Personally, I like oatmeal raisin cookies more than chocolate chip cookies.  I think I stand alone in this position  😉  But I find that most bakery cookies are either too “oaty”, too heavily spiced, or too thick (I prefer them on the thinner side).  So I set out on a mission to find my favourite chewy oatmeal raisin cookie recipe.  I tried 8 different recipes and here is the best one.  They are buttery, soft and chewy in the middle, and they have beautifully crisp edges.  Check out my tips for baking cookies.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Recipe

makes 3 dozen chewy cookies; adapted from Cuisine Magazine (originally posted here).

1 cup salted butter, softened at room temperature

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups oats, not instant (Note:  If you use rolled oats, you will get a thinner and more buttery cookie.  If you used quick cooking oats, you will get a thicker, softer, and chewier cookie.)

1 cup granulated white sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs, at room temperature  (Note:  If your eggs are used straight from the refrigerator, then the cookies won’t spread out as thinly but they will still be nice and soft and chewy.)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

pinch ground nutmeg

1 1/2 cups raisins

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.  In the stand mixer bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until fluffy and lighter in colour.  Beat in the eggs one at a time and then beat in the vanilla extract.  Gently mix in the dry ingredients until just combined.  Then gently mix in the oats and the raisins until just mixed together.  Using a #40 cookie dough scoop, drop balls of cookie dough onto a  silpat (silicone) mat lined baking sheet at least 2 inches apart.  (Or gently roll the dough into golf ball sized balls using approximately 2 tbsp of cookie dough.)  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the edges are golden.  Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.  Enjoy warm or at room temperature.  These freeze beautifully.  Simply defrost at room temperature before serving.