About a year ago* I posted my recipe for classic oatmeal raisin cookies, and happened to mention that, while I’m not a big fan of nuts in my oatmeal cookies, I do occasionally go in for chocolate. Not the usual semisweet – if you liked Raisinets candies as a kid, then you get why it’s got to be milk chocolate.
Each bite of these pudgy, soft, cinnamon-scented cookies is packed with so many juicy raisins and so much sweet creamy chocolate, it’s almost like a candy bar baked inside a cookie.
The raisin-chocolate combination is sublime, but what about the cookies themselves? I know there are different camps when it comes to oatmeal raisin cookies (crispy vs. chewy vs. soft). These cookies somehow manage to hit all of those notes at once, with crispy edges, soft and tender centers, and lots of chewy oats.
This recipe is identical to my standard recipe, just with slightly fewer raisins to make room for the milk chocolate chips. When I’m stirring the chocolate chips into the dough, I like to hold a few back for decorating the tops of the cookies. The best time to add the chocolate chips to the tops is about 3/4 of the way through the baking time, when the cookies have spread out and have a good surface area for decorating, but there’s still enough baking time left to melt the chocolate.
Making oatmeal raisin cookies ahead:
- These oatmeal raisin cookies will keep several days in an airtight container at room temperature, and they also freeze well – but make sure to have one while they’re still warm from the oven and the chocolate is still all melty and oozy.
- You can mix the dough ahead and keep it in the fridge overnight, then shape and bake the cookies the following day. You can also freeze the dough, in which case I recommend shaping it into balls first. Arrange the balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze them uncovered until firm, then you can throw the balls of dough into a zip-lock back for storage for up to a month. Thaw in the fridge overnight before baking.
*I’m a little embarrassed by the photos in the old post for the original oatmeal raisin cookies. I’ve been working on my photography skills and hope I’ve improved noticeably since then – I’ll have to add that post to my list of ones to re-shoot and update. No changes to the recipe itself though, it’s great just as it is.
Oatmeal Raisin Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup raisins
- 5/8 cup (2 5/8 ounces or 75 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or 1/8 teaspoon Morton’s)
- ½ cup (4 ounces or 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter (preferably European-style), at room temperature
- ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1½ cups (5¼ ounces or 150 grams) old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips, divided
Directions
- Step 1 Put the raisins in a small bowl. Heat 1 cup of water in the microwave for 2 minutes. Pour the hot water over the raisins and let them sit for 10 minutes.
- Step 2 Combine the flour, cornstarch, dry milk, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl and stir the mixture with a whisk until the ingredients are thoroughly combined.
- Step 3 In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter with both sugars on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat again until smooth.
- Step 4 Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed just until combined.
- Step 5 Dump the raisins into a sieve and shake the sieve to shake out as much of the water as possible. Add the raisins, oats, and ¾ cup of the chocolate chips to the dough and give the mixer one or two turns, just to incorporate the mix-ins, but don’t beat. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a spoon or a silicone spatula to stir the dough just until it’s uniform with no wet spots or dry piles of oats at the bottom of the bowl.
- Step 6 Chill the dough for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Step 7 Use a cookie scoop or your fingers to pick up a golf-ball-sized hunk of dough. Roll the dough gently between your palms to form a smooth round ball. Make 8 balls for the first batch, arranging them on one of the prepared baking sheets with plenty of room between them. Bake for 12 minutes on the center rack of the oven.
- Step 8 After twelve minutes, the edges of the cookies should be dry and starting to brown, but the centers should be wet and underdone. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and carefully decorate the tops of the cookies with some of the reserved chocolate chips, pressing the chips gently into the cookies so they adhere without smushing the cookies. Return the baking sheet to the oven and bake an additional 3 to 5 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown and the centers are pale gold and still slightly underdone-looking. Remove the cookies from the baking sheet to a cooling rack. Bake the second batch in the same way.
