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Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are soft, chewy and delicious. They get a bad rap for not being the classic chocolate chip, but I think they’re some of the best cookies ever!
I’ve always thought that until kids are 4 or so, birthday parties are more for the parents than the actual celebrant. I mean, do you know any kid who remembers any of their birthdays before that age? I personally don’t, but that’s never stopped me from having parties for my kids every year. When Kenya turned 3 we threw a big one for him. Since we knew he’d have little to no memory of it, we tried to think of a way to give the celebration more purpose.
Instead of asking the invitees for gifts, we suggested people bring a new book to donate to our local children’s hospital. The hospital staff was so grateful, we continued doing it yearly in honor of both our kids birthdays. When Kenya turned 4, he got to deliver his birthday books to the hospital himself and really understood how fun and fulfilling it is to give books to those who might not have access to them.
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Last year I learned about an incredible non-profit organization called Milk & Bookies that teaches young children how great it feels to give back while celebrating the love of a good book. It promotes both literacy and service learning by providing kids the opportunity to select, purchase and inscribe books that are then donated to their less fortunate peers. Milk & Bookies even helps you make the process easy by sending you a big box full of materials for your party so all your little guests can inscribe their books and get all kinds of great things in return, like great “I Donated” stickers to wear, bookmarks and more. I think it’s just about the coolest organization ever!
When we received our Milk & Bookies box, we also decided to make cookies to commemorate one of Kenya and Chloe’s favorite books, “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie”. This is my variation on the traditional oatmeal raisin cookie which uses naturally sweet honey instead of sugar and is packed with so many tender sweet raisins I give them top billing and call it a Raisin Oatmeal Cookie.
The next time you’re throwing a birthday for your little one and don’t feel like having your house filled with more plastic toys that will just get played with once or twice and forgotten, empower your child and do this for their birthday — and of course make a batch of these unbelievably delicious cookies!
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup raisins, dried cherries or cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Place the butter and sugar in a bowl or standing mixer and beat for 3-5 minutes on medium high or until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat for another minute on medium speed or until completely combined.
- In a separate bowl, mix to combine the flour, oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet and mix to incorporate.
- Stir in the raisins then using a 1 tbsp mini ice cream scooper or spoon place on a silat or parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes for chewier cookies or 15-17 minutes for more crisp cookies.
- Cool on baking sheet.
Thanks so much for this wonderful idea. My son will be turning 3 in December and I definitely will be doing this for his birthday!
What a great idea to donate birthday gifts! I love it! My toddler will be turning 3 next yr and i am totally going to do it! Thank you for sharing!
We LOVE oatmeal raisin cookies – as long as they are chewy, not crunchy. Are these crunchy or chewy?
Jodie, toasting the oats is supposed to leave a more buttery and rich flavor to the oats. I’ve heard of toasting oats before for cookies, but most of the time I hear half the oats toasted and lightly ground to the consistencey of wheat flour first. Perhaps try toasting half the oats first time and see if your family likes it.
What does that do, just make the oatmeal crunchy?
I always toast the oatmeal prior to adding to recipe. Learned this trick from a caterer I know. Bake the oatmeal on cookie sheet at 300 for 10 min, let cool. Remember to only use Old Fashion oats, not instant or quick cooking.
I made these tonight and sub’ed semisweet choc chips for the raisins. Came out great. 🙂
What about sunflower seeds or nuts, combined with the craisins. Or, not so healthy, but you could add smarties.
My daughter is the same, she hates raisins. Usually we just omit the raisins and the cookies turn out just fine.
I was thinking of trying these with Craisins, yum
Have you tried dried cranberries?
pretty sure you can just leave the raisins out or substitute something else for them! Chocolate chips?
Could we see a recipe for yummy oatmeal cookies WITHOUT raisins? I cannot stand raisins, yet everywhere you look, oatmeal is paired up with them. My family has a yummy oatmeal-only cookie recipe, but I’m sure it isn’t very healthy! 🙂
You answered my thoughts! I was just thinking that I needed to make oatmeal raisin cookies with my girls and that I should check this site to see if you had a recipe! Then I open my email, and there it is! 🙂
Love both the idea of the cookies and book donation. I’m all about giving back. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful organization.
I love oatmeal raisin cookies, can’t wait to try these!