Slice-and-Bake Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies – Forget storebought dough-in-a-tube & make your own slice-and-bake cookies! Bake only as many as you need of these soft & chewy cookies packed with chocolate chips!
Slice-and-bake cookies bring back memories of refrigerated cookie dough in a tube.
And of slicing off hunks of dough and baking it as an after school snack growing up.
Only about half the dough in those tubes got baked into cookies. The other half was eaten as-is. I lived.
These cookies are a version on that them, except healthier. They’re made with hearty whole-rolled oats and wholesome whole wheat flour. The oats provide an abundance of texture and the wheat flour adds a slight nuttiness to these uber-chewy cookies.
I love raisins in my oatmeal cookies and these are loaded. I used both regular raisins and a golden raisin medley. If you’re not into raisins, you can omit them, or add nuts in their place. Or add additional chocolate chips. And as much as I love raisins, I love chocolate, too. I have two other oatmeal raisin cookie recipes and it was about time I included some chocolate in one.
Making the dough is a standard operation. Creaming butter, sugars, an egg, and vanilla; adding oats, flour, baking soda; and folding in raisins and chocolate chips.
After the dough comes together, remove it from the mixing bowl and transfer it to a large sheet of plasticwrap. Mold it into a log about a foot long and about 3 inches in diameter. Seal up the plastic and roll the log back and forth a few times to get it as round as possible before you freeze it.
One handy trick for keeping the dough from getting as smooshed and lopsided in the freezer is to slice open a cardboard paper towel roll and place the log inside that. It’s like a carseat for the log.
The dough needs to chill in the freezer for at least two hours, or up to two months, before slicing and baking. In the future when the urge arises for a cookie or two, it’s nice knowing you have a dough log in the freezer and you can slice off just what you need.
It’s easier than you think to slice through the frozen log. Let it come to room temp for about 5 minutes first, or nuke it for 10 to 15 seconds before slicing. Place the log on a cutting board, use a very sharp knife, and slice away.
My slices are nearly 1-inch thick. Don’t make your slices thinner in an effort to yield more cookies or for portion control. Your cookies will turn out flat and thin, and likely too crispy and crunchy. Keeping the slices thicker helps the edges bake up chewy, while the interiors stays soft, tender, and moist.
For these cookies in particular, overall dough mass as well as surface area and the ratio of edge-to-center plays a big role in how the cookies bake. The New York Times Chocolate Chips Cookies {from Jacques Torres} and Christina Tosi cookies, including Compost Cookies and Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookies, are baked with this surface area principle in mind.
They start with huge wads of dough that approach one-third cup in an effort to achieve that chewy edge-soft center cookie nirvana.
These slices aren’t anywhere near that massive, but be mindful that you can’t start with thin slices or you’ll never achieve that perfect balance of chewy yet soft.
When baking, don’t bake more than 8 to a sheet because they do spread, slightly more than the average cookie.
Bake for about 15 minutes, much longer than most cookies, but remember the dough was frozen going into the oven and the slices are 1-inch thick. They do firm up as they cool so don’t be tempted to over-bake or they’ll set up too hard and crisp and the bottoms could burn.
They have an old-fashioned flavor quality and my husband especially enjoyed them. They’re not a gooey, messy cookie, which is fine by him because prefers cookies that are texture-filled, hearty, and these deliver.
They’re so, so chewy. Yet they’re soft and moist enough that they bend and flex rather than crumble. The brown sugar-dominant dough helps to keep them soft and adds richer flavor.
Between the oats, wheat flour, and two kinds of raisins, they’re on the healthier side of the cookie spectrum.
Sorebought dough-in-a-tube will always have a special place in my heart, but the homemade version of slice-and-bakes isn’t too shabby.
Especially when there’s so many different things to sink my teeth into in one of these babies.
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Slice-and-Bake Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ยฝ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ยพ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ยผ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup old-fashioned whole rolled oats, not quick cook or instant
- ยพ cup all-purpose flour
- ยผ cup whole wheat flour
- ยฝ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- ยฝ cup raisins, I used 1/4 cup regular raisins and 1/4 cup golden raisin medley from TJs
- ยฝ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or mixing bowl with hand mixer), add the butter, sugars, and beat on medium-high until light and fluffy, about 4 to 5 minutes. Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg, vanilla, and beat until well incorporated, about 2 minutes. Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the oats, both flours, baking soda, optional salt, and beat just until incorporated, about 1 minute. Fold in the raisins and chocolate chips by hand, or beat just momentarily to incorporate.
- Turn dough out onto a large piece of plasticwrap and form a large log with it, about 12 to 14 inches in length and about 3 inches in diameter. Seal up the bundle, roll it back and forth a couple times to smooth it out so one side isn't flat from resting on the counter, and place it in the freezer to chill for at least 2 hours, up to 2 months. Tip - Vertically slice a cardboard paper towel roll and place dough inside the tube to help to prevent it from flattening or getting lopsided in the freezer until it's set.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat, parchment, or spray with cooking spray; set aside. Allow log to come to room temperature for about 5 minutes to make slicing easier, or microwave it for 10 to 15 seconds. With a very sharp knife, slice log into 14 to 15 slices. Each slice should be 3/4-inch to 1-inch thick. Do not make your slices thinner because cookies will spread and you won't get the chewy edges and soft centers that make these cookies so wonderful.
- Place slices on prepared baking tray, spaced 2 inches apart, and bake no more than 8 cookies per tray because they spread a bit more than the average cookie. Bake for about 15 minutes (this sounds long but remember dough was frozen and is 1-inch thick), or until edges are set and centers are just beginning to set. It's okay if tops appear glossy and a bit under-done because cookies firm up as they cool. Rotate trays midway through baking. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheets for 5 to 10 minutes before moving to racks to finish cooling. Cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 1 week; however, consider baking only as many slices from the log as needed at any one time because fresh is always best. Unused portion of frozen log can kept in freezer for 2 to 3 months.
- Keep gluten-free by using certified gluten-free oats and your favorite gluten-free baking blend in place of the whole wheat flour.
- Considerably adapted from Bon Appetit
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Love the paper towel idea. I love keeping homemade cookies in the freezer to bake at a whim. These look great Averie!!!
And normally I do frozen dough balls but the log was a fun change up!
Ahhhh how cute that you can slice them!!!
These look so tasty and chewy, and I love that they’re healthy(ish) :P
I am a self proclaimed oatmeal cookie junkie. AND my little brother is coming to visit today. AND he eats me out of house and home. I am sooooo making these in the next 2 hours. I owe you one. Forreal.
Oh that’s so awesome – just so you know, these are thinner and super chewy vs. these which are thicker, heartier and still chewy. https://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2013/02/thick-and-chewy-oatmeal-raisin-cookies.html Just depends what kind of oatmeal cookie you’re in the mood for! LMK if you end up trying either!
Think my big intro to oatmeal cookies was upon arrival into the States to attend UCLA.
That’s when I met Mrs Fields =)
But your recipe and photos look equally delicious and are undoubtedly healthier.
Thanks for the tip about keeping the cookies at least one inch thick when baking, Averie.
In these cookies, yes, too thin will result in a spready mess!
Cookie dough is my ultimate weakness! I bet these cookies would be as well.
It’s dangerous having a big ole tube of dough waiting in the freezer, staring at me every time I open the door.
I can tell by the photos that I’d eat far too many of these in one sitting – that is, if I could resist eating all the dough first. ;)
Great idea to use a sliced paper towel rod as a protective “carseat!”
I just recently started buying Oats. Only used them in smoothies and I’m dying to use them in cookies. These look so amazingly chewy I can almost taste them. I need to make me an oatmeal cookie and I think it’s going to be this one.
No fond memories of dough in a tube unless pillsbury cinnamon rolls count. If so, holy crap, I have tubes full of memories with those.
I hope you can try them out!
These look wonderful, great pics and slicing technique!
Love the Slice and Bake! I prefer oatmeal cookies with no raisins but yours look good enough to make a raisin convert out of me!
Oh, I love slice and bake! So many memories of childhood, but these are waaaaay better than store bought. And I love that paper towel roll tip!!!
I figured you would have liked slice and bakes :)
This looks like the ultimate oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookie! Full of pure goodness..
I remember making the slice and bake cookies too! Love that you made a homemade version. I also love using different kinds of raisins. TJs has a really awesome medley bag of raisins that is my fave.
That medley is my fave too! And for the price, cannot be beat!
And yet another fabulous cookie idea!! YUMS! I hope your next cookbook will be a cookie cookbook!!
“I lived” LOL! ME TOO!! I ate that tubed dough like it was nobody’s biznass! :)
I would love to write a cookie cookbook (me and everyone else probably!) :)
LOOOOVE Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Averie! So clever to do them in a slice-n-bake fashion! Oatmeal cookies are so hearty-chewy-addictive, no? Love them studded with raisins. Will be sharing my recipe (with Drop Cookies 101 tutorial) later this week. Did the photos for the tutorials before I got sick with the flu in late Feb. Downton Abbey & Oatmeal Raisin Cookies helped cure me, LOL! Oh…just posted a killer Paleo Carrot Cake with Cashew-Coconut Buttercream! It is out-of-this-world delish. Hope you will try it! xo
I just did oatmeal cookies! I adore them and now I definitely have to try these!
I want those Oreo cake bars of yours!
I LOVE oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. My husband loves oatmeal raisin. This looks like a good compromise! I never thought to make an oatmeal slice a bake cookie. Good idea!