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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
Good Heavens! These cookies are FANTASTIC! I try a lot of recipes, something new is always on my menue. Baking, not near as much as I would like though. My husband wants one cookie, Oatmeal Raisin! No matter what I make every single time I get the same response. ‘ Oatmeal Raisin are my favorite ” I am always looking for that one perfect recipe! My search is over! These have to be the perfect cookie! Thank you so very much. A perfect cookie!
Hello! I love your recipes and I’m wanting to try this one out. I usually add molasses to my oatmel cookies and I’d like to add some to this when I try it out. Do you think that would affect the baking?
I substituted dried cranberries for raisins and added a tbsp of orange zest. I also measured them out using a 3 tbsp cookie scoop and they baked and taste beautifully.
What a great idea, Trish! I love the use of cranberries and added orange zest. Brilliant!
These are delicious. I did not have cake flour so I used all purpose flour and they still turned out amazing! Can’t wait to try the other recipes!
Hello, I have been a baker for 42 years BEST COOKIE RECIPIES EVER ! By any chance to you have a LaVain recipe for snickerdoodles ?
These are absolutely wonderful but I would like a bit more oatmeal for a bit more texture. If I increased the amount of oatmeal to 2 cups, would I need to adjust my flour proportions?
I am a devout follower of all of your Levain recipes, and honestly don’t think there’s anything better out there. I live in Dallas, so we don’t have a local Levain bakery. However, their cookies just arrived in the frozen section of our local grocery store. I purchased a box of the oatmeal raisin, excitedly brought them home, let them defrost and did the taste test. My daughter and I both agree that while the Levain cookie is tasty, your recipe produces a better cookie.
Awww what a great compliment! Thank you so very much! I love the Dallas area. We lived in San Antonio for 3 years and I have a sister-in-law who lives in Southlake so we love to come to visit. I heard Central Market started carrying the frozen Levain dough. Glad you did a taste test — how fun and I appreciate the kind feedback.
It is 100% authentic. I compared your oatmeal cookie to the box we bought at Levain, and both my daughter and I agreed, your recipe produced as more satisfying bite.
I’ve literally searched for the perfect chocolate chip recipe for years, and never found it, until I came across yours. It is rich and chewy and satisfying. I’ve played with the add-ins and have done so many variations.
Interestingly, my daughter is the Nurse Manager for the COVID unit at a large Dallas hospital, so I decided to do “treat week” prior to Christmas, and baked something sweet each day for a week for her teams. I knew I wanted to use your Levain recipe for one of the days, but I wanted to make it a little more festive, so I substituted in Craisins and white chocolate chips. My daughter was very dubious and said, “dad, I don’t think these will be very popular”. Well…when she came home that night, she looked at me and said everyone said these were their favorite version of the cookie that I’ve ever done!!! So, we had a winner. The Craisins and white chocolate played so well off of one another.
Once again, thank you for sharing such an excellent cookie recipe.
Amazing cookies. Thank you for posting this recipe. I have been craving a good oatmeal cookie and this did the trick. I too added walnuts, why not? Just fabulous.
Keep the recipes coming. I love fool-proof instruction.
Happy New Year.
Omg! Made these tonight for Christmas Eve! Honey Chile listen! You’ve hit the jackpot on this one. My husband is singing my praises. ????????????????????????
I just made this for my son’s teacher (P/T conf) but substituted choc chips since I didn’t have raisins. His teacher said it was the best cookie he’s ever had in his entire life! Haha! Bonus points for my son! 😉 Seriously though, your recipes are my go-to’s! I don’t even look for any others because yours are always spot on. And since I’m in Mesa, I know everything will bake properly. Thanks so much for sharing these!
I think this is the fourth Modern Honey recipe that I’ve made, and once again, it’s a huge winner. I needed something for a Halloween event, so I had to modify slightly. Instead of the cinnamon and raisins, I used Halloween M&M’s and Peanut Butter Chips. OMG! A levain style oatmeal cookie with PB chips and M&M’s…pretty darn awesome. Thanks for continuing to provide us with these tasty dessert recipes.