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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
Any thoughts on toasting the oats before using in the recipe? Obviously, they should be cooled completely to room temp as to not compromise the structure of the cookie. But Im wondering how toasting it would be.
Three words …. OH MY GAWD! I am always asked to make these for family occasions from which I always stash a few behind. Seriously the BEST Oatmeal Raisin Cookie I’ve ever had … and I’m a SUPER fan of Oatmeal Raisins Cookies. I love all of your recipes! Thank you Melissa PS. its time for the July 4th Trifle!!!
OMG!!! Best ever oatmeal raisin cookies. Followed the recipe with the addition of 1 cup of chopped pecans, and 1.5 tsp of vanilla extract. I reduced cookie size to 2.5 oz for more cookies as I was taking them to a friends house (even at 2.5 oz, they still were a nice size). They loved them; talking about addicting!! Definitely will be my go to recipe from this day forward. Thanks Melissa!!!
Absolutely delicious! Followed the recipe, with the addition of a teaspoon of vanilla and one cup chopped pecans. Portioned each cookie at 96 grams, which made 15 cookies. Will definitely make these again!
Hi! It sounds like an awesome recipe! I like to weigh my ingredients in grams. Just to save me a step, do you have the recipe already converted into gram measurements anywhere? Thanks!
I posted my conversion into grams as a reply a few months ago, but honestly it’s not visible unless you dig done through the comments. I might post again at the top level.
YMMV, but here are the weights that I use:
1/2 lb butter (2 sticks)
184 g brown sugar
110 g white sugar
2 eggs
320 g All purpose flour
75 g cake flour
150 g rolled oats
1 tsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
206 g raisins
103 g walnuts
I measure out dough to make 10 cookies at approx 142 – 146 g each
I like mine a little more done and bake on parchment on a cookie sheet for 14 minutes, rotating pans at 7 minutes
Thanks, Judy! I really appreciate it!! That is so helpful!! I wonder why more recipes aren’t published with weights. Thanks for your thoughtfulness!!!
What kind of oatmeal? Quick? Old fashion?
Hi Kathy! I like to use old-fashioned rolled oats. 🙂
This recipe has brought marriage proposals. I make all of your Levain Bakery copycat recpes for my boyfriend’s shop and they love every one of them. They request them every time I bake. Thank you!
Hello ☺️
I saw that you said you use old fashioned oats for this recipe, but I have a whole bunch of quick oats I’d like to use up. Do you think that using quick oats would work well?
As well, do you think I could omit the raisins, as I have a family member who does not like them?
Thank you in advance 😊😊
I’m a huge fan of all of Melissa’s Levain cookie recipes and make them on a regular basis…sometimes changing the add-ins for a bit of variety. Was in the mood to make some oatmeal raisin cookies for my daughter’s staff of nurses at a hospital here in Dallas, so I made two batches.
The first batch was the standard exact recipe and it came out perfectly. Honestly, it is the best oatmeal raisin cookie I’ve had in my life…flavor…texture…every bite is amazing.
For the second batch, I made just a few slight alterations. First, after weighing in the oats, I pulverized them into a powder and then mixed in with the other dry ingredients. Secondly, instead of raisins and nuts, I subbed in a bag of chocolate chips and a cup of sweetened shredded coconut. Wow! This produced an outstanding cookie.
I make mine a bit smaller (60g dough) as I’m trying to make as many as possible for the nurses, so I sent about 45 cookies in total to the hospital. People devoured them and loved both, but the oatmeal coconut chocolate chip were a huge hit. Thanks Melissa and keep the cookie recipes coming!
I’ve made them several times. Each time they come out wonderful. I’ve tested slightly different ways from the recipe standpoint. Once I substituted 1/2 cup splenda for the white sugar and 1/2 cup almond flour vs it’s equivalent in regular flour… turned out really good. Just trying to reduce sugars & carbs a little at a time. Lately, I’ve also soaked 1/2 the raisins in hot water for 10-15 minutes… makes some more plump onside the cookie. Overall this is my go-to ORW Cookie Recipe! Thanks!!
These cookies were delicious. I didn’t make them as large. I baked them 8 to 10 minutes. I find that my family will break the cookies in half, leaving the other half in the cookie jar and that drives me nuts so I made them a little smaller and cut the baking time. They were the best oatmeal cookies. Chewy and not overly sweet. I didn’t have walnuts but used pecans. Will definitely make again and again.
They came out great. I was craving an oatmeal raisin cookie, and was contemplating a trip to a local farmer’s market where’s the a bakery stand that carries amazing cookies. Decided to google a recipe instead.
I made them exactly as printed, baked on convection setting for 13 or 14 minutes. Next time I might cut the sugar by a bit.
Would love to see recipes with weights instead of volumes.
A year later, and these are still hands down my favorite. I always keep some in the freezer, and make a new batch as soon as we run out.
YMMV, but here are the weights that I use:
1/2 lb butter (2 sticks)
184 g brown sugar
110 g white sugar
2 eggs
320 g All purpose flour
75 g cake flour
150 g rolled oats
1 tsp cornstarch
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
206 g raisins
103 g walnuts
I measure out dough to make 10 cookies at approx 142 – 146 g each
I like mine a little more done and bake on parchment on a cookie sheet for 14 minutes, rotating pans at 7 minutes
I love your recipes.. I am now the official cookie baker in the house .
I find these cookies need at least 15 -16 minutes of cook time. They turn out great every time