Oats are the star of these oatmeal cookies, and rightly so. Featuring the nutty taste and nubbly texture of oats, these mildly spiced oatmeal cookies are crunchy around the edges and invitingly soft in the center. Plus there's a touch of a surprising ingredient, vinegar, to cut the sweetness and give your baking soda a boost!
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets, light-colored preferred.
In a large bowl working with an electric hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat together the butter, shortening, sugars, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and vinegar until fairly smooth; a few tiny bits of butter may still show.
Beat in the egg, again beating until smooth.
Add the baking soda and flour, beating until well incorporated.
Add the oats (and raisins), stirring to combine.
Drop the dough in 1 1/4" balls onto the prepared baking sheets; a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here. If you're measuring, this is about 2 level tablespoons (using a tablespoon measure, not a dinner spoon). For round, symmetrical cookies, be sure to leave 2" between them on all sides; otherwise, they'll spread into each other.
Bake the oatmeal cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, reversing the pans halfway through (top rack to bottom, bottom to top). For softer cookies, bake the lesser amount of time; for crunchier, the longer amount. At 12 minutes, especially if you're baking on a dark pan without parchment, a few of the cookies on the edge should just barely have a bit of a pale brown around their edges. At 14 minutes, they should be starting to color all over.
Sprinkle a bit of salt atop the just-baked oatmeal cookies to bring their flavor over the top, if desired.
Remove the oatmeal cookies from the oven, and let them cool right on the pan.
For all-butter oatmeal cookies, substitute 4 tablespoons (57g) butter for the vegetable shortening, if desired; the cookies will be slightly cakier.
Substitute an equal amount, by volume, of King Arthur Rolled Oats for the oats in this recipe. They'll add slightly more chew and heartiness (and also more protein!).
Looking for a gluten-free version of this recipe? Find it here: Gluten-Free Oatmeal Cookies.
Jammy Bits, sweet, soft little morsels of fruit purée, come in five delicious flavors: blueberry, raspberry, cherry, apple cinnamon, and orange.
