Oatmeal Cookies

Are you ready to meet the best oatmeal cookie ever? Cue the dramatic music. 😉

I’ve made a variety of oatmeal cookies. Some recipes were crap and you’ll never see those here (because I won’t waste your time). Other recipes were great and I still like them for one reason or another. For example, if you’re looking for a banana oatmeal cookie then the whole wheat banana oatmeal cookies are awesome.

However, I had yet to find a good classic oatmeal cookie. You know, the good old fashion kind with oats and raisins. No cutting back on butter and sugar. And yes, I did say raisins. My husband insisted and since he made these cookies and found and fine tuned the recipe, I conceded. Actually, I’m not opposed to raisins in oatmeal cookies, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I’d rather there be chocolate chips. 😉

After a couple of test batches, today’s recipe is spot on. These oatmeal cookies cannot get any better. They are chewy on the inside and have a slightly crunchy exterior. We found that the instant oats make the cookies more tender, as opposed to using old fashioned oats. We also discovered that even for people that are huge fans of golden raisins, the dark “normal” raisins are actually better in these cookies. Go figure.

You probably can’t tell from the photos but these cookies are ginormous, using a whopping 1/4 cup of cookie batter for each cookie. That’s the only way my husband makes cookies. One size fits all, as long as everyone wants big cookies. More is better so I can’t argue with him for his approach. If I were in charge I’d probably use my medium size Oxo cookie scoop to make “normal” sized cookies. If you go this route then make sure that you reduce the baking time since this recipe is based on “husband sized” cookies.

Also, my husband is super proud to say that this recipe does NOT require any chilling time in the fridge. I have to admit that I was skeptical, but it worked. However, I do want to point out that the second, third, etc. batch of cookies that are waiting to be baked will spread less than the previous batch. There’s really no way around this, even if you did wait or chill the initial batch that went into the oven because the rest of the cookie batter still has to wait.

Making these was a bit of an adventure. They are based on researching about 4 different recipes and combining the parts that are the best of each. That’s just how my husband bakes new things, and I’m honestly floored at how well his approach turns “I’ve never found a good oatmeal cookie recipe.” into “Holy cow, these are fantastic, how did you do that?” He’s really very good at improvising recipes by researching several related ones.

Then, once he’s crafted what he figures is the best combo of the recipes, he’s also willing to make a batch and fine tune it for another round later on. No rest for the wicked I guess. The version presented here are the second pass at this recipe for him, and even though there weren’t any significant differences, I have to admit the second set were actually better.

Oatmeal Cookies Recipe
(makes 18 cookies)

Ingredients:

1 cup butter room temperature butter, equivalent to 2 sticks
1 cup dark brown sugar, tightly packed
1/2 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (equivalent to 7.6 ounces)
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 cups instant oats
1 cup raisins

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
In a very large bowl, beat the butter for about 30 seconds.
Add in the brown sugar and white sugar and beat it until it’s creamy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until it’s combined.
Add the vanilla extract and beat until it’s combined. These are the wet ingredients. Set the bowl aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. These are the dry ingredients.
Gradually add the dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients and beat until everything is mixed together.
Gradually add the oats into the bowl and beat again until everything is mixed together.
Add the raisins and beat until they are evenly mixed into the cookie dough.
Using a 1/4 measuring cup full of dough for each cookie, scoop out dough, form it into a ball with your hands, and then then slightly flatten it.
Bake them 6 to a tray in the preheated oven for about 12 minutes or until slightly browned on the edges.
Let them rest for about 10 minutes on the pan and transfer them to a cooling rack once you can move them without them falling apart. The delay here is very important.