Egg Soaked Raisin Oatmeal Cookies are large, chewy oatmeal raisin cookies loaded with raisins and walnuts. The secret is right in the name! You soak the raisins in a mixture of eggs, cream and vanilla for about an hour before adding to the dough. This gives you chewy, sweet, cookies that bake up into nice circles. These aren't the most buttery oatmeal cookies, but they have a good flavor and texture.

Soaking Raisins in Eggs

Soaking the raisins in the egg and cream mixture keeps the raisins from drawing up extra moisture from the dough. I'm wondering if it also changes the proportion of egg that's in the dough, so that the dough really has something like 1 ¾ eggs with the other part of the tied up in the raisins. If that's the case, you could probably just soak the raisins in anything and use slightly less egg. But it's more fun to have an interesting little step, right?

Use 100% Butter or Half Butter Half Shortening

The cookies are good with butter or a mixture of butter and shortening. The butter version should give you thinner yet still chewy oatmeal cookies, while using half butter and half butter flavored shortening yields slightly thicker cookies. Here's a picture of a batch made with a mixture of butter and shortening. I also used light brown sugar in these and threw in some yellow raisins. It's interesting how different they look from the ones in the first photo, which are made with all butter and a mix of dark and light brown sugar.

Brown Sugar in Egg Soaked Raisin Oatmeal Dough

Here are some balls of dough ready for the refrigerator. These were made with a mix of dark and light brown sugar. The cookies are thicker, chewier and better tasting with dough that's been refrigerated for at least 24 hours. After the first 24 hours, I usually freeze the dough balls.

Using Chocolate Chips Instead of Raisins

This recipe works best with raisins and nuts. I've tried it using chocolate chunks instead of soaked raisins, and while they were good they weren't as good as recipes with more butter. If you want a big, thick chocolate chunk cookie the Rocky Mountain Oatmeal Cookies are better. But this recipe is perfect with the raisins or any dried fruit plus nuts.

Recipe

Egg Soaked Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

Anna

Soaking the raisins in a mixture of eggs and vanilla is the secret step in these thick, chewy oatmeal raisin cookies.

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Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Cooling 12

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings cookies

Ingredients

2 large eggs (105 grams)
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
1 cup raisins (It's okay to use more or less) (120 grams)
⅔ cup unsalted butter, softened (or use ⅓ cup each butter and shortening)
⅔ cup dark or light brown sugar, packed (130 grams)
⅔ cup granulated sugar (130 grams)
1 ½ cups plus 2 tablespoons flour, but best to weigh (210 grams)
1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda plus a tiny pinch more
½ teaspoon salt plus an extra pinch
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon fresh nutmeg (optional
1 ⅓ cup oats, quick or old fashioned
⅔ cup chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted

Instructions

Crack the eggs into a medium size bowl and beat with a fork. Stir in the cream, vanilla and the raisins. Cover, put in the refrigerator and soak raisins for an hour or up to three.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. If you plan on chilling the dough, save this step for later.
Cream butter (or shortening and butter combo) and both sugars with the paddle attachment of a stand mixer or a hand-held electric mixer. Do not add egg mixture yet.
Stir together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices in a separate bowl. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until blended. Mix until the flour mixture is coated with fat.
Add the egg/raisin mixture and stir until blended, then stir in the oats and nuts.
Scoop or shape the dough into about 16 balls. Alternatively, you can shape it into a big cylinder, cut off pieces, the shape into rounds. This helps if you're trying to keep the cookies the same size.
Optional: Put the shaped dough on a plate, cover and chill for several hours or overnight.
For cookies with a more even texture press down slightly. For chewier edges and softer centers, leave as balls. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes or until cookies are brown around the edges. Cold dough will take longer.
Let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool.