These chewy brown butter oatmeal raisin cookies filled with all the spices, oats and raisins are the perfect combination. These are a favorite among everyone that tries them and I know you'll love them too!
Brown butter oatmeal raisin cookies have always been my very favorite! There's something about the spice and texture that just brings me in. They're chewy, buttery, and filled with so much flavor.
If you love oats in baked goods you should also try my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, salted oatmeal cornflake cookies, or my blackberry oatmeal muffins.
WHAT MAKES THESE COOKIES SO GOOD
- Browning the butter
- They're crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside
- Cinnamon and nutmeg take them over the top
- Dark brown sugar gives them an extra sweet flavor
- Loaded with texture from oats and raisins
INGREDIENT NOTES
- Butter- Browning the butter is necessary to achieve the correct consistency for these cookies.
- Dark Brown Sugar- This helps give an extra rich flavor, but light brown sugar can also be used.
- Eggs- Allow the eggs to come to room temperature before starting.
- Flour- If you have a scale make sure to weigh your ingredients. If not lightly spoon flour into a measuring cup.
- Raisins- I have used both brown and golden raisins in these cookies.
BROWNING THE BUTTER
Browning butter may sound like a daunting task to someone who's never done it before, but it's not hard at all. And I promise once you try it and smell it you'll never want it another way again.
Put 1 cup of butter (2 sticks) in a large saucepan over medium heat. You are going to want to stir it while it cooks, go past boiling, and past foaming, til it turns a nice golden brown with a nutty smell. Make sure you are keeping an eye on it because it goes from the perfect brown to burnt fairly quickly.
Once you have finished browning the butter, pour all of it, even the brown bits on the bottom, into a glass bowl. Put into the fridge and let it solidify until it is a nice soft butter.
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS
STEP ONE: Place browned butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
STEP TWO: Add eggs one at a time, mix until smooth on low speed, anout 30 seconds each egg. Beat in the vanilla.
STEP THREE: In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. And flour mixture to bowl and mix on low, being careful not to overmix. I usually like to stop mixing when I still have flour remnants around the bowl. Fold in oats and raisins.
STEP FOUR: Scoop the dough into large balls. I like to use a ¼ cup cookie scoop. Place 6 cookie balls on your baking sheet. Bake the cookies for 11-14 minutes. You're looking for a nice golden brown outside rim.
EXPERT BAKING TIPS
I have given both cups and grams as measurements. Grams will be more precise, especially when measuring flour. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, no problem! Just lightly spoon flour into your measuring cup to insure its not packed in there. Light and fluffy is the key.
If your cookies don't come out a perfect circle, I like to take a little spatula and circle around the cookie to bring in any spots that have spread a little too far.
I always like to sprinkle my cookies with salt both before and after. Some of the salt from before baking will get stuck underneath which I always like, but then I like to add more after once the cookie has baked and spread out.
FAQ
Yes, you can sub in chocolate chips, nuts or just leave them as a basic oatmeal cookie without anything inside.
For this recipe it is important not to make the cookies while the butter is a liquid. The cookie won't set up correctly.
I have not tried that with these, but using cup4cup flour is your best bet for good results.
STORING AND FREEZING
Brown butter oatmeal raisin cookies will remain fresh if stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. You can also prep the cookie dough in advance and store it in the fridge for about a week. You can freeze your cookies in an airtight container for 2-3 months with them remaining fresh. You can also freeze the cookie dough balls if you would like to bake them one at a time.
OTHER BROWN BUTTER RECIPES TO TRY
Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies
For more yummy treats follow me on instagram @thesaltedsweets. And be sure to tag me and comment below if you make them and love them as much as I do.
And please make sure to leave a star review below!
Brown Butter Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter browned and then solidified again
- 1½ cups packed dark brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2½ cups old fashioned oats
- 1½ cups raisins
Instructions
- Start by browning the butter. You'll take one cup of butter and melt in a medium saucepan, and then continue to cook past the point of boiling. You will do this over medium heat, past the point of the butter foaming, until it turns a nice golden brown, and has a nutty smell. Make sure you are stirring and watching it, because it will turn from perfectly brown to burnt fairly quickly. Once finished browning, pour into a glass bowl and put back in the fridge to solidify again. You will want it to become a soft solid again to start the cookie dough. This should take a few hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Place butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add eggs one at a time, mix until smooth on low speed, anout 30 seconds each egg. Beat in the vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. And flour mixture to bowl and mix on low, being careful not to overmix. I usually like to stop mixing when I still have flour remnants around the bowl. Fold in oats and raisins.
- Scoop the dough into large balls. I like to use a ¼ cup cookie scoop.
- Place 6 cookie balls on your baking sheet. Bake the cookies for 11-14 minutes. You're looking for a nice golden brown outside rim.
- Sprinkle with a little flaked salt if you like that kind of thing. You know I do.
- Allow cookies to cool on the pan before moving to a cooling rack to hold their shape.
Katie Nichol
BEST cookies!!! The brown butter makes a huge difference.
Kylee
Seriously best cookie ever!!!
brooke
Thank you SO much!! These are the best kind of comments to get!:)
Julie Curry
These are amazing!! Worth the time to do the browned butter.
brooke
Thank you so much julie!! And I agree, brown butter makes everything amazing!
Susan Hall
Great recipe!
Quick question - In step 1, is there a reason to refrigerate the browned butter, then let it soften again?
brooke
You just don't want to have the butter be liquid, so refrigerate it long enough to be a room temperature consistency again. I just meant if you chill it til its hard allow it to soften a bit again to be able to work with it.
Allyson
Would you mind weighing the browned butter next time? I’ve tried these twice, but the dough comes out too crumbly… I feel like I lose too much water during browning process…?? Would that make sense? I use a scale for all ingredients, so I know the mistake isn’t there.
brooke
Yes, I am happy too! You could always decrease the flour by about 20 grams and see if that helps also.
brooke
I just browned and weighed my butter and it came out to 185g. I know it will always vary a bit, but at least that is a starting point. Fell free to email or dm me and we can troubleshoot the dough more if you want!
Allyson
Thank you so much! I just came back to check to see if you’ve had a chance to respond because my sister asked for oatmeal raisin for some of her wedding cookies. Looks like you answered almost right away - so kind of you! (I just don’t make oatmeal raisin often because my kids aren’t fans). I will test the recipe again this week!
Allyson
I’m also using your brown butter chocolate chunk cookies for her wedding 🙂 they were voted favorites by all!
Ashley F
These are heavenly!! The brown butter just takes them over the top!!
brooke
Thank you so much Ashley! So glad they were loved!
Val
I almost passed these over because of the raisins and I’m glad I didn’t! I was a little intimidated about browning butter but after watching Brooke’s video a few times I decided to go for it and it turned out just fine.
I subbed the raisins for chocolate chips and this will be a new staple in our house and apparently my husband’s office too. I sent him to work with a plate of them and they were gone before 10am!
brooke
Yay!! I love hearing this! Thank you so much for being willing not to overlook and try them!!
Heather
My husband loves oatmeal raisin cookies and I’m not a fan, but these look so delicious that I think they could change my mind. Adding raisins to my shopping list now…
brooke
Yay!! Keep me posted, but I've been known to convert some non-raisin lovers with these!
Lauryn
I don’t think I’ve had a better oatmeal raisin cookie. Your recipes never fail!
brooke
Yay!!! Thank you so much!
G Cogley
Awesome cookie recipe. We added toasted walnuts and chocolate chips.
Easy recipe to follow- beginner baker.
Gina Shupe
These are literally so so good! I made them for my husband's birthday as he is an oatmeal raisin fan. The whole family thought they were delicious! I even used gf flour because he is gluten free and they tasted great! They looked a little different than the picture due to the flour (spread more), but tasted amazing! He took some to his office and one of his co-workers called me for the recipe! Thanks for another great recipe, Brooke!