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Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Soft chewy oatmeal raisin cookie recipe with rolled oats, soft raisins, and a secret ingredient! The famous NYC bakery, Levain Bakery’s copycat oatmeal raisin cookie recipe.
Levain Bakery Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Levain Bakery is the king of cookies. There is a reason for the constant long line that stretches in front of their New York City bakery. I fell in love with their cookies and was determined to create a copycat recipe for their famous oatmeal raisin cookies.
The cookies are Levain Bakery are HUGE. They measure about 6 ounces but you can also make these cookies about 3-4 ounces in size. Large or small, it doesn’t matter, because these are the best oatmeal raisin cookies!
I started with their Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookie and it has been my #1 recipe with a 5-star rating. I couldn’t stop there, so I went back to the kitchen to create copycat recipes for their Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookie and Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies. As the comments started to come in, people began to beg for their Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe.
I went back to my kitchen to figure out how to make these extraordinary cookies. Oh boy, I was beyond happy with the results! The texture of these Levain Bakery Oatmeal Raisin Cookies came out perfect with a nice chew to it, a crispy edge, all without being overly sweet. You could almost eat these for breakfast because of their hearty goodness.
Growing up, my Mama’s favorite cookies were always oatmeal raisin cookies. I always tried to convince her that chocolate chips needed to replace the raisins but somehow she always won the battle. She would pull out her big yellow bowl and I would slip on her vintage floral apron.
I was the dedicated “beater licker” and it was always my favorite cookie dough to eat but I would pick out the raisins! To this day, I go crazy over this cookie dough….and now eat the raisins.
The beauty of the Levain Bakery cookie is that it is thick without being cakey and is the only oatmeal raisin cookie recipe that I have that is still soft and fresh 3 days later. It makes them such a soft oatmeal raisin cookie. It is the secret ingredient that keeps it that way! These are the best oatmeal raisin cookies.
SECRET tips and tricks to make these Levain Bakery Oatmeal Raisin Cookies extra special:
- Use very cold butter. Now, I am not talking about throwing two cubes of cold butter into the mixer and hoping the butter will incorporate into the sugars. Nope. The key is to cut the butter with a knife into small cubes, making it easier to cream with the sugar. Cream for at least 4 minutes on high until light and fluffy.
- Use a mix of cake flour and all-purpose flour. Why cake flour? Levain Bakery makes thick cookies without tasting like a scone. When you use cake flour, it creates a more TENDER crumb on the cookie which creates a mouth-watering texture. Click HERE to buy cake flour online.
- Another game changer is cornstarch. It also helps to create a soft, tender cookie.
- Bake at high heat. You want to shock these Levain Bakery Best Oatmeal Raisin Cookies with high heat so they don’t spread too rapidly. It helps them keep their shape and make those crispy edges. Here are my favorite baking sheets — USA Pan Bakeware Half Sheet Pan or Nordic Ware Baker’s Half Sheet (2 Pack). I love to use Silpat silicone baking sheets. Click for Silpat Brand and or Artisan Silicone Baking Mat. You can find all of my favorite kitchen products HERE.
- If you LOVE walnuts, you can add them to the recipe. Levain doesn’t include nuts but I sometimes throw them in to make my mama happy.
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Levain Bakery Oatmeal Raisin Cookie
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup Cold Butter cut into cubes
- 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 2 cups Flour
- 1/2 cup Cake Flour
- 1 1/2 cup Rolled Oats
- 1 teaspoon Cornstarch
- 3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups Raisins
- 1 cup Walnuts chopped (OPTIONAL)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 410 degrees.
- In a large bowl, cream together cold butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Add cake flour, all-purpose flour, oats, cornstarch, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and stir until combined. Stir in raisins and walnuts (optional).
- Chill dough for 15 minutes.
- Separate dough into large balls and place on lightly colored cookie sheet. Lightly press on top of dough to smooth out. If you have a scale, you can make them anywhere from 4.5 ounces - 6 ounces. You will fit 4-6 cookies on one large cookie sheet. The dough makes 8-12 extra large cookies.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown on the top. Let them rest for at least 10-15 minutes to set.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Since I created these copycat Levain Bakery Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Recipe, my kids keep begging me to make them. I never in a million years would think that my kids would beg for cookies with raisins in them! Miracles do happen. Keep on sharing the LOVE with your friends. Thank you for your amazing support! Find me on INSTAGRAM at @modern_honey
Happy Baking! xo
Can you omit the raisins?
So first let me say that I made the LBC chocolate/peanut butter chip cookies 2x and they were the absolute bomb.com both times. Was stoked to try this recipe because oatmeal raisin are my husband’s favorite! Had a little trouble with the recommended baking time this time though. Ended up going longer with the first batch (5.2 oz balls, about 15 min, and I think they could have even done a minute or two longer) and then smaller with the second batch (4.5 oz balls) and baked about 13 min. Still had completely fabulous cookies at the end, just wanted to share in case anyone else needed some affirmation! Haha 🙂
Can’t wait to make these cookies. I have some left over cake flour, just the right amount! Would you happen to have this recipe by weight or metric measurement? Thanks so much for creating such wonderful cookies!
THANK YOU FOR THIS RECIPE!
I looked for so long online afetr the Perfect Levain cookies recipe and this one + the super importent Tips at the begining it’s just Awsome!
As close as I can get to the “real” oreginal Levain at home!
Thanks again 🙂
It’s been some time since you posted this recipe, so I’m hoping you see my comment. This was my first time baking ANY dessert from scratch, so I was a bit anxious/nervous. After seeing your post, and following the recipe to a tee, I managed to bake the best Levain Chocolate chip walnut cookies ever! Thank you so much for posting these recipes and also boosting my confidence as a “baker”. I’m trying the oatmeal cookies tonight and I can’t wait to see how they come out! 🙂
I made these and the chocolate chip cook cookies today. They were both wonderful! I made 3.5 oz sized balls and baked for 16 minutes. Delicious!
Hello, Can I use quick oats? Thank you
Hi there! I was wondering why you use the cold butter cut in cubes? What does it do for the cookie? 🙂
I live at 7,000 ft and was going to play with this recipe, but I don’t know if beating for 3 mins or so will incorporate too much air (causing the cookie to fall). A lot of the recipes here call for melted butter, so that you don’t have to mix much at all.
I made the cho-chip one in St John earlier this year — it was amazing & didn’t have to be aged (which is unusual!!!) – thank you!!! Love all your recipes and appreciate your research on baking.
Hi did they work out for you? I’m at 6500 and find cookies don’t need as much adjustment as a lot of other baked good. I increased the temp to 420 and baked 6.0 oz cookies about 15-16 min. I did not flatten them but left them very much like shaggy rough edges “balls.” They are really an amazing cookie.
Hi Karen! I can’t remember exactly what happened but they definitely were not as good as Pie In the Sky’s trout dale oatmeal cookies. Maybe I will try again with your adjustment to temp. The best cho chip cookies I’ve found for my altitude (besides making modern honeys at sea level) are on mountain mama cooks website and they are the perfectly puffy ones, which I leave in the fridge a few days before I shape and then freeze and then bake!! ;))
These are the BEST oatmeal raisin cookies EVER!!! I love Levain’s oatmeal raisin, and now I can make them myself at home any time I want (which will be very often)!!!! Thank you!!!!
I have been on a quest for a really good lactation cookie and stumbled up on this recipe of yours. I am an amateur baker (for sure) and have never seen cake flour or cornstarch in a cookie recipe so thought I might as well give it a shot (and also because this cookie looks like it should be amazing). So I thought why not give it a go and make it into a lactation cookie and it was fantastic! While many of the other lactation cookie recipes are yummy they are also often hard as freakin rocks or chewy as all hell. But these were not! So tender! I’m gonna try to pump up the oatmeal next time as I think the dough can handle a bit more without turning into a puck. I also subbed coconut oil for butter and added some flaxmeal and brewer’s yeast and it was still a delicious, tender cookie! I also made them MUCH smaller and only baked for 8 minutes. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS DELICIOUS COOKIE RECIPE!!