When you bake a batch of Oatmeal Apple Raisin Cookies, your kitchen fills with the seasonal aromas of sweet apples and cinnamon. When you take your first chewy bite filled with the fall flavors of oats, apples, and raisins, there is a good chance that this cookie will become an instant favorite.
Why you'll love this recipe
These Apple Raisin Cookies are a soft, chewy treat that stand out from the rest. Each ingredient goes so well together: creamy vanilla, spicy Vietnamese Cinnamon, nutty oatmeal and lots of apple flavor.
Then, there is the cinnamon icing. These cookies don’t need icing to be scrumptious. Icing is completely optional, however, it does serve a purpose even beyond adding a tasty bit of sweet crunch.
Icing helps to seal in the moisture, keeping the cookies soft longer. For cookies that will be traveling in a care package, those extra couple of days of softness can be quite helpful!
There are quite a few different kinds of oatmeal cookie recipes on The Monday Box. In addition to this soft oatmeal cookie recipe, you might like these:
- Steel Cut Oat Cookies with a chewy, nutty texture.
- Marathon Cookies, a delicious running cookie that's gluten free and packed with energy boosting ingredients.
- Biscoff fans will love Biscoff Oatmeal Crunch Cookies, a chewy, spiced cookie with crispy edges.
- Coconut Crunch Cookies give oatmeal cookies a tropical twist.
Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- In a medium bowl, combine the raisins, chopped apple pieces, apple juice, and lemon juice. Set aside for 20 minutes.
- In a large bowl, whisk together both flours, oats, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Then, at medium speed, beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.
- Mix in half of the dry ingredients mixture. Stir in the raisins and apples. Add the remaining flour mixture and mix to combine.
- Use a medium cookie scoop to portion the dough balls about 2 inches apart onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.
- Bake for 10-14 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.
Tips
- The type of oats used in a recipe makes a difference. Quick oats are precooked, then dried. The shorter the cooking time required (1 minute, 3 minutes, 5 minutes) the more processed the oats. In baking, quick cooking oats produce less chewy texture than rolled oats or steel cup oats, and create a softer cookie. Three minute quick cooking oats were used in this recipe to give these oatmeal raisin cookies a moist, softness with a bit of chew.
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- Until I started doing a lot of baking, I had no idea that there were different types (origins) of cinnamon. Cassia or Chinese cinnamon is the most common. Vietnamese Cinnamon, the strongest, richest, and sweetest of the cinnamons, was used in this recipe. Vietnamese Cinnamon is for those who truly adore cinnamon!
- Vanilla. Use the real thing. Whether the primary flavor in a recipe or a background flavor, as in these cookies, only real vanilla can fully enhance the other flavors with it’s rich warmth.
Frequently asked questions
There are several ingredients in these cookies that add fat and moisture to make them chewy. Brown sugar contains molasses which adds moisture as well as sweetness and flavor. An extra egg yolk adds fat and moisture without the drying egg white.
Quick cooking oats have been processed into smaller pieces than old-fashioned rolled oats in order to cook faster. They break down into the cookie batter creating a softer cookie than those made with old-fashioned oats.
More apple dessert recipes
Apple Cinnamon Biscotti are the perfect crunchy dunking cookie for the fall season.
Apple Cherry Jam Cookies have sweet fruity filling in a folded cookie dough.
Want to make your house smell amazing? Bake a batch of chewy Apple Gingerbread Cakelets and enjoy aroma of spices and apple in this delicious recipe.
Caramel Apple Cookies are chewy apple butter cookies with creamy caramel frosting.
Apple Cider Stamped Cookies are crunchy butter cookies flavored with apple spice. This is another great recipe for stamping and embossing.
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Apple Raisin Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup raisins
- ⅔ cup dried apples finely chopped
- ⅓ cup apple juice or cider
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup 3 minute quick cook oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- Pinch salt
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon Vietnamese
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Icing
- 1 ¾ cups confectioners’ sugar
- 3 tablespoons apple juice
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon Vietnamese
Instructions
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350° F.
- In a medium bowl, combine the raisins, chopped apple pieces, apple juice, and lemon juice. Set aside for 20 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together both flours, oats, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment cream together the butter and brown sugar until fluffy.
- Beat in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.
- Mix in half of the flour mixture.
- Stir in the raisins and apples.
- Add the remaining flour mixture and mix to combine.
- Use a medium (1 ½ tablespoon) cookie scoop to portion the oatmeal cookie dough balls about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 10-14 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
To ice the cookies:
- Mix the confectioners’ sugar, apple juice, and cinnamon in a bowl until smooth.
- Use a butter knife or offset spatula to spread icing over top of cookies.
- Set iced cookies on a wire rack set on top of wax paper to catch icing drips.
- Allow the icing to dry completely (about 2 hours) before storing the cookies.
- Store baked cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to one week.
Notes
- The type of oats used in a recipe makes a difference. Quick cooking oats are precooked, then dried. The shorter the cooking time required (1 minute, 3 minutes, 5 minutes) the more processed the oats. In baking, quick cooking oats produce less texture than old fashioned rolled oats or steel cup oats, and create a softer cookie.
- Cassia or Chinese cinnamon is the most common. Vietnamese Cinnamon, the strongest, richest, and sweetest of the cinnamons, was used in these cookies.
- Vanilla. Use the real thing. Whether the primary flavor in a recipe or a background flavor, as in these cookies, only real vanilla can fully enhance the other flavors with it’s rich warmth.
- Wrap pairs of cookies, bottoms together, in plastic wrap.
- Stack wrapped pairs in columns in a freezer weight ziplock bag or airtight storage container.
Nutrition
First Published: September 24, 2018. Last Updated: December 24, 2021. Updated for more information and better reader experience.
saltandserenity
I love the idea of putting icing on these cookies. I adore oatmeal cookies and a cinnamon glaze would just take them over the top. Can't wait to bake these. I really love the second photo with the stack of cookies and apples in the background. Great composition.
April J Harris
I love apples in baking, Wendy, and these Apple |Raisin Oatmeal Cookies look absolutely wonderful! I like how you have iced some of them too. I always like to use Vietnamese cinnamon as well, and Flahavan's oats are very popular here in the UK as well! Thank you so much for sharing with the Hearth and Soul Link Party. I’m featuring this post at the party this week. Hope to ‘see’ you there! Have a great week ahead!
Helen at the Lazy Gastronome
I love apples and oatmeal together. Beautiful cookies! Thanks for sharing at the What's for Dinner party! Have a lovely week and hope to see you next week too!
Loni
These look so delicious! I'm pinning this recipe to make soon! 🙂
The Monday Box
Thank you, Loni! I hope you enjoy these! 🙂 Thanks for pinning!
Colleen - Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck
Love that these can be both iced and un-iced...I'm all about the un-iced!!!
The Monday Box
Thank you, Colleen! I thought these would need icing to look appealing but, I'm with you! The un-iced ones are my favorite! However, in a care package the icing keeps these cookies fresh for an extra few days. 🙂
Jan Thomas
This looks scrumptious! I will be trying this cake!! Thank you for sharing at our apple celebration of Celebrate 365 Blog Party! Your other 2 recipes didn't link properly, to the party, and went to a comment section of some random recipe. Can you relink them? we'd love to have them!
The Monday Box
Thank you, Jan! Also,thanks for the heads up on the messed up links, Jan. I relinked them!
Carlee
You have rolled up so many of my favorite things into this recipe. What's not to love? Nothing, that's what! I'm sending you my address! 😉
The Monday Box
Send it over Carlee! I agree. I had no idea how delicious all of these flavors would be in one chewy cookie!
Wendy Klik
Delicious looking cookies....
The Monday Box
Thank you, Wendy! If you like soft, chewy oatmeal cookies, you will love these!
Barb
This looks so yummy! I would like to use fresh apples in lieu of the dried apples...what changes would I need to make?
The Monday Box
Hi, Barb. I haven't tried this recipe with fresh apples so I am not sure of the adaptations. I use dried apples for several reasons. Dried apples produce less (if any) moisture during baking. The extra moisture of fresh apples will give these cookies a shorter shelf life. Eating them right away? Then no problem. Also, finely chopped fresh apples would degrade while baking and would not contribute to the chewy texture like dried fruit does. Use a coarser chop for fresh apples. Good luck and happy baking!