Name: Brown Butter Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 16
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 142g (1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp) unsalted butter; 100g (1/2 cup) soft brown sugar; 50g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar; 1 large egg; 1 tsp vanilla paste or vanilla extract; 125g (1 cup*) all-purpose flour; 1/2 tsp baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 120g (1 1/3 cup) rolled oats; 120g (3/4 cup) raisins

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These brown butter oatmeal raisin cookies are sweet and chewy and so full of flavor. Move over chocolate chip cookies, the new and improved oatmeal raisin is in town.

If you’re an oatmeal raisin cookies fan, you’ll love this brown butter version. A chewy oatmeal cookie is so much more flavorful when you first take a little time to brown the butter instead of just using regular butter.

Browning the butter means caramelizing the milk solids in the butter which brings notes of toffee to the cookie. It’s used in these brown butter pecan cookies too!

Using melted browned butter creates rich flavor and makes a lovely and chewy oatmeal raisin cookie with the best chewy texture. Try these oatmeal cookie bars next!

Ingredients

For this chewy brown butter oatmeal cookies recipe, you will need –

Butter- This can be salted or unsalted butter.
Light brown sugar – This enhances the caramel notes in the cookie and creates a more moist cookie.
Granulated white sugar – This gives the cookies are crispier edge than if you were just using all-brown sugar
A large egg – for structure
Vanilla extract or paste
All-purpose flour
Salt
Baking soda – for a little rise
Rolled oats/ old-fashioned oats. You could use quick oats too, but they won’t give the same texture.
Raisins – Chewy sweet raisins are great in these cookies but you can substitute these for dried cranberries, currants, or golden raisins and sultanas too. If you want to make these oatmeal chocolate chip, you can substitute the raisins for semi-sweet chocolate chips or chocolate chunks.

What is brown butter?

Brown butter is the secret ingredient to this great recipe. It is also known as beurre noisette is simply butter that has melted, then cooked a step further so that the milk solids in the butter caramelize. This gives a wonderful caramel flavor to the butter. This method is used in these brown butter cookie recipes and brown butter ice cream.

The depth of flavor in the butter depends on how much it is left to caramelize after the butter melts. Too little and the flavor will be too mild to make a noticeable difference in the cookie dough.

Too much and you run the risk of burning the milk solids and cooking off too much liquid which can ruin the dough structure.

a birds eye view of an oat raisin cookie.

Method

The butter

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Avoid using a dark pan as you will struggle to see the caramelization of the butter and run the risk of burning it.

Once melted, let it cook further for around 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally until the milk solids in the butter have caramelized into a golden amber-brown color and the butter has a nutty aroma.

Pour the melted butter into a large bowl, including all the caramelized brown bits at the bottom of the pan, and allow it to cool down for 10 minutes.

The dough

In a small separate bowl whisk together the flour, oats, salt, and baking soda and set it aside.

Once the butter has cooled, whisk in the brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, and vanilla.

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, followed by the raisins.

raisins piled on cookie dough in a silver bowl.

The cookies can be baked right away, or roll the balls and chill them for an hour for extra thick cookies.

When ready to bake, line large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Take a tablespoon and a half of dough per cookie and roll it into a ball. Place the cookie dough balls around 2 inches/ 5 cm apart on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes until the cookies are golden brown around the edges but still a little soft. Use a large round cookie cutter to scoot around the baked cookies to push them into even circles.

Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before placing them on a wire rack to cool further.

Extra round cookies

If you would like to achieve the extra round cookie look for perfect cookies, you’ll need a circle cookie cutter or glass that’s bigger than your cookies.

Once the cookies are baked, and still hot from the oven, use the cutter or glass and place it over the hot cookie, then swirl it gently around the cookie.

This will help form it into a perfect circle. The cookies need to be hot, and not over-baked for this to work.

Storing

These chewy oatmeal raisin cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week, or the baked cookies can be frozen for up to three months.

Make ahead

The cookie dough can be made ahead of time – up to 2 days in advance. Store it tightly covered in the refrigerator.

Freezing Instructions – Freeze the oatmeal raisin cookie dough balls for up to three months in a freezer bag or airtight container. Bake straight from the freezer with no need to thaw. They may need an extra minute of baking time.

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