Years ago Starbucks shared some little brown recipe cards with recipes for things like Outrageous Oatmeal Cookies and Banana Bread. This was part of a campaign to promote new menu items with simple ingredients and more whole grains. Like the menu, Starbucks has evolved and expanded as has their website. I haven't bought any baked goods from Starbucks lately and can't promise these are really like the coffee shop's, but it's a solid oatmeal cookie recipe.
Outrageous Starbucks Oatmeal Cookies
These cookies are still popular at our house, though I often make changes. The usual changes are swapping AP flour for white whole wheat and leaving out the dark raisins. I love them, but the rest of the family prefers cranberries and golden raisins. For the nuts, I use pecans or walnuts. One thing that is consistent is the cookies always come out sweet and chewy.
Recipe
Starbucks Outrageous Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups old fashioned oats not quick cooking
- ½ cup white whole wheat or all purpose flour (70 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (84 grams)
- ½ cup dark brown sugar, packed (100 grams)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (50 grams)
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ⅓ cup chopped toasted walnuts plus 3 T.
- ⅓ cup dried cranberries plus 3 T
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside.
- Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until combined.
- Add oat mixture to butter mixture and stir until partially mixed. Add ⅓ cup nuts and ⅓ cup cranberries and stir until fully blended. Scoop dough up by rounded tablespoons and shape into balls. Flatten slightly. Mix the reserved nuts and cranberries together and press a few gently into the top . Arrange 2 inches apart on cookie sheets and b on center rack for 12-15 minutes, until cookies are golden brown, but still soft. Cool on sheets for a few minutes and then transfer to a rack.
Ann says
Thank you so much for the recipe. I just tried it and adjust baking soda and salt and its perfect.
Anna says
Thanks for the review, Megan! Glad you liked the cookies. I don't remember them being salty, but I like things on the salty side so maybe they are. Or maybe it was the butter. Glad you still liked them.
Megan Byrd says
The taste and consistency for these cookies were spot on! There was a bit of a salty aftertaste though, so I'm thinking I might have put in too much of the baking soda / powder or salt. My butter may have been salted as well (I couldn't tell as I had a leftover stick that was out of the box and had no markings to identify if it was unsalted). Otherwise, very tasty!
Anna says
Thanks Julie!
Julie says
I added a Tbs Coconut oil in addition to the butter. These cookies are off the chart good.
Anna says
Karen, that's so good to hear!
Karen Heitstuman says
For several years now, I have made these cookies every couple of months for our church snacks. They can't get enough. Sometimes I add coconut to half a batch, sometimes chopped apricots, usually pecans instead of walnuts. I will often add white chocolate chips, a big favorite. A very veratile cookie!
Anna says
Hi Martha,
This is one of my older recipes, so thank you so much for taking the time to give it a try AND report back. I really appreciate it. I need to put this recipe on the top of my pile, as it's one of my favorites, but I've kind of neglected it over the years. Thanks again for the review.
Martha says
I'm not comfortable in the kitchen, really don't like to cook. My oven doesn't work too well - providing an excuse. But, today I had a craving for something sweet and found this recipe. Made it as it is written - found it relatively easy. Fantastic!! Actually think I will have to make them again. Ate 4 before I could stop! Thank You So Much!!
Anna says
It should work, but the texture of the cookies will be a little different.
Joyce says
My oatmeal is quick cooking, and Quaker Oats quick 1 minute. Will it still be alright to use. I I do use what I have what will happen?
Anna says
Lynn, thanks for the comment! Glad you liked the cookies.
Lynn Hodgson says
These are really delicious cookies, soft and chewy. I used dried cranberries but no nuts because of an allergy. I only cooked them for 11 minutes, the perfect time for my oven. Will be making these again many times!! Next time I will double the recipe as this one only made 20.
Karen H says
Starbucks Oatmeal has always been our favorite, but don't like the thought of all the additives we don't want. Was looking for a substitute, this looks like it would fill the bill. Has anyone tried using all or part coconut oil and/or part molasses with this? Starbucks also listed dried apricots, which I will definately add.
G says
I really love this recipe. I adapt it to be gluten-free and egg-free due to allergies and they turn out wonderful every time - a challenging feat for gluten-free AND egg-free baked goods! I use Trader Joe's gluten-free all purpose flour and Engery Egg Replacer in my version.
Blanca says
Great recipe. I didn't change any of the ingedients, and the cookies came out great. I plan to make them again for our family's 4th of July celebration tomorrow.
Laura says
I am not a big fan of shortening, but that's the missing ingredient here if you want a bit softer, chewier cookie. I compared the official ingredients that Starbucks lists on their website, and they have both butter and shortening listed in the Outrageous Oatmeal cookie. My 78 year old mother swears by Crisco (instead butter) as the very important ingredient that prevents a cookie from flattening out and getting too crispy. It's also her mainstay for pie pastry which you will find the recipe for in Betty Crocker as "Standard Pastry". Butter in pastry just turns it into shortbread (if you also add some sugar) and is great when you do want a crispy cookie.
Anna says
You can, but you don't have to.
DeAngela says
Do you chill the dough before baking?
Cmac says
i added a cup of krispy rice (rice crispies), it adds a nice crispieness!
Jenny says
These turned out JUST RIGHT!! Good recipe -- thanks for sharing.
Maggie says
I added coconut and cognac to the recipe......Delish!
Heather M says
Just made these, gluten free/dairy free since we are a gfree family and they are amazing! I used bobs redmill all purpose gluten free flour, and earth balance dairy free "butter"...when I bake non gluten free recipies as gluten free I add a tsp of xanthum gum...super easy recipie as well as super yummy!
Anna says
Thanks for the sweet comment, NN. Enjoy your cookies. Send some rain here.
Nana Niki says
My son is getting ready to deploy and I his birthday is next week (6/6/12)... I text him and ask what he wanted me to bake! He said... "How about something with nuts, oatmeal and crasinberry".. I'm pretty sure this recipe will fit that description... and I will keep you posted as to how they turn out! Peace to all... and thanks for the recipe! Nana Niki (P.S. It's raining in Southern Ohio "finally" and the crows are in the tulip tress begging for cookies) LOL
Anna says
Hi Renee,
It meant an extra 3 tablespoons. You'd be fine using a big handful or a half cup. Don't worry about being precise with the amount of nuts :).
Renee says
Hi Anna,
Thanks so much for the recipe, I am going to make them this wknd for the family. One question though you say '1/3 cup chopped toasted walnuts plus 3 T.' what does the 3T mean?
thanks
Renee
Julie says
Anna, This recipe was awesome. Very yummy...I could not stop eating the cookie dough...so good. My cookies were very tasty. Thanks a bunch!!
Anna says
Thanks Tina!
Tina says
Added 1/3 cup white choclate chips. These are better than the cookies I bought at Whole Foods yesterday and are a new favorite at our house.
Bonnie Kluthe says
Here's one i made up and my husband is crazy about it.
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Rounds
3/4 cup Canola oil
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 cups old fashioned oats
2/3 cup chopped cranberries
2/3 cup chopped walnuts
Beat together oil & peanut butter. Add sugars, baking powder,
soda, salt & cinnamon.
Beat in eggs & vanilla. Beat in flour; then stir in oats, cranberries
and nuts.
Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.
(I always use whole wheat pastry flour as well as oil rather than butter whenever I do any baking .)
Bonnie Kluthe
Anna says
Thanks for the review, Leila!
Leila says
I baked these exactly according to the recipe and they are amazingly good! I've gotten assured that they are even better then starbuck's and jason's deli cookies
Anna says
Jean, I'm not a nutritionist so I just run the recipes through a program called Mastercook. You might want to buy it because it will let you get the nutrition rundown on just about any recipe.
Jean says
I am trying to keep my weight down. I purchased a box of home made Oatmeal Cranberry walnut cookies from Sprouts. They were delicious. I am trying to find a healthy recipe, so I can make my own. This recipe is easy, but I am conserned about the nutritional value of the cookies. Could You e-mail the nutritional value facts.
Thank You
Jean
Jerri says
I am looking for the recipe for the Jason Deli's Oatmeal Cranberry Walnut Cookies. I have been trying to tweek the recipe, but I am missing some ingredient.
Anna says
Hi Jean! Thanks for the review. Sorry you didn't like the recipe, but sometimes doubling can change the result. Also, this recipe doesn't have weights for the flour and when recipes don't have weights, people are likely to get varying degrees of thickness due to the way people measure flour.
About Cousin's, I've enver heard of that recipe but will look for it. Sounds interesting. In the meantime, I'm going to email you a recipe you might like better.
Jean says
Well, I'm sorry to say I was disappointed with this recipe. I baked the first dozen last night, and they spread out too much, and became a crisp cookie - not what I was looking for. So I added a bit more flour, and baked the rest this AM. Much better, but still not as good as Cousin's. I should mention that I doubled the recipe to begin with. I'm puzzled why anyone would choose to bake such a small batch of cookies - as long as your doing it anyway, why not make a few more?
Jean says
I was looking for the Cousin's recipe - maybe it's the same as Starbucks? This one looks good, I'l try it and let you know how it measures up.
Katrina says
I made these yesterday--completely as written, except I didn't quite have enough cranberries, so I also used some dried cherries. Yum! They are great! And they look exactly like the ones in the photo!
Dolce says
That sounds like a good one. I will try it next week-end, with raisins though, as I know I still have quite a stack at home 🙂
(I was also wondering if I could substitute raisins or cranberries for chocolate chip as well ? It might take away the chewiness and smoothness that we get when we bite into it though? Any thoughts?)
Anna says
I'll have to find the new Taste of Home recipe.
thebrunettebaker says
My hubby loved 'em just as you origianally posted them. He's a sucker for anything oatmeal rasin. They're a good hearty cookie and I'd make again, at least right after the ones I just got out of Taste of Home (Colossal!)
CindyD says
These look terrific! I'd be tempted to add a handful of mini chocolate chips to them.
snooky doodle says
these do lookk good! full of hearty goodness 🙂
Katrina says
Mmm, if it isn't going to be chocolate, or peanut butter, or banana, it has to be oatmeal for me! 😉 okay, okay, I like almost all cookies! These look great.
Louise says
I'll have to try this recipe and see how it compares to one I created about twenty years ago.
Sara says
This sound so good! I had no idea about these cookies from Starbucks...but now that I have your recipe, I guess I won't have to run out and buy one.
Judy says
Anna, The cookie looks great. I love your new blog look. It's pretty much what I want to do with mine, not too jazzy. Some of the sites with music and whatnot are dizzying. I like your subdued colors and nice clean lines/look. Did you do it yourself?
dawn says
oh these look good. I love putting just a pinch of sea salt on my oatmeal cookies..don't know why, have done that for years.
Carole Resnick says
Stop it, Anna. Between these and the cinnamon snowballs I will be in the kitchen foever. Thank goodness it is raining and cool.