If you like regular oatmeal cookies, then you’ll love these craisin oatmeal cookies! They’re all the chewy deliciousness of traditional oatmeal or oatmeal raisin cookies but with a great tartness that enhances these already delicious cookies. They’re easy enough to make with kids, and they freeze wonderfully! Make a double batch so you have them on hand anytime you’re in the mood for some oatmeal craisin cookies.
I’ve made this oatmeal craisin cookie recipe for close to 30 years. First when I worked as a professional baker and again as my kids grew up. My older daughter has always loved these oatmeal craisin cookies and still asks me to make them. In fact, I made a batch for her to take back to college after winter break this year. These cookies travel well! If you love cookies, you’ll also love my Molasses Spice Cookies, Carmelitas, and Valentine M&M Cookies.
Why You’ll Love Oatmeal Craisin Cookies
- They’re fun to make and easy enough for kids to help.
- They’re a great twist on the traditional oatmeal raisin or plain oatmeal cookie recipe.
- The recipe is easily adaptable to make a variety of oatmeal cookies.
- Oatmeal cookies make a filling afternoon snack. Pair them with milk or yogurt for a great mix of protein and carbohydrates. If you’d like more snack ideas, try our nut free energy balls and read our blog post, 20 Easy, Afternoon Snack Ideas.
Ingredients You Need to Make the Best Oatmeal Craisin Cookies
- Unsalted butter, room temperature* – Unsalted butter gives you the most control over the taste of whatever you’re baking. And room temperature butter is easier to cream which makes it easier to bind together with the sugar. If your butter isn’t room temperature, fear not! Here’s a great article with directions to soften butter.
- Dark brown sugar – Dark brown sugar contains more molasses than light brown so it gives baked goods a chewier texture and more depth of flavor.
- Granulated sugar
- Large eggs, room temperature* – Using the size of eggs called for in baking is important because eggs impact the cookie batter. If the eggs are too small, the cookies may be too dry. If the eggs are too large, the dough will be wet, which means the cookies may be wet and tough.
- Vanilla extract – I use Neilson Massey Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract because it’s what I used when I was a professional baker in the 90s. If you make your own, that’s even better because homemade is much less expensive.
- All-purpose flour – Use your favorite brand or what’s on sale.
- Old-fashioned rolled oats work best in this recipe to give the cookies a nice chewy texture.
- Ground cinnamon and nutmeg – As with all dried herbs and spices, make sure they aren’t over 6 months old, or they begin to lose their flavor.
- Baking soda is a leavening agent used in recipes that have an acidic ingredient required to activate it. Not to be confused with baking powder, which is also a leavening agent but self-activating.
- Salt – All my baking recipes call for table salt. Morton’s salt is a perfect example. Table salt has smaller crystals, so it dissolves more easily into the batter, which means it will distribute throughout the cookie dough more easily.
- Craisins – Or other dried cranberries or berries.
* Bringing eggs and dairy products like butter and milk to room temperature helps those ingredients bind with the other ingredients better when mixed. This makes for the best oatmeal cookies with a smoother, better consistency to the end result.
Substitutions & Alterations
- If you love the combined sweetness of white chocolate and the tartness of dried cranberries, add ½ cup white chocolate chips into the dough mix.
- If you love nuts in cookies, add ½ cup chopped walnuts, pecans, or pistachios.
- Are you in the mood for chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies? Omit the dried cranberries and add 1 cup of semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips.
- Ocean Spray makes a variety of fruit-infused craisins that are really good for switching up the flavor of these cookies. They’re available in blueberry, cherry, and pomegranate flavors.
How to Make Oatmeal Craisin Cookies
Follow these simple directions for the best chewy oatmeal cookies ever!
- Cream the butter on medium-high for about 2 minutes in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment or in a large bowl using a hand mixer.
- Crack the eggs into a small bowl and discard the shells. While the mixer is off, add the eggs to the butter, sugar, and vanilla mixture. Mix on medium-low until blended.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt.
- With the mixer turned off, add the flour and oat mixture to the butter, sugar, and egg mixture. Turn the mixer to low and mix just until the ingredients are combined.
- Remove the bowl from the stand mixer.
- Add the craisins and any other optional ingredients. Stir them in using a rubber spatula or mixing spoon.
7. Scoop the cookie dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet using a 1 Tablespoon cookie scoop.
8. As you scoop the cookie dough, place the balls of dough an inch or so apart so they have room to spread as they bake.
9. Gently push down on the tops of each ball of dough.
10. Bake the oatmeal craisin cookies in a preheated 350°F oven. 7-8 minutes for soft, chewy cookies and 9-10 minutes for a cake-like cookie.
Tips from a Registered Dietitian
You don’t have to wait for a special occasion to bake cookies. Diet culture wants us to believe we should (there’s that word) limit sweets. But when we limit sweets, that increases interest in them.
This is backed by research that you can read more about in our blog post, Variety: It’s Not Just About Fruits and Veggies. And if you enjoy podcasts, Episode 75: Feeding Your Family with Nicole Cruz may be helpful.
And cookies aren’t “junk” despite the diet and wellness culture messaging creating fear and confusion around food and its impact on health. We often hear messages like, “Sugar is empty calories” or “Sugar is bad for you.” The fact is that sugar isn’t bad for you. It’s a carbohydrate, which is a nutrient your body needs. These oatmeal cookies also contain protein from eggs and oats, carbohydrates from flour, oats, and craisins, and fats from eggs and butter. There’s also fiber in the oats. These are all nutrients our body needs.
What Can I Do with Leftover Oatmeal Craisin Cookies?
I love this question! If you have any leftover oatmeal cookies, they certainly lend themselves well to a lot of creative uses.
- Crumble them and use them on top of ice cream or yogurt. Use crumbled oatmeal cookies on top of peanut butter (or sunbutter) toast).
- Try folding crumbled oatmeal cookies into blondie batter for extra flavor and texture.
- Another option is to make oatmeal cookie ice cream sandwiches with leftovers. Vanilla or cinnamon ice cream sandwiched between oatmeal craisin cookies sounds so good, doesn’t it?
- And last, serve any leftover oatmeal cookies with a side of warm, cooked apples.
How Do You Store Oatmeal Craisin Cookies?
Store cookies in a well-sealed, airtight container like a Rubbermaid glass container or cookie tin. Stored properly, these oatmeal cookies will be good for 2-3 days at room temperature.
Can You Freeze Oatmeal Cookies?
Definitely, these cookies freeze beautifully. Make a double batch and freeze the others for the next time you’re in the mood for homemade oatmeal cookies without the fuss.
How Do You Freeze Oatmeal Cookies?
Once the cookies are completely cool, place them in a plastic Ziplock bag or other food-safe container, label the container with the contents and date, and place them in the freezer until you’re in the mood for more oatmeal craisin cookies.
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More recipes and family feeding tips you love
Oatmeal Craisin Cookies
Oatmeal Craisin CookiesIngredients
- 1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt Morton's table salt
- One 7 oz bag of craisins approximately 1 3/4 cups dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Cream the butter on medium-high for about 2 minutes in the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment. If you don't have a stand mixer, no problem. Cream the butter in a large bowl.
- Add the sugars and vanilla extract to the bowl and mix on medium-high until light and fluffy. (About 2 minutes depending on the type of mixer you're using).
- Turn off the mixer and use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl.
- Crack the eggs into a small bowl and discard the shells. While the mixer is still off, add the eggs to the butter, sugar, vanilla mixture. Mix on medium low until blended.
- Turn off the mixer again and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatual to gather any of the butter/sugar mixture that the paddle attachment (or beaters) may have missed.
- In a seperate large mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, salt.
- With the mixer turned off, add the flour mixture to the butter, sugar, and egg mixutre. Turn the mixer on low and mix just until the ingredients are combined.
- Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and add the craisins and stir them in by hand using a rubber spatula or mixing spoon.
- Scoop the cookie dough using a 1 Tablespoon cookie scoop. If you don't have a cookie scoop, you can use a spoon to scoop the dough out of the bowl and roll the dough into balls. Don't worry if they aren't exactly the same size. You do want them fairly similar in size so you don't end up with some of the cookies under or over cooked.
- As you scoop the cookie dough, place the balls of dough an inch or so apart on a parchment-lined 1/2 sheet pan.
- With the palm of your hand or a rubber spatula, gently push down on the tops of each dough ball.
- *Bake the cookies for 7-8 minutes for sof, chewy cookies and for 9-10 minutes for a more cake like cookie.
Notes
We’re Elizabeth & Anna!
It’s great to have you here. We’re registered dietitians and we share tips to support you in raising kids with a healthy relationship with food.
This recipe is a real keeper. My oven thermometer read 350º and I baked for 12 minutes. Shorter times didn’t work for me.
Chris, Thanks so much for the feedback! Glad you like the recipe. I’ll double check my oven temp and cooking time on this.
HI Chris, I’ve tested the oven temp and time a number of more times. I wonder if you’re using a larger dough scoop than I use?