Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies - Recipe Diaries (2024)

FAQs

Why aren't my oatmeal cookies chewy? ›

Add a bit of cornstarch to the dough. Cornstarch helps to absorb moisture and keep cookies soft and tender. Make sure you're using the right type of flour. All-purpose flour will give you a softer cookie than whole wheat flour.

Overmixing develops the gluten in the flour, which can produce tough cookies. If the recipe doesn't call for an electric mixer, mix in dry ingredients using a wooden spoon. When dry ingredients like flour are "scooped" into the measuring cup directly from the container, it compresses, or becomes packed.

Oatmeal raisin cookies contain whole grain oats with complex carbohydrates and dietary fiber. These carbohydrates provide long-lasting energy keeping you full for long periods of time. This slow-burning type of energy in oatmeal raisin cookies prevents spikes in blood sugar which is important for diabetics.

Binding agents are the liquid in the recipe that hold the cookie together. Examples of binding agents are eggs, milk, honey, and fruit juice. Cookies with more eggs will rise more and spread less. If you want a crispier cookie, you can replace a whole egg with just an egg white.

Baking cookies quickly in a hot oven – at 375 degrees F as opposed to a lower temperature – will make for soft results. They'll bake fast instead of sitting and drying out in the oven's hot air. Ever so slightly underbaking your cookies will give you softer results than cooking them the full amount the recipe says.

Raisins: Soak your raisins in warm water for 10 minutes before using (blot very well to dry them) – this makes them nice and plump for your cookies.

Keep Them Sealed

The key to keeping cookies fresh and soft is to seal them in an airtight container, like a resealable freezer bag. And here's a nifty little trick: add a piece of bread to the bag. You might think that the bread trick works because the cookies absorb moisture from the bread.

Baking powder

Baking powder contains sodium bicarbonate and acidic salts. The reaction of these two ingredients results in a cookie that is soft and thick, but slightly harder.

A freshly baked oatmeal raisin cookie on a napkin. Cookies aren't exactly healthy snacks. Although they do provide quick energy and contain some beneficial nutrients, the amounts of saturated fat and processed sugar in most cookies are enough to outweigh their nutritious qualities.

People with diabetes can have sweets and other sugary foods as part of a healthful meal plan or when combined with exercise. However, it is best to enjoy sweets in small portions as an occasional treat.

Can a diabetic eat oatmeal? ›

A cup of cooked oatmeal (1/2 cup of dried oats) contains approximately 30 grams of carbs, which can fit into a nutritious meal plan for people with diabetes. Oatmeal is high in fiber and nutrients but low in saturated and trans fats and sugar and can help you maintain a healthy blood sugar level.

A lot of cookie recipes use 350°F as the preferred temperature, but if you lower it to 325°F, your cookies will cook a little slower and retain more moisture. Shorten Your Baking Time Another way to keep your cookies chewy and tender is to try baking them for less time.

Brown sugar, meanwhile, is dense and compacts easily, creating fewer air pockets during creaming—that means that there's less opportunity to entrap gas, creating cookies that rise less and spread more. With less moisture escaping via steam, they also stay moist and chewy.

I use molasses and white sugar in place of the brown sugar and that also makes them more tender less crunchy. Also adding 1/2c more oats to recipe will be chewier if they aren't over Baked/dry. Cornstarch is a good trick to help make cookies more soft and chewy. It helps to bind and hold the moisture after baking.

Remember moisture is the key! White sugar creates crispier cookies and brown sugar creates chewier cookies. Why use melted butter? Melted butter creates cookies with a different texture compared to cookies made with softened or creamed butter.

Use Melted Butter

If the goal is a chewy cookie, then you absolutely need to be using melted butter. The technique of creaming softened butter and sugar together is often used for making cakes. And for good reason! The process of creaming incorporates air into the butter which results in a more airy and cakey cookie.

The main thing to do is to increase the amount of moisture - a dry cookie is not a chewy cookie. So the first thing to try is to reduce the baking time of the oven.