Crispy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Recipe

If you close your eyes and think of the perfect comfort food, what comes to mind? And don't worry, there are lots of right answers. Maybe ... a slice of good ol' cheese pizza? A bowl of hearty soup? Or maybe a cookie? And to that end, maybe an oatmeal raisin cookie, because what tastes more like a bite out of childhood than the cookies you enjoyed at summer camp or on autumn afternoons at home?

Chef and recipe developer Catherine Brookes of Blue Sky Eating has come up with a recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies that packs all the classic sweet-and-fruity goodness you want in one of these treats, but with a wonderful twist: Whereas usually oatmeal raisin cookies are thick and chewy, these here are thin and crispy. And depending on how large you make each ball of cookie dough before baking, you can control just how crispy they are — from a lightly crusted cookie with that soft center to a cruncher all the way through.

The prep is fast and easy ("These are very simple to make, you can't really go wrong!" Brookes says), and the cookies bake quickly, so let's gather our ingredients and get to work.

All you need to make a batch of these sweet and crispy cookies is a good dose of granulated sugar, some butter (at room temperature — make sure to give it enough time to soften), some all-purpose flour, cinnamon, ground ginger, salt, rolled oats, baking powder, baking soda, an egg, vanilla extract, and, of course, some raisins.

Could you throw in some semi-sweet chocolate chips? You could.

Start off by preheating the oven to 350 F (the magic temperature for so many baked goods) and lining two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.

Next, whisk together the flour, baking soda and powder, cinnamon, ginger, and salt in a mixing bowl, making sure to combine them well. Next, in another large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until they are smooth and creamy. 

Finally for this step, add the egg and vanilla to the butter bowl and beat to combine these with the butter and sugar.

Sieve the flour mixture into the butter, sugar, vanilla, and egg mixture and stir everything together with the wooden spoon until all of the ingredients have combined well. Now mix through the oats and raisins, stirring until they are well blended into the dough, but not overmixed.

Now roll the dough into balls and place them on the baking sheets. They will flatten out and expand significantly, thus the reason you're using two cookie sheets, by the way. And as noted, the smaller you make them, the thinner and crispier the resulting cookies will be.

Now it's time to get cooking! Pop the cookie sheets into the oven on racks near the middle (plan to rotate them — one up, the other down — halfway through the baking if your oven is temperamental about temperature distribution) and bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, or until they turn golden on the top.

Then pull the pans from the oven and leave the cookies on the baking sheets for about 10 minutes before using a spatula to carefully transfer them to a wire rack to cool fully. And now enjoy!

"For a fun serving idea, you could turn them into cookie ice cream sandwiches," Brookes says, adding: "And they should keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to four days."