Brown Butter Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are thick & chewy, with incredible depth of flavor from brown butter and a hint of cinnamon. These cookies come together in minutes in one bowl without a mixer, and require just a 10-minute rest before baking. The dough freezes beautifully, too! These cookies are guaranteed to turn the head of even the biggest oatmeal cookie skeptic.

Course Cookies

Cuisine Dessert

Keyword No Mixer Cookies, One Bowl Cookie Recipe, No Chill Cookies

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 9

Servings cookies

Calories 409kcal

Author Stephanie Simmons

Ingredients

1 cup + 2 tbsp salted butter Start with 254 grams. You'll want 206 grams left after browning. See note below.
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed 220 grams
1/2 cup granulated sugar 106 grams
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 195 grams
1 tsp baking soda
1 and 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups old-fashioned whole rolled oats, divided 312 grams
1 cup raisins 145 grams
3/4 cup chocolate chips Optional - See notes about other mix-ins in the recipe variations a couple of sections above this recipe card.

Instructions

Brown the Butter: See note below if skipping this step, although it adds amazing flavor!. Add butter to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Melt the butter, stirring occasionally. Once it's melted, turn the heat to medium-low, and continue cooking the butter, stirring frequently. The butter will get foamy and bubbly, then turn a deep golden shade with a nutty, caramely aroma. (This will take about 4-6 minutes once the butter has melted.) Pour into a large bowl, making sure to scrape in all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan, and allow to cool in a heat-safe bowl in the fridge or freezer for 15-30 minutes so it's not piping hot.
Prep Oats: Add 2 cups of the whole-rolled oats to a food processor and pulse until they are broken down into something that resembles a flour - you just made oat flour. We'll use this with the dry ingredients in the next step.
Make Cookie Dough: Add the melted & cooled brown butter to a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the sugars, then whisk in the eggs and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients, including the 2 cups of pulsed oats (oat flour) and the 1 cup of whole rolled oats. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon until just a few streaks of flour remain. Fold in the raisins (and any other mix-ins, like chocolate chips).
Rest Dough & Prep to Bake: Pop the bowl in the fridge, covered with a clean kitchen towel, to rest for 10 minutes while you preheat the oven to 365 ℉ and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
Bake Cookies: Scoop cookie dough balls that are 90 grams in size. Place 5-8 cookies (leaving some room for spread) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350℉ for 9 minutes. Let remaining dough rest on the counter while it's waiting its turn to bake.
The cookies will have a few small spots that still look like wet dough on top when done, but the edges will appear just set - this is completely normal for these cookies, and they will set up to the perfect soft & chewy consistency as the residual heat on the pan continues to bake them, and as they cool.
Place cookie sheet on a wire rack to cool.
Serve & Store: Enjoy these oatmeal cookies once they're still warm but cool enough to handle, or let them cool completely. Add a sprinkle of flaky sea salt if desired!
Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 4-5 days.

Notes

A note about Brown Butter: When you brown butter, you will lose some of the volume, as some of the water content in the butter will evaporate. In theory, browning 1 extra tbsp of butter per stick (or 1/2 cup) will ensure you end up with the correct amount. However, I’ve noticed that when I brown 1 cup of butter + 2 tbsp, I end up with slightly under 1 cup in the end. Keeping the butter at that amount slightly under 1 cup turned out to be the perfect amount for this recipe. So, after your butter is browned, if you care to measure it you should have 206 grams, not 226 (which would be 1 cup). If you do have less than 206, add a bit of water to make up the difference, but wait until the butter is not hot to do this, or it will erupt like a volcano when the water hits it. If you have more, your cookies will spread a bit more, or you can remove some butter to get to 206 grams. 206 grams is equal to 14 and 1/2 tablespoons of butter.

Regular Butter: If you don’t want to brown your butter (but why not!?) use 206 grams or 14.5 tablespoons of regular salted butter instead.

Brown Sugar: I prefer the depth of flavor that dark brown sugar adds in this recipe, but you can use light or dark.

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