The Very Best Oatmeal Cookies

The Very Best Oatmeal Cookies

  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Total Time: 20 mins
  • Yield: 36cookies
  • About This Recipe

    “One of the best oatmeal cookies I’ve ever tasted. A definite family favorite. They are fantastic without the optional nuts, raisins or chocolate. Photo by KC Cooker is how these cookies look when I bake them–fairly flat, chewy in the middle with crispy edges.Yum…..”

    Ingredients

  • 1cupshortening
  • 1/2 cupbrown sugar, firmly packed
  • 1cupgranulated sugar
  • 2largeeggs, beaten
  • 1teaspoonvanilla
  • 1 1/2 cupsflour
  • 1teaspoonsalt
  • 1teaspoonbaking soda
  • 3cupsquick-cooking rolled oats
  • 1/2 cupchopped nuts(optional)
  • 1/2 cupsemi-sweet chocolate chips(optional)
  • 1/2 cupraisins(optional)
  • Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Cream together shortening and sugars.
  • Add eggs and vanilla, beat well.
  • Sift together flour, salt and soda.
  • Add to creamed mixture.
  • Stir in oats slowly.
  • Mix well. Add nuts, chips or raisins, if desired.Dough will be fairly stiff.
  • Drop by heaping tablespoon on lightly greased cookie sheet. (I use a 4 teaspoon cookie scoop and press them down slightly before baking).
  • Bake for 8-10 minutes.
  • Reviews

  • “Shame on me that I never reviewed these.I make them all the time.They are one of my go to oatmeal cookie recipes.I always get compliments and requests for the recipe.They make a thinner, crunchier cookie, and I like them best plain, w/ no nuts, raisins or chips.Came to the recipe today b/c I need a dessert for a kosher friend for a meat meal, and these are parve, an added bonus!”

  • “I may never make a different recipe!I added half a bag of chocolate chips (all I had) and they were great.Crispy edge, chewy middle – just like everyone says.No flavor overpowers another.Completely yummy.”

  • “ya these are good; I was tempted to tweek, as is my wont, but I resisted and am glad; I did place the dough in the ‘fridge as I have found that chilled dough works better for me. And DO flatten them a bit, it’s what gives the cookie a crispy outer edge and a soft chewy center.Yay Sharlene”

  • “I have very bad luck baking cookies, but this is the first time my cookies have ever turned out good!The recipe was very simple. I didn’t add anything in and it came out sooo good. After looking at them at 10 minutes, i left them in for another couple of minutes and they turned out perfectly.Thank you for posting this excellent cookie recipe! :)”

  • “True to its name this is THE VERY BEST OATMEAL COOKIE ever!This cookie was easy, it baked well and reminds of commercial quality.I used butter instead and added a touch of orange extract with the vanilla and used English Walnuts only.Thanks for posting this recipe.I will use this to make variations.Just wonderful!”

  • “Awesome cookies. Used butterscotch chips to make “oatmeal scotchies” and get rave reviews everywhere I take them. Sweet but not too sweet and addictive!”

  • “I made these for our Fourth of July BBQ – it represented the “Amber Waves of Grain” in “America the Beautiful”.I went with 1 cup raisins, and then added a 1/2 cup red hot candies which added a most delicious cinnamon flavor and crunch, not to mention a festive color to the platter.I made enormous cookies (used an ice cream scoop), and split one with my husband this evening.We couldn’t keep our hands out of the dough!A++ Will bake again!:)”

  • “Sharlene – These were fantastic! I make cookies all the time and in my entire life have never made oatmeal cookies. I’m not sure why, but I’m sure glad I did because these were great! Mine weren’t cakey and fluffy like the 2 pictures, but they were soft and chewey with a nice crispy edge. I followed the recipe exactly without any add ins and baked them for 9 minutes. Thanks for sharing this wonderful cookie recipe!”

  • “Sharlene did it.She found the best oatmeal cookie ever.They are delicious.We made them without the chocolate chips.Thanks Sharlene!!”

  • “Very tasty recipe! We loved it. Will definitely make it again.”

  • “Great cookies!! Excellent taste. I just had to bake them for about 16 min because they appeared like they were not done. I saved this recipe and will make them again for sure!”

  • “I did modify this recipe slightly.Instead of 1 cup shortening, I split for 1/2C shortening and 1/2C butter.I wanted more of the melt in your mouth flavor of butter.Just couldn’t imagine a cookie without butter.The cookies still had that crispy outside and a soft inside.Made half without any additions and then used mini choc chips and pecan in the other half.”

  • “This was a good oatmeal cookie recipe but it wasn’t the very best I have tasted. I was surprised by people saying they were the very best. The quakers oats famous recipe is better. I baked as directed and as several readers said they need to cook a bit longer. Maybe about 12 minutes”

  • “These cookies are crispy on the edges and chewy in the middle. They are on the sweet side even though I only used a total of 1 cup of sugar: 1/2 brown/1/2 white. I also baked them for 9 minutes. Don’t forget to flatten them out a bit because they don’t spread very much. I didn’t use any of the optional items because my family likes them plain.”

  • “These really are the VERY best oatmeal cookies!They are soft and sweet, and keep really well!I substituted 1/2 a cup of sifted whole wheat flour for part of the flour, and added a little cinnamon.Otherwise, no nuts, raisins, chocolate chips or other additions though, and they were fabulous!Thanks for a great go to recipe!They were so good I’m making a double recipe today so that I can send two dozen home with my Dad for the family! :D”

  • “I don’t eat oatmeal cookies very often but for whatever reason I had a craving for some so I did a search for cookies without raisins and with shortening. I don’t like raisins in cookies and I find that while butter is good for some things baking cookies is not one of them and I wanted to find a recipe that agreed with me.I did not add in the optional ingredients.These were delicious and enjoyed by all.I did not bother beating the eggs before adding them to the mixture and I rolled by hand into small balls and got 3 1/2 dozen.Froze half of them for a later date.Perfect!”

  • “Exellent cookies! I added a healthy dash of cinnamon and some chopped walnuts, but otherwise followed the recipe to the letter, omitting the other optional ingredients. I’ll be making these again! Thanks!”

  • “This really wasn’t that good. I prefer cookies that use old-fasioned oats. If you really want the very best oatmeal cookies, try Recipe #35813.”

  • “OK, I know why you named them the “Very Best” oatmeal cookies…because they’re the very best I’ve ever made!Just a little crispy on the outside without the entire cookie being too hard to bite through.A+++!”

  • “My kids LOVED these cookies, & I love that they’re eating freshly bakedhealthy snacks like this. The last of the cookies were fought over, so this recipe is definitely a keeper!”

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