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
As a kid, I loved making slice-and-bake cookies from refrigerated cookie dough. These are a healthier version, made with hearty oats, healthy whole wheat flour, two types of raisins, and a modest amount of chocolate chips. They're very chewy cookies, especially around the edges, and the centers stay soft and moist. They're so soft that they're flexible and bend rather than crumble. It's great to keep a tube of this dough in the freezer so you can slice off and bake just what you need when you want a warm, fresh cookie or two.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup old-fashioned whole rolled oats (not quick cook or instant)
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 1/2 cup raisins (I used 1/4 cup regular raisins and 1/4 cup golden raisin medley from TJs)
- 1/2 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 Information:
Yield:
15Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 176Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 13mgSodium: 63mgCarbohydrates: 30gFiber: 1gSugar: 20gProtein: 2g
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I can’t find this recipe. I looked back from top to bottom and still didn’t see it.
I am so so sorry. I have had people working on my site updating old recipe card formats and it appears that this post is glitching with bringing up the new format, and unfortunately I don’t have access to the old format and being that this is a recipe from 2013 I don’t remember from memory what I did.
If you’re looking for a perfect all around awesome oatmeal cookie recipe, I would suggest this one https://www.averiecooks.com/the-best-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookies/
Check back in a few days and hopefully this one will have gotten sorted out if you’re still interested. Again, I am sorry for this inconvenience!
I just had to make these for my son to take to family and friends I wont be able to visit. I decided to add craisins instead of rasins to make them a little festive. Happy Holidays!!
Pinned and voted on Pinterest. I will be sharing your recipe on Oh my Heartsie Girl.
Happy Holidays!!
Fantastic cookie! My husband claimed it to be the “perfect cookie!” I love the idea of slice and bake – make it oatmeal and chocolate chip and it is perfection for me, as well! (I don’t care for raisins in my cookies.) Thank you for the great recipe!!!
So glad you tried these and they were deemed to be your hub’s perfect cookie – WOW. AWESOME!
OH YUM! I have been craving oatmeal raisin cookies! Plus chocolate chips!? Mmmm. I don’t see how these can get any better! Can’t wait to try them!
Enjoy!
These cookies look delicious!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.blogspot.com
Oh yum! I love adding oatmeal to cookies because it gives them a really nice texture. I will have to try them out next weekend!
When I read the first part of this post, I thought to myself “I loved slicing off the dough and eating it raw…” Then I read the next line. :) You and I are two peas in a pod Averie! These look SO good. Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are my favorite kind! And oddly enough – I do not have an oatmeal cookie recipe on my blog! I need to change that. I love the two different kinds of raisins you used, too. You know hwo to make cookies look pretty! I feel like you might faint when you read this, but I love to add pecans to my mom’s oatmeal raisin cookie recipe hehe. ;)
Pecans. They’re all yours :) And the funny thing is that I do think of you as having many oatmeal cookies on your site! Maybe b/c of couple use oats? I have a mental image of a recipe in my mind of yours that uses oats. Maybe it’s those cookies that I always tell you I want to make but never have (the flax)…can’t remember the name. So many cookies…I can hardly keep my own straight :)
I haven’t made slice-and-bake cookies in ages! I love the idea of making my own slice-and-bake dough instead. I could totally use a log of this in my freezer for cookie emergencies. :)
And really most cookie dough can be kept in the freezer in balls/mounds or logs. The log was new for me. Usually it’s tupperwares of little balls!
These cookies are so pretty with the contrasting colours between the two types of raisin. I always like my cookies with chocolate so I’m glad you had both in here. Great tip on the paper towel roll, too.
I love the paper towel trick!
And oh my, I just get done at Sally’s Baking Addiction and click here and yowza!!!
These look so chewy and chunky, I agree with hubby that’s the perfect cookie. I may even have to spoon on some vanilla ice cream and make a sandwich from 2….and nuts would make them perfect for me. So glad you’re a cookie expert Averie but how can we decide each week when they’re all so scruptious?
ARRGGG :)
Have a great day!
Awww, you’re so sweet! I just keep trying new cookie recipes and playing around with them all. These were fun because they were unlike any other cookie I’ve ever made!
Averie, I can never resist cookie dough while I’m (supposed to be) baking them! I even get drunk off the ones when I put Brandy in them! …then wondering why I’m feeling funny, cz I forgot about the hard stuff in the dough! (Yes, I’m a light weight, obviously!) These cookies are totally calling my name!
Brandy in cookie dough…oh that sounds good! I’ve done rum but never anything else!
i love slice and bake cookies…of course homemade…i haven’t made before with oatmeal cookies and i love those so can’t wait to try.
Hi Averie, I just found your blog and I love it! I’ll be making these cookies, along with a zillion more of your recipes, that’s for sure :) I look forward to reading!
Thanks for finding me and stopping by and saying hello! :)
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. http://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!
You are the queen of cookie ideas, Averie! Love these!
Love the simplicity of this slice and bake recipe.
I just saw a slice and bake recipe in bon appetit that I was going to try…your cookies look SO much better
I noted in my recipe that I significantly adapted from Bon Appetit! I saw theirs but was a little…underwhelmed if I may be so bold. Glad you think mine look so much better :)
I’d probably leave out the regular raisins, and add extra chocolate. The alternative raisins may stay. What a great idea!
Thanks and your matzo toffee looks so good! I love that stuff!
I was lucky to have my mom always baking when I was younger, so I didn’t discover dough-in-a-tube until I was in high -school. What a discovery it was! I never bothered to attempt it myself since I didn’t bake frequently back then and always wanted to bake the dough right away. Now, it seems like a really great idea. Thanks for sharing!
So brilliant! I love the idea of a slice and bake cookie, and these look so scrumptious. Saving these to try soon, thanks Averie!
This is always a roll of slice and bake cookies in my freezer, waiting to be devoured when a craving strikes. I’ll have to add this recipe to my stash..haha
For me it’s usually balls not rolls but same difference pretty much :)
Just found your blog. Love the recipes!
http://thecoyotethistle.com
http://instagram.com/thecoyotethistle
Thank you, Annie!
I love the convenience of slice and bake cookies. And the fact that you used whole wheat flour in these! Amps the nutty flavor which I love. Pinning!
I know you use wheat flour in your cookies lots, too. Thanks for the pin!
Averie, are you sure this isn’t an April Fool’s joke? This is genius! Absolutely love these slice and bake oatmeal cookies!!!
No joke but I did realize after the fact that the big camera giveaway was on April 1st…and that’s not a joke either!
I love the convenience of slice and bake cookies! These look incredibly chewy and loaded with goodness!
I just died and went to oatmeal raisin heaven! These healthy slice and bake cookies with yummy raisins AND chocolate chips were enough, but then I saw the related posts and made me a little crazy. I’m about to get a little pin-happy, and I’ll make something soon!
Thanks for the pins and enjoy! LMK what you try!
Perfect to make ahead! Great idea for the holidays. Love it :)
Beautiful cookies and freezing them is both great and dangerous idea, I could end up baking them every day…
These look amazing, Averie! Love the golden raisins (:
The outsides of these look sooo perfectly browned and crunchy! They look amazing Averie–pinning!
My hubs loves those kind of edges. Thanks for the pin!
LOVE that you made a healthier version to slice and bake cookies! They definitely bring back memories! It made me laugh when you said you lived through eating raw cookie dough – me too! Through LOTS of raw cookie dough, actually ;)
We all did, I’m sure :) And good luck with your cleanse starting tomorrow!
I haven’t made slice n bake cookies in YEARS and I think it’s time for a revival of the awesome oatmeal raisin variety!! YUM.
Love the slice and bake and how you make your log! These look awesome, lady!
I love the idea of having slice and bake oatmeal raisin cookies. They are one of my favorite cookies, and having the dough ready in the freezer for cookie emergencies is a wonderful idea. Somehow, I don’t think my cookies will last but a few days, if that! :)
And I keep seeing your newest choc chip cookies on all the food sites. Congrats!
LOVE the slice an bake! How do you continue to post so many great dessert recipes!!?? You to good!
In 4+ yrs of doing this, it’s always the desserts that I gravitate toward…funny how that works :)
Chocolate chip dough in-a-tube takes me back to high school. What is it about unbaked cookie dough?!? So many people love it (and I’m definitely one of them). I always like a hearty oatmeal cookie–and stuffed with chocolate and raisins makes it that much better. I got a hold of some Vietnamese cinnamon so I made a batch of your vanilla sugar doodle cookies and added some. I was going to just wrap it in plastic and then do the slice and bake idea, but decided to go ahead form the cookies. Wonder how many will make it to the oven–that dough is pretty darn good!
I special ordered some Vietnamese cinnamon and that stuff is pricey and I haven’t even used it yet. I think in a batch of sugardoodles sounds perfect. That dough is SO good!
Fantastic idea. And awesome idea on the paper towel cardboard use. I love oatmeal raisin cookies. Just the smell alone…mmmmm
I was channeling my inner crafty side. Lol
Love the idea of homemade slice and bake!!! These look so yummy!
A classic comfort cookie – love these!
And that paper towel roll trick is fabulous! :)
Total prevents squished dough log :)
This is my kind of cookie!! Love the cardboard roll-trick! I don’t have a freezer though..only a crappy icecube-section that doesen’t shut. I think that it is provided by the kitchen-gods, since I would probably fill my freezer and forget about it and NEVER CLEAN it. At the moment I’m suffering a chocolate-easterbrunny intoxication, so Eaven your perfect cookie is letting me quite cold.
I’ll probably make it next week!!
Okay LMK if you try them!
These look so good..I wish I had a warm one right now.
Is it still healthier if oyu add more chocolate chips? :) I hope yes.
Oh I do love oatmeal cookies. And I am known to make dough to put in the freezer, but what gets sliced off is rarely baked. I could eat a whole bowl of oatmeal cookie dough happily.
Birds of a feather on everything you just said!
Healthy oatmeal rasin cookies? Sign me up!