Rum Raisin Oatmeal Cookies
There are oatmeal cookies, and then there is this recipe for rum raisin oatmeal cookies, soft and hearty and full of rum soaked raisins. Perfect with a cup of fresh mint tea!
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Why we love this recipe
Who doesn’t love a nice oatmeal cookie, especially one stuffed with plump juicy raisins, right?
And who doesn’t love some rum raisin ice cream? 🙋🏼♀️
So one day I decided to put the two of them together. A soft, substantial, warm from the oven oatmeal cookie, packed with raisins that had spent an hour soaking in some rum.
If a tropical vacation turned into a cookie, it would be this one…and if you want to pile some rum raisin ice cream in between two of these cookies and make the world’s best ice cream cookie sandwich, I say YAY YOU!
Ingredients you need for this recipe
ingredient notes and substitutions
- Rum: You need to use the real thing…rum raisin extract is actually too intensely flavored for the raisins.
- Rolled Oats: Don’t use instant oats and definitely not steel cut oats – just good old regular rolled oats are what you need.
- Butter: I use salted butter for this recipe, but unsalted will also work.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
here’s how you make this recipe
STEP 1: Put raisins in a small bowl and pour rum over them. Let them soak for an hour or two, then drain the rum (and what you do with the drained rum is entirely up to you!) I soaked mine for about 3 hours in a nice bath of rum until they were soft and, well, rum-infused. The Southern husband kindly tested a few of them along the way to make sure they were coming out the right way. He’s helpful that way.
STEP 2: Preheat oven to 350.
STEP 3: Beat the butter together with both white and brown until things are nice and creamy, about two minutes. Add a couple of eggs and some vanilla and beat until combined.
STEP 4: Put some flour, baking soda and cinnamon in a medium bowl and stir gently with a whisk until those ingredients are well combined.
STEP 5: Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture with mixer on low speed (thereby avoiding a cloud of flour spreading over your kitchen counter). Add in some rolled oats and those raisins.
STEP 6: Put tablespoons of cookie dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat.
STEP 7: Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.Cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet and then put on rack to finish cooling. Make sure to eat one while they are still warm! Or two.
Soft, delicious oatmeal cookies with just a hint of naughtiness baked in.
Recipe FAQ
You can…these will then turn into fabulous traditional oatmeal raisin cookies.
Rolled oats are also called “old-fashioned oats,” and they are the most common kind. They have been steamed and flattened out. You want to use regular rolled oats and not the instant kind, because they have the best type of texture for this cookie. Want to know more about the different kinds of oats? Here’s a great run-down on oats from The Kitchn.
Pop your question in the comments section and I will answer pronto!
Other cookie recipes we love
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Rum Raisin Oatmeal Cookies
There are oatmeal cookies, and then there are these rum raisin oatmeal cookies, soft and hearty and full of rum soaked raisins. Yum!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Soaking Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 12 minutes per batch
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: About 40 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups raisins
- 1/2 cup rum
- 2 sticks (8 ounces) butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 cups rolled oats (not steel cut)
Instructions
- Put raisins in a small bowl and pour rum over them. Let them soak for an hour or two, then drain the rum (and what you do with the drained rum is entirely up to you!)
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Beat the butter together with both sugars until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.
- Put flour, baking soda and cinnamon in a medium bowl and stir gently with a whisk until well combined.
- Add flour to butter mixture with mixer on low speed. Add in oats and raisins.
- Put tablespoons of cookie dough on cookie sheet lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
- Cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet and then put on rack to finish cooling. Make sure to eat one while they are still warm! Or two.
Notes
-
- Rum: You need to use the real thing…rum raisin extract is actually too intensely flavored for the raisins.
-
- Rolled Oats: Don’t use instant oats and definitely not steel cut oats – just good old regular rolled oats are what you need.
-
- Butter: I use salted butter for this recipe, but unsalted will also work.
I make these almost weekly, they are my husbands absolute favorite.. so thank you!
Krystal, thank you so much! I am so glad these are a family favorite in your house too! :)
These are excellent! I soaked my raisins overnight in a bit more rum as they were on the dry side to start with. The cookies came out like your favourite oatmeal cookie taken to the next level. Fabulous! Thanks for a great recipe.
Hi Mrs. G and thank you! This recipe has a special place in my heart as I wrote it for my dad, so your comment is especially dear as well. Happy Wednesday!
Have not made this recipe yet, can I soak The raisins overnight?
You can! Overnight soaking will work just fine.
My husband is Swedish and every Christmas we have a Glogg party. After seeing your recipe, I used the Glögg soaked raisins in your cookies. SO GOOD!!! Thank you for a great recipe.
A Glogg party – how fun!! And I am so glad it led to those cookies and that they worked out so well for you – hurray! Have a wonderful holiday, Carole!
Is there any benefit to making the recipe a day before baking and putting in the refrigerator overnight?
Hi Christine! Refrigerating cookie dough overnight is always a good move…it lets the butter firm up so the cookies don’t spread as much, and it lets the flavors intensify. So if yuo have time, definitely go for it!
Thank you for posting the recipe. I soaked my raisins for several hours in probably more rum than was needed. LOL!!! After cooking, the rum flavor completely cooked out. Did I do something incorrectly? Did you still have the rum flavor after cooking? Would you expect the rum flavor to get stronger as the cookies age? Still a VERY good cookie!!! Great texture and flavor… minus the rum! LOL!!
By the way… I discovered a wonderful use for the “raisin marinade”… It makes a wonderful dipping sauce!!!
Well YUM! Did you dip the cookies in it? I love this idea!
Hi Leslie – all great questions! The raisins should have a slight rum flavor for sure…my best guess is that your rum was a mild kind. It doesn’t get stronger as they age. Oh, and there is no thing as too much rum! ?? I’m glad the oatmeal cookie part worked though! Next time you can try adding a half teaspoon of rum extract to the rum and that should make the rum taste pop. Hope this helps and have a great holiday season!
Soooo I love oatmeal raisin cookies. I had a jar of raisins soaking in rum for about a month. I’d planned on making rum raisin ice cream but just hadn’t gotten around to it. I thought hmm I’m making oatmeal raisin cookies why not use the soaked raisins. I didn’t think anyone had else had had that brilliant idea ? but thought I’d google anyways. Came across your recipe and gave it a go. I knew I was in trouble the dough was too soft. Even though I chilled it a bit..they all melted into each other and were as flat as pancakes. Still yummy though. I’m soaking more raisins so will give it another go.
Hi SJ and so glad we have the same vibe on raisins and rum! I’m super glad you are going to give this recipe ander go – if the batter still looks soft, I would mix in flour a half cup at a time until it starts to behave itself. (I have this issue with the chocolate chip cookie recipe on the back of the Toll House bag – sometimes it is perfect and sometimes it needs another glug of flour). Fingers crossed!
Can you use rum extract instead of rum?
Hi Karen! If you are going to soak the raisins you need to use actual rum…rum raisin extract is actually too intensely flavored for the raisins. However, if you are okay with chewier raisins, you can use them without soaking them, and add a teaspoon of rum extract to the dough to get that rum taste – add it when you add the eggs and vanilla. Hope this helps! :)
Tonight is my second batch in less than a month. This recipe has traveled by word of mouth amongst my neighbors, who, like myself, are elderly and favor good food, especially of the baked variety with lots of chocolate. Which is why I write. They can’t get enough of these, and there’s not a bit o’ chocolate. I can’t sing higher praise. The only changes to the recipe: I use golden raisins soaked in dark rum and 2, I convert the ingredients from volume to grams for consistency my own consistency.Thank you sooo much for this over the moon recipe.
Thank you for your kind words – you made my day! I’m the same about chocolate…except when it comes to these cookies. :)
These are fantastic! I made them for a friend who loves oatmeal raisin cookies. I never cared for oatmeal cookies before I made these, but this recipe has made an oatmeal cookie convert. They are soft and wonderful. I added a little orange zest to the butter and sugar creaming stage. It gave the cookie the taste of Christmas. It’s not just a snack cookie; it’s a dessert cookie.
Regina! You made my whole day! I’m so happy that you love these cookies as much as we do – Happy Thanksgiving!
Love how these came out! Such a nice tropical vibe for summer!
Thanks Kristin! They are a favorite around here too. :)
I give this recipe 5 stars! I have mastered it and have been told my cookies are the best ever! Thank you fir sharing!
Margaret, thank you so much!! I’m so glad you like these cookies – they are our family’s faves! :)
Can you freeze the dough for this recipe? I’d like to make these for a friend. He is single and I’d like to bake just a few but then portion out cookies to freeze so he can have a fresh baked one whenever he wants :)
Hi Amanda! And yes, you definitely can freeze cookie dough – here is a great article from one of my fellow food bloggers that goes into lots of helpful detail. Your friend is lucky to have such a good cookie-baking friend! :) Happy New Year!
My husband’s fave-baked in a Traeger and served warm with cold milk. love!
The perfect way to serve them up! Happy Friday, Mary! :)
Very good, soft cookie. I like to chop my raisins so I did! 1st batch out of the oven spread too much so as mentioned I added more flour and they were great. I did also add 1/2 tsp salt as I can’t make cookies without. Made for our friend who turned 40 at his request for something rum raisin, he LOVED them. Thank you for the recipe
Thanks Annie! These are a family fave in our house, so I’m so happy to hear that your friend loved them – what a great birthday friend you are! :)