These are fantastic oatmeal cookies. They’re a beautiful combination of crunchy and chewy, with a great flavor. They’re as good as anything you could buy at an excellent bakery.
Oatmeal Cookies
24
4-inch diameter cookiesThe very definition of an oatmeal cookie.
Ingredients
210g (1½ cup) flour
35g (1/4 cup) whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
175g (1¾ cup) old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant or quick-cooking)
240g (1¾ cups) raisins
225g (1 cup, or 2 sticks) butter, room temperature
150g (2/3 cup) granulated sugar
200g (1 cup) packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
Directions
- For the dough:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg, making sure there are no lumps, about 30 seconds on low speed (2 out of 10). Stir in the oats and raisins until well mixed, about 10 seconds on lowest speed.
- Beat the butter and sugars until very light and fluffy, ramping up to speed 4 (of 10) for 1 minute, and continuing at speed 6, for 4 more minutes. Scrape down the side of the bowl.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until thoroughly combined, 15 seconds per egg, ramping up to speed 4 each time. Scrape down the side of the bowl. On lowest speed, add the flour and oat mixture in about 5 or 6 additions, scraping down the side of the bowl from time to time. Give the dough a final mix by hand, making sure that all the dry ingredients (especially at the bottom of the bowl) have been incorporated.
- Cover and chill the batter a few hours or overnight.
- To bake the cookies:
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (see note). Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.
- Drop the dough in 1/4-cup (55g) balls evenly spaced on the baking sheet. (About 6 cookies per baking sheet.)
- Bake the cookies for 20 to 22 minutes. Midway during baking, rotate the baking sheet (and slap the tops of the cookies down with a spatula to flatten the domes). (See “Social Learning, below.) The cookies are done when they just start to turn brown across the top; do not overbake. Remove from oven. Cool on the sheet for 10 minutes, then move to a rack to cool completely.
Notes
- To my way of thinking, “stir” means to use the stand mixer’s paddle attachment on lowest speed. “Beat” means to use that same attachment at a higher speed. (“Whip” means to use the whisk, and “knead” means to use the dough hook.)
- You have to take special care that the dry ingredients get mixed into the wet. Although you could refrigerate the dough in the stand mixer bowl, I recommend that you transfer it to a different bowl. That way, you’ll be able to grab up anything dry and mix it in by hand.
- My oven’s manual recommends baking cookies with the rack in what it calls the “2” position, which is one notch higher than the normal position. Should you raise your rack? I don’t know. Doing so, though, may affect the baking time. Mine were done at the shorter (20 minute) end of the window.
- When you remove the cookies from the sheet, they may seem softer and more delicate in the center than you’d prefer. You may feel that you need to use a spatula to transfer them from the sheet to the rack, or otherwise risk that they’ll fall apart. That delicacy will correct itself and become “chewiness” once the cookies are fully cooled. If you want to bake the next batch longer, so that you’re able to transfer them to the rack with your hands, fine. But be careful about this. Keep at least a small amount of that delicacy, because the cookies will firm up decidedly once fully cool.
- Once cool, the cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days, although if you can grab one right off the cooling rack, do so.
The Backstory
This recipe is modeled after one by David Lebovitz. I modified it to suit my own tastes and to be more explicit about the directions … but mainly to incorporate some wheat flour. I think a small amount of wheat flour makes for a more interesting cookie – not enough to make it seem wheaty, but just enough to deepen the flavor.
This isn’t my first trip around the block with an oatmeal cookie recipe. But as I said in that previous post, those cookies are good, but I knew I hadn’t found a recipe that I was completely in love with. This one is it. These cookies are professional-level good, so long as what you’re expecting is a down-to-earth, honest-to-goodness, solidly-in-the-bull’s-eye oatmeal cookie without extraneous bells and whistles.
Social Learning
According to Lebovitz, the dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week, or frozen for up to two months. I didn’t test this.
When it comes to flattening the cookies, I did so at first in order to dilligently follow the original recipe. But I wondered about it, since the cookies didn’t seem to dome enough to make a difference. So, I declined to flatten a few, and there is indeed a difference. Both versions are an excellent combination of crunchy/chewy, but the flattened onces are noticeably on the chewier side. I do think that the unflattened ones may be prettier, though.
Substitutions: I’ve made these cookies with cherries instead of raisins. In this context, you can’t really tell that they’re cherries – that flavor doesn’t come through – but you know how raisins caramelize in the best way? Well, it seems that cherries do that more readily. So, loved it. I’ve also tried swapping out most of the brown sugar for white sugar: I’m going to say “disappointing,” but that’s only because I knew what they could be otherwise. All-white or mostly-white sugar changes the color and texture, and turns the cookie into something simple. It reminds me a lot of the oatmeal cookies my mom made when I was kid. Oatmeal-forward, nice … indeed, pretty respectable. But sort of one-dimentional. Honorable mentions in a field of good candidates.
When I say that the dough balls should weigh 55 grams, am I suggesting that you actually weigh them? Yes. I mean, you don’t have to go nuts: err by accepting one that’s a few grams less, rather than a few grams more, but weight them. This is how I produce cookies that are uniform in size, which allows me to get them all perfectly baked. Am I absurdly excessive? Of course! How do you think I got through grad school? Is there no way you’ll ever weigh your cookies? Ok, here’s what you do, then: when you’ve finished the dough, spoon it into a gallon-sized Ziploc, press it into an even thickenss, then seal the ban and refrigerate. When you’re ready to bake, lay the bag on a cutting board, cut the bag open so you can get the dough out in one piece, and cut the dough into 24 equal rectangles. (Cut it into quarters, cut each quater in half, and cut all these pieces into thirds.) How close you’ll come to same-size cookies will depend on how uniform you got the dough when you flattened it into the bag, and how good your are at eyeballing. Regardless, it won’t be perfect: most of the cookies will be top-notch, but a few will wind up overbaked, and maybe one will wind up underbaked … but not to the point that it will be a serious problem. Just don’t expect to get “top baker” that week. 🙂
You can easily bake two trays at once on different racks. Halfway through, swap the lower and upper, and turn the sheets around.
Stand Mixer Tips: 1) While you’re creaming the butter and sugar, you may get tiny bits of spatter. Some fancier mixters have a spatter guard. If yours doesn’t – neither does mine, so we’re all in the same boat here – you can very loosely wrap a tea towel around the mixer and hold it there as you’re mixing. I generally try to use a speed that won’t cause spatter, but sometimes, cooks gonna spatter. 2) Don’t be at all surprised if you wind up with some dry ingredients at the bottom of the mixing bowl, even though the rest of the batter seems well mixed. It would be a bad idea to keep mixing and mixing and mixing until these dry bits are incorporated. Cookie dough does not like that. Instead, you’ll need to mix that bit in by hand … but it’s hard to do; this is a very stiff dough. So instead, do this: each time you make a dry-ingredient addition, first pull the paddle up out of the dough and knock all the dough off of it and back into the mixing bowl. Then remove the bowl from the mixer and spoon your addition onto the part of the dough that looks least likely to allow it to fall right down to the bottom. Replace the bowl and continue mixing. This will put the dry ingredients right into the path of the paddle, and they’ll tend to incorporate without collecing at the bottom of the bowl. Do this carefully enough, and there’ll be no dry bits when your’e done.
Oatmeal Cookies
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They look crisp yet chewy…perfect oatmeal cookies in my book, Jeff.
angiesrecipes recently posted…Creamy Goat Cheese Soup with Dill and Macadamias
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Howdy, Jeff. Looks like an excellent recipe. Oatmeal raisin cookies, when done right, are my very favorite cookie.
Oh yeah, mine too!
I know many people are skeptical about raisins, but in my childhood oat cookies and raisins always went together, and I still think it’s a good and earthy combo 🙂 The cookies look delicious and inviting!
Really! Raisin skeptics! What is the world coming to? 😉
Professional-level good? Ok, you’ve got my attention now, Jeff! I trust your opinion when it comes to food, so I think I might need to give this recipe a try. I do love (!!) oatmeal cookies.
David @ Spiced recently posted…Anadama Bread
Well, I hope I haven’t overstated the case, but I do think they’re as good as what you could find in a good bakery. If you try them, let me know what you think!
I noticed the wheat flour in the ingredients list right away, and was completely intrigued! You’ve convinced me Jeff, I can definitely see how wheat flour would deepen the flavor. Absolutely genius. I’ve got to make these!
Shannon recently posted…Tahini Cauliflower Flatbreads
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Nothing like a good old fashioned oatmeal cookie with raisins. I’m always happy to have a tried and true recipe. Thanks Jeff
Judee recently posted…Mini Blueberry Muffins-Vegan, GF, Oil-Free
Thanks!
In theory I like the idea of freezing cookie dough, and just baking cookies when the craving hits. Also in theory I like the idea of baking a batch of cookies, then portioning them and freezing to satisfy later cravings. In practice? Heck, I just bake — and consume! — the whole batch. 🙂 This looks good — really like oatmeal in cookies, and you’ve done a terrific job with this recipe. Thanks.
John / Kitchen Riffs recently posted…Mexican-Spiced Braised Short Ribs
Thanks! We’re definitely on the same page, especially since baked cookies freeze so well, and thaw so quickly.
Love cookies Jeff and these looks amazing!!
Gloria Roa Baker recently posted…Apple and almonds galette (Galette de manzanas y almendras laminadas)
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Chewy and crispy – that would give my husband and me both some enjoyment. He likes chewy and I like crispy – so YUM! I agree that a little wheat flour substituted for white flour does make baked goods more interesting. Great looking cookies!
mjskitchen recently posted…Herb Milk and Butter Sweet Corn
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Jeff when I first saw this recipe, I thought yep this is a riff on our Aussie Anzac biscuits which I blogged. There are similarities, such as the rolled oats, however yours doesn’t use golden syrup or bicarbonate of soda. It’s interesting when I made my Anzacs last Anzac Day, I realised the secret was to chill the dough before baking to stop them spreading, and a light press of a fork and they were perfect. So I think yours are a winner, and I will give them a go, I like the raisins in them as well. However its a great idea to have some dough frozen for a random baking session when the mood hits me. Great post thankyou, will try them out this weekend.
Pauline recently posted…Chocolate Beetroot Cake – In My Kitchen, September 2021
Golden syrup is hard to come by where I live, but I’ve read so many recipes that call for it. I’m curious to have a jar shipped to me sometime, so I can try a few things out. I’ve never frozen cookie dough. I’m guessing that you’d form it into balls, and freeze it in a way that would prevent them from sticking together. And then do the cookies go directly into the oven? Or do you have to thaw the dough first?
To flatten, or not to flatten… I like your kitchen research. I also immediately noticed the addition of the whole wheat flour — and also the addition of nutmeg. That is new to me in oatmeal cookies. And, while not yet having made them or eaten one, I would venture to say they would be better than any bakery’s output.
I really like them. I love oatmeal cookies, and these are the best I’ve made.
Oatmeal cookies are my favourite cookies – I enjoy those subtle flavours much more than the bolder flavours of chocolate chips cookies a lot of the time. Somehow they feel cozy and comforting! I love the look of yours Jeff and I am definitely inspired to make a batch!
Katerina recently posted…Date and chocolate granola [low in refined sugar]
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Jeff, I love your commitment to finding the perfect oatmeal cookie, which is also my favorite. The addition of the whole wheat flour sounds good to me. These will definitely be on my holiday baking list…
Excellent! Thank you, Ron.
Outmeal has always been my love since I get into lose some extra pounds. This recipe has made me mad, will try it for sure and loving it.
Lots of love for you.
Questi golosi biscotti li copio subito, grazie chef!!!!
speedy70 recently posted…TIRAMISU’ ai FICHI
Oatmeal cookies are definitely one of my favourites and the precise combo of chewy and crispy is the ultimate tell of a great cookie. I like to portion out my cookies on a parchment line cookie sheet and freeze them so that we have to be deliberate on how many cookies we want to bake up to eat. Usually, we are both conservative and choose one, then you have to really think about having to reheat the oven and wait 20 or so minutes for the second cookie to bake, then cool. So we usually stop at one. There is method to my madness.
Eva Taylor recently posted…Quick Sugar Snap Peas with Sesame
Now that’s clever!