Recipe: Soft-Baked Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
These soft-baked oatmeal raisin cookies have the kind of homemade, cinnamon-scented comfort that almost ensures the batch will disappear pretty quickly! They’re made with hearty oats, naturally sweetened with maple syrup and dotted with chewy raisins, with a soft, slightly tender centre that makes them especially nice for little hands. They’re simple enough for a weekend baking project with the kids and make an easy lunchbox or afternoon snack for the week ahead.
For younger children, you can chop the raisins into smaller pieces before adding them to the dough. If your family prefers a slightly sweeter cookie, mix in a small handful of finely chopped dates with the raisins. The cookies will keep in an airtight container for around 4 days, although a batch of homemade oatmeal cookies rarely lasts that long.
Ingredients
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup wholemeal plain flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup maple syrup
⅓ cup melted coconut oil or melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg, or 1 flax egg for a vegan version
½ cup raisins
2 -3 tbsp milk of choice, if needed
Method
- Preheat the oven to 175°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the rolled oats, flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, melted coconut oil or butter, vanilla and egg until smooth.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until everything is combined. Fold through the raisins. If the mixture feels particularly thick or crumbly, add the milk one tablespoon at a time until you have a soft, scoopable dough.
- Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes so the oats can absorb some of the moisture. Scoop heaped tablespoons of the dough onto the prepared baking tray, leaving a little room between each cookie, then gently flatten them with the back of a spoon.
- Bake for 10 - 13 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden and the centres still look soft.
- They will continue to firm up as they cool, so avoid overbaking if you want that soft-baked texture.
- Leave the cookies on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.