Soft and Chewy High Altitude Homemade Oatmeal Cookies

Soaking raisins before adding them to the cookie dough is the secret to soft chewy results. This recipe for soft and chewy homemade oatmeal cookies works perfectly for high altitude bakers. Loaded with oats and raisins, this quick and simple fool-proof recipe makes cookies your family will devour.

Inspiration for these Oatmeal Cookies

Growing up, my absolute favorite cookie was my mom’s homemade oatmeal cookies. She called them oatmeal crispies and I’ve probably made the recipe a jillion times.

Until that is, I moved to Colorado. High altitude baking suddenly and unexpectedly hit me right between the eyes.

Her recipe for oatmeal crispies suddenly changed from a nice round thick chewy oatmeal cookies to a flatter and odder version when I tried baking them here in Colorado.

You had to watch them like a hawk while baking, they cooked much quicker and they flattened and ran together on the sheet pan. They were somewhat of a mess.

At higher altitudes, there’s lower air pressure in your kitchen. You’re supposed to increase oven temperature, decrease leavening, increase fluid … and as I learned in Culinary School, you’ll need to experiment and come up with a formula for each and every recipe to eventually get it right.

I’m not very fond of that theory, because when I take the time to bake, I don’t want to be disappointed, and I don’t like starting over.

With that said. I’m a big fan of our Denver Junior League Cookbook series. I own and cherish each and every one of them.

When we moved into our new home five years ago, our neighbor across the street brought us a “meet and greet” plate of oatmeal cookies.

The chewy texture and the oatmeal cookie flavor was just like my moms. You bet I asked for the recipe and she directed me to the recipe that appeared in the very first Denver Junior League cookbook, Colorado Cache.

For your convenience, I’ve included an affiliate link to the cookbook. I’m a member of the Amazon affiliate program. If you purchase the cookbook through this link, I’ll receive a small commission at no charge to you.

I’ve made this recipe many times and have never been disappointed. And The Denver Post hails them as The Best Oatmeal Cookies.

Lineup of Ingredients

• Three Eggs: Eggs are binders for any recipe. What would a meatloaf be without them? Keep those eggs cold to keep the cookies from spreading while baking.
• Raisins: The raisins are soaked in the beaten eggs to make them soft and chewy. Use dark or golden raisins here.
• Vanilla: Friends don’t let friends bake cookies without it. Use vanilla extract, or better yet, vanilla paste.
• Butter: Unsalted is always better. You get more of a pure buttery taste.
• Brown Sugar and White Sugar: Brown sugar brings that deep rich sugary taste to this recipe.
• Flour: Bleached or unbleached, just make sure it’s all purpose.
• Salt: Don’t forget it or your cookies will taste flat.
• Cinnamon: Gives these cookies a beautiful spiced flavor.
• Baking Soda: Gives those cookies just the lift they need.
• Old Fashioned Oats: To insure a chewy oatmeal cookie, use old fashioned oats instead of quick cooking oats.
• Pecans: Gives these cookies a beautiful crunch.

Can oatmeal cookies be frozen?

As you can see in the photo above, this recipe makes enough for an army. Around six dozen cookies to be exact. After giving the neighbors some, I still had way too many cookies for just the two of us.

So you bet, thank goodness, oatmeal cookies can be frozen. Just lay a gallon freezer bag on its side and start shuffling in the cookies to where they’re in layers. Squeeze the air out and lay the bag flat in the freezer. Or you can use an air tight plastic container. I like using a zip-lock because it takes up less room.

You’ll have a lovely stash of cookies that will last about a month in the freezer.

Recipe for Homemade Oatmeal Cookies for High Altitude Bakers

What I love most about this recipe, besides it being a quick and simple process, is that the raisins are soaked in the egg mixture for one hour. Making those raisins nice and soft. Rather than biting into a cookie and finding a hard raisin that’s been mixed into the dough straight out of the box.

There’s nothing better than chewy oatmeal raisin cookies.

And if you’re simply opposed to raisins, just leave them out. You can substitute mini chocolate chips instead. Next time I make these, I’m going to try Craisins.

I wish I could tell you that these cookies work at lower altitudes. I would imagine the recipe works just fine. Would someone please give them a try and let me know.

More Denver Junior League Inspired Dessert Recipes

• Colorado Creme
• Lemon Lush Dessert
• Almond Chambord Raspberry Bars

And if you’re looking for more, don’t miss my Dessert Category. You’ll find lots of luscious ideas. Including the most popular dessert recipe on my site from Denver’s famous Fort Restaurant Chile Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Bourbon Frosting.

Homemade Oatmeal Cookies … They’re What’s For Snacking