Chewy whole wheat oatmeal raisin cookies that are chock full of goodness, in the form of rolled oats, cinnamon, raisins and our special ad-in, walnuts.
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Anyone who knows us well knows that we are cookie people! We love cookies of all kinds, and our whole wheat oatmeal cookies are right up there at the top of our list, they are lip smacking good!
Because we love cookies so much we decided to do a whole series of cookie recipes, you can see them all below:
- Chocolate chip cookies
- Snickerdoodle cookies
- Soft molasses cookies
- Oatmeal raisin cookies (this recipe)
- Orange coconut cookies
- Cut out sugar cookies
- Double chocolate cookies
- Peanut butter cookies
What's Cool About This Recipe
- 100% whole grain: We use 100% whole wheat flour to make these cookies, fresh milled soft white wheat is our favorite type of whole wheat flour to use.
- Chewy: They have an ultra chewy texture.
- Customizable: If you don’t like raisins and just want a plain oatmeal cookie you can leave out the raisins or trade them for chocolate chips.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Whole wheat flour: We use flour milled from soft white wheat (whole wheat pastry flour), spelt or hard white wheat.
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Cinnamon: Ground cinnamon that you find in the spice aisle, we like this one from Anthony’s.
- Rolled oats: Use old fashioned rolled oats, we like to avoid thick rolled oats.
- Butter: We use unsalted butter most of the time, you can also use salted butter. The flavor of the butter will affect the flavor of your cookies, the more fresh it is the better. Our favorite brand is Kerrygold.
- Brown sugar: You can use light or dark brown sugar. If you don’t have brown sugar you can use regular sugar with a little molasses mixed in, about 1 teaspoon for ½ cup of sugar.
- Granulated sugar: We always use raw granulated cane sugar. Florida Crystals is one of our favorite brands (for regular and brown sugar).
- Egg
- Vanilla
- Raisins: We suggest using fresh raisins that are soft. If you have hardened raisins you can soak them in warm water until they soften up, just drain them very well, and blot dry before adding them to the cookie dough.
- Walnuts (optional): You can also use pecans.
See recipe card for quantities.
Variations
- Trade the raisins for chocolate chips for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
Instruction Photos
Overview of instructions with photos. See recipe card for quantities and full instructions.
Step 1: Cream the butter and sugars together until well combined.
Step 2: Add the egg and vanilla, beat until lightened in color and fluffy.
Step 3: Add the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, mix until combined.
Step 4: Add the oats, raisins and nuts and mix to combine.
Step 5: Scoop out the cookie dough and place 2-3 inches apart on an ungreased or parchment paper lined baking sheet.
Step 6: Bake for 10-12 minutes or until set and the tops no longer look shiny.
Serving Suggestions
Our favorite things to serve with whole wheat oatmeal cookies are:
- Milk
- Coffee
- Tea
- Hot cocoa
- Homemade ice cream
Storage
Store completely cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days.
How to Freeze
To freeze baked cookies: place the cookies into a freezer safe bag or container, label and freeze for up to 3 months (if the cookies are soft, freeze them in a single layer, on a tray before placing into the bag).
To freeze cookie dough: Arrange scoops of cookie dough close, but not touching on a parchment paper lined tray or plate, freeze for 1-2 hours or until the cookie dough balls are firm. Place the cookie dough into a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
To bake frozen cookie dough: remove however many cookie dough balls you want to bake. Place onto a cookie sheet and bake according to recipe instructions (you may need to bake them 1-2 minutes longer to account for the frozen dough).
Tips From Our Kitchen
Don’t over bake the cookies or they will be very hard and crunchy.
Our biggest tip for making cookies is to do a test bake: after you mix up the dough, bake 1 cookie to see if it spreads too much or too little. That way you can adjust the dough if needed before you bake the whole batch of cookies.
Cookies that spread too much and are thin need more flour.
Cookies that don’t spread and stay in a rounded shape have too much flour and need some liquid such as milk to thin it out.
We like to err on the side of not enough flour at first, because it is easier to add more flour than to add liquid to the dough.
This recipe can be made with hard white wheat flour, you will need a little less flour than the recipe calls for.
When using fresh ground/milled flour, be sure to let it cool off before using in your cookie dough.
FAQ
Hard and crunchy oatmeal cookies are usually the result of 2 things (1) They were over baked (2) They were exposed to the air for too long after baking and dried out.
Place the hard cookies in an airtight container with a muffin or slice of bread and leave for a few hours or overnight. The cookies will soak up moisture from the muffin or bread and soften.
Related Recipes
📖 Recipe
Whole Wheat Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup packed (105 g) brown sugar
- ¼ cup (52 g) granulated cane sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (120 g) soft white wheat flour whole wheat pastry flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups (180 g) rolled oats not thick cut
- ½ cup (72 g) raisins
- ½ cup (64 g) chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F with the rack in the center, or upper third position.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, beat ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, ½ cup packed (105 g) brown sugar and ¼ cup (52 g) granulated cane sugar together until fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add 1 large egg and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, beat until lightened in color and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add 1 cup (120 g) soft white wheat flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, and ¼ teaspoon salt, mix until well combined.
- Add 1½ cups (180 g) rolled oats, ½ cup (72 g) raisins and ½ cup (64 g) chopped walnuts, mix until well combined
- We recommend doing a trial bake before baking the whole batch of cookies, see the note section below.
- Using a 1½ tablespoon cookie scoop, or two spoons, scoop out the cookie dough.
- Place 2-3 inches apart on an ungreased or parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are set and the tops are no longer shiny.
- Cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Notes
Nutrition
We calculate these nutritional facts using an estimate and they can vary drastically between ingredients used and measuring technique. So, they are not intended for medical use.
Did you make this recipe? We would love to hear from you!