, do not add chilled butter. you can add melted butter or add oil. if using oil, then add ¼ cup. melted butter can be ¼ to ⅓ cup. you can add then like we do for samosa or kachori dough, mix the oil with the flour till you get a breadcrumb like consistency. also add some more milk and make a softer and more sticky cookie dough consistency. generally for softer and cake like cookies baking soda is added, but for a toddler i would not advise addition of baking soda or baking powder. some apple sauce or banana puree added in the cookie will also make them soft. in case you add apple sauce or banana puree, then reduce the sugar and reduce the amount of milk.
Thank you soo much! Will give it a try and get back to you.
Welcome Jinal
Ok Dassana i will try again. I especially liked that you dint use chemicals like baking powder and baking soda in these cookies and they still turned out great! Please continue posting such healthy cookies! 🙂
thanks anjana. depending on the recipe one can give baking powder and baking soda a miss. however usually in eggless cakes both these two ingredients are needed. if only eggs were used, then these two ingredients can be given a skip. sure, i will try to add more such recipes.
Hi Dassana my were a bit crispy on the day i baked them but got soft the next day. What did i do wrong? They still taste yum though!! Thank you 🙂
Welcome Anjana. When you store the oats cookies then they should be completely cooled at room temperature. if the cookies are slightly hot or warm and you store them, then the cookies will become soft due to the moisture from condensation.
Hi dassana looks yum! Can this recipe be doubled?
Thanks Anjana. Yes you can double this oats cookies recipe.