These Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Raisin Cookies have crispy edges with soft chewy insides, sweet moist raisins and delicious syrupy oat textures and flavours. Cookies are so much better when home-made and these easy to bake cookies won't last long within your cookie or biscuit tin. If you are not a fan of raisins then have a look at our plain old-fashioned oatmeal cookie recipe. Our cookies are vegan as they are egg-free and we use dairy-free margarine but of course you can use your usual baking margarine or butter. Our oatmeal raisin cookies are a great Subway copycat oatmeal cookie!
Many old-fashioned cookie recipes are vegan-friendly as the recipes naturally do not contain eggs and any type of baking fat can be used.
Frugal home-cooks have had to practice egg-free cookies at various stages in history especially during the food rationing and shortages of the 1940s war years and the Great Depression era of the 1930s.
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Oatmeal raisin cookies are among the most popular cookies in the US and became very popular in the 20th century due to Fannie Merritt Farmer's book, "The Boston Cooking School Cookbook" (1896), which contained the first printed recipe for oatmeal cookies - however raisins were not included within the original recipe.
In modern times, the food chain ''Subway'' offers oatmeal raisin cookies that are soft and chewy but, unfortunately, may not be vegan. However, our recipe for old-fashioned oatmeal cookies is 100% vegan and features delicious crispy edges with soft and chewy centres just like the Subway cookies. However, if you are not vegan or requiring dairy-free and egg-free cookies then you can use your usual margarine or baking fat for these cookies.
For interesting background information on the origins of oatmeal cookies do check out our other family favourite recipe for plain oatmeal cookies.
Oatmeal Cookie Days
The US has two special oatmeal cookie days. The first is National Lacy Oatmeal Cookie Day on March 18th, which celebrates a thin, crisp, see-through type of oatmeal cookie that is a popular accompaniment to ice cream.
The second is National Oatmeal Cookie Day, held on April 30th, and this day celebrates oatmeal cookies in all their sweet, glorious forms - such as chocolate, raisin, cranberries, peanut butter and various iced toppings.
Not that you need an excuse to bake a batch of homely, old-fashioned oatmeal cookies, but these special days are another good reason!
Ingredients
The 8 ingredients you will require to bake these oatmeal raisin cookies is - raisins, rolled oats, plain flour [all-purpose flour], bicarbonate of soda [baking soda], soft brown sugar, vanilla extract, margarine [we use Stork baking spread which is labelled as vegan], and golden syrup [can use maple syrup, agave syrup, corn syrup, date syrup or light molasses instead].
How to prepare
This oatmeal raisin cookie recipe is versatile so if you prefer a crispier bite to your cookies then simply bake them for an extra few minutes.
Step 1: First, add the flour, oats and raisins to a mixing bowl and stir.
Step 2: In a saucepan melt the brown sugar, golden syrup and margarine until smooth.
Step 3: Stir through vanilla extract.
Step 4: Sprinkle the bicarbonate of soda [baking soda] into the melted syrup mixture and whisk with a fork.
Step 5: Pour the liquid into the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients.
Step 6: Give the ingredients a good stir.
Step 7: Using a teaspoon scoop up heaped measures of cookie dough and using the palms of your hands quickly roll into a ball.
Step 8: The dough will be sticky but if moulded quickly it won't stick too much to your palms. Alternatively simply scoop and plonk onto the tray!
Step 9: Bake for 10-12 minutes.
Step 10: Cookies will be soft when removed from the oven so cool on the baking tray for about 15 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Storing and freezing
Oatmeal raisin cookies are best stored within a cookie/cake tin or jar, or a covered container, in a cool, dry area for up to 5-7 days.
To freeze cookies, it is useful to place a small piece of parchment paper between each cookie so that just one or two can be easily removed at a time. Freeze the cookies wrapped with parchment paper and a second layer of kitchen foil. Place into a freezer bag and freeze for 2-3 months.
Recipe Notes
You can use ordinary rolled oats or old-fashioned oats which are the type that is intended for preparing porridge oats for breakfast. It's best not to use oatmeal or steel-cut oats as these have been prepared too small and will dry out the cookies.
Also, instant oats or powdered oats will not produce the nice texture that ordinary rolled oats provide for the oatmeal cookies.
We used Stork baking spread which is labelled as vegan but is used by many home-cooks across the UK. You can use any type of margarine, butter, or baking spread/block, that works well for baking and cooking.
You can replace the raisins with sultanas, dried currants, goji berries, or dried cranberries.
Love the flavour of oaty British flapjacks? Then you'll love these oatmeal raisin cookies as they have a similar flavour.
More vegan oat baking recipes
For a raisin-free oatmeal cookie, our Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies are perfect. For something really easy and budget-friendly, these 4-ingredient Traditional Scottish Flapjacks are a popular family favourite across the UK.
For a flapjack variation, you can't go wrong with adding chocolate, so do give these delicious Chocolate Flapjacks a try.
And for something a bit different, these Parkin Biscuits are very traditional and moreish - however they do use steel-cut oats or medium oatmeal rather than rolled oats.
***please note: for US measurements click the 'US customary button' within the recipe and the measurements will switch to tablespoons, cups, and ounces.***
📖 Recipe
Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Raisin Cookies [vegan]
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Saucepan
- mixing spoon
- Baking trays
- teaspoon
- cutlery fork
- cooling rack
Ingredients
- 140 grams rolled oats [old-fashioned oats or Scottish oats, same type as used for porridge oats]
- 170 grams plain flour [all-purpose flour]
- 90 grams raisins [or sultanas]
- 115 grams soft brown sugar [light brown]
- 115 grams margarine [we used Stork baking spread]
- 4 tablespoons golden syrup [or an alternative see recipe notes]
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda [baking soda]
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160Fan / 180C / 356 Fahrenheit / Gas 4.
- Line the baking trays with greaseproof paper.
- Add the flour, oats and raisins to a mixing bowl.140 grams rolled oats, 170 grams plain flour, 90 grams raisins
- Place the golden syrup, soft brown sugar and margarine into a saucepan. Gently melt and combine the ingredients but don't boil.[Top tip: dip the measuring spoon for the golden syrup into boiling water each time you scoop some out the syrup tin as this will allow the syrup to glide easily off the spoon]115 grams soft brown sugar, 115 grams margarine, 4 tablespoons golden syrup
- Stir the vanilla through the liquid ingredients.1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Using a cutlery fork whisk the bicarbonate of soda through the liquid ingredients in the saucepan.¾ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- Pour the liquid mixture into the flour mixture, scraping all the mixture of the sides of the pan.
- Give everything a good stir.
- Using a teaspoon, scoop up heaped teaspoonfuls of cookie dough. Using the palms of your hands roll and form the dough into a ball shape. Or if preferred, just scoop and place onto the baking tray.Leave space between each cookie as they will spread out during baking.
- Bake on the middle shelf for 10-12 minutes until golden and set [i.e. no pale parts in the centre of the cookie]. Cookies will still be soft to touch as they need to firm up on the baking tray before being transferred to a cooling rack.
- [If all the trays of cookies can not be baked at the same time, then the cookies will be fine on the baking tray while the others bake.]
- Fan ovens tend to bake faster so check your cookies after 10 minutes. Our electric oven took 11 minutes for the cookies to bake. If a crispier cookie is preferred leave the cookies to bake for an extra minute or two.
- Leave the cookies to firm up on the baking tray for at least 15 minutes before removing to cool on a wire rack.
Notes
- Nutritional information is provided for guidance only and is not a strict calculation as ingredients vary.
- Store oatmeal raisin cookies within a biscuit or cookie jar/tin or airtight container for up to 5 days, possibly a few days longer if kept airtight.
- Or freeze well wrapped in parchment paper and kitchen foil, and placed into a freezer bag for 2-3 months. A small piece of parchment paper placed between each cookie or several will make it easier to pull out one or two cookies at a time.
- Defrost, unwrapped, to room temperature.
- Raisins can be replaced with sultanas, dried currants, dried cranberries or dried blueberries.
- Golden syrup can be replaced with maple syrup, corn syrup, agave syrup, date syrup, or honey if your diet allows or go for a vegan alternative to honey.
- Home-made cookies are especially delicious with a chilled glass of oat milk, or a nice cup of coffee, tea or hot cocoa.
- For helpful oatmeal cookie baking tips and troubleshooting do have a look at the FAQ section and recipe note section of our main recipe for oatmeal cookies - Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies.
Nutrition
Comments
Baked our Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Raisin Cookies? We would love to know how you got on with the recipe so do drop us a comment below and click the star ratings. All feedback is very much appreciated. Thanks so much! All the best, Jacq x
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