Brown Butter Sourdough Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

It’s hard to think of a cozier cookie than these Brown Butter Sourdough Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. They’re chewy and soft, with a nutty depth of flavor from brown butter, and full of plump raisins.

Browning the butter enhances the flavor in these sourdough discard oatmeal cookies, adding specks of caramelized goodness without the need for spices.

Otherwise, it’s a simple and classic sourdough cookie recipe without the need for a mixer or much resting time.

Additionally, they’re easy to make ahead of time or freeze, so you can make them for a crowd or gift-giving! I include lots of tips and detailed photos on how to make these chewy sourdough oatmeal raisin cookies below.

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👍 Why I Love This Recipe

• Makes soft and chewy oatmeal cookies
  • The oats, raisins, and sourdough discard help to make these cookies soft and chewy, like a bakery-style oatmeal raisin cookie. They stay chewy even after many days!
• Easy and quick to make with minimal tools
  • I love longer baking projects like Sourdough Croissants or baking sourdough bread, but sometimes you need a quick and easy recipe, which is why I love sourdough discard recipes.
  • These cookies bake in just 14 minutes and the entire recipe comes together quite quickly. You do have to wait for the butter to cool to room temperature after you brown it, but you can accelerate that process by putting it into the refrigerator or freezer.
  • No mixer or fancy equipment is needed to make these cookies.
• Stores and freezes well
  • The cookie dough stores well in the refrigerator for up to a week. Furthermore, you can portion out the cookies and freeze them months in advance!
• The brown butter is a simple twist that elevates the cookies
  • It’s hard to resist not adding brown butter to every baked good because it’s so delicious with a caramelized, nutty flavor. I even add it to the cream cheese frosting for my Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls.

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🔍 Tips for Making Sourdough Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

• Watch the brown butter closely
  • As you cook the butter, constantly stir/swirl the pan and watch the butter closely so it doesn’t burn. Brown butter can burn quickly if you’re not paying attention!
• Don’t bake too long
  • A cookie’s texture can vary quite differently based on just an extra couple of minutes of baking. For chewy sourdough oatmeal raisin cookies, you’ll want to bake these just until the edges are very slightly brown and the centers appear a little underbaked.
  • As they cool, they’ll firm up some, even if they seem underdone at first.
• For equal sizes, use a cookie scoop or weigh them
  • Use a cookie scoop to bake even-sized cookies. I use a 2 ½ TBS cookie scoop.
  • Alternatively, you can weigh the cookie dough so you get equal-sized cookies. My cookies tend to be about 50 grams each.
• Refrigerate and rest the cookie dough for even more flavor
  • These cookies taste and bake well after just 10 minutes of resting. However, if you’re looking for even more flavor, you can refrigerate the cookies for up to a week.
  • Refrigerating the cookie dough helps if you want to make the dough in advance, too!

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🛠 Tools Needed:

Click the links below for my favorite tool recommendations.

• Baking Scale
  • Sourdough starter can weigh differently from person to person, so weighing your ingredients is the best option if you can!
• Whisk
  • For whisking the wet ingredients.
• Spatula
  • For scraping the sides of the bowl and folding in the old-fashioned oats and raisins.
• Cookie Scoop (optional, but helpful)
  • For even-sized cookies, a cookie scoop is really helpful. That way, they bake evenly and are the same size.
  • I use a 2 ½ TBS cookie scoop to make about two dozen cookies that way 50 grams each. The equivalent cookie scoop is a #24 scoop, but you can use a smaller or larger one depending on the size of cookies you want.
• Baking Sheets
  • I use two of these large Nordic Ware baking sheets to bake all of the cookies at once (about 2 dozen), lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

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🛒 Ingredients Needed:

Click on the links below for my ingredient recommendations.

• Unsalted butter
  • Since the butter in this recipe is browned, there’s no need to bring the butter to room temperature to soften.
  • The brown butter is the dominant flavor in these cookies, so there’s no equal substitute for it. I recommend splurging on a better-than-average butter (such as Cabot or Kerrygold) for this recipe if you can for the best flavor.
• All-purpose flour
  • If you want to add some whole wheat, substitute half of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour.
• Baking soda
  • No need for baking powder in this recipe as the baking soda is strong enough to do all of the leavening here. It helps to make them puffy and chewy.
• Kosher salt
  • I use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt. The salt is essential to balance out some of the sweetness and bring out the brown butter and vanilla flavors.
• Granulated sugar
  • A mixture of granulated sugar and light brown sugar helps give the oatmeal cookies their distinctive chew, slight molasses flavor, and the granulated sugar helps them spread more.
  • You can substitute the granulated sugar with coconut sugar or decrease it to ¼ cup if you’d like.
• Light brown sugar
  • You can use dark brown sugar instead, too.
• Eggs
• Sourdough Discard (or active starter)
  • You can use either active starter or sourdough discard in this recipe.
  • If you don’t have an active sourdough starter, learn how to make one in a week following my how-to guide. See my top sourdough starter tips here.
• Vanilla extract
  • For extra vanilla flavor and specks of vanilla, use vanilla bean paste or a whole vanilla bean.
• Rolled oats
  • Use old-fashioned rolled oats, not instant or steel-cut oats.
• Raisins
  • You don’t have to soak the raisins beforehand, but make sure the raisins you use aren’t really old and dry. If so, you may want to soak them in water (or rum if you’re feeling spicy!) to plump them up some. That’s something I recommend for my Sourdough Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread!

Sourdough Oatmeal Cookie Variations

• If you’re not a fan of raisins, you can substitute them with chocolate chips to make sourdough oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
• You could also replace the raisins with another dried fruit, such as dried cranberries, tart cherries, golden raisins, chopped figs, or dates.
• Add ½ cup of chopped walnuts or pecans if you want a little crunch in every bite!
• For an even chewier cookie, add a tablespoon or two of molasses to the batter.
• If you miss spices in your cookies, you can add any warming spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, or cardamom here too. Some great recipes using these spices include my Sourdough Gingerbread Cake with Cranberries, my Sourdough Banana Bread with Chai Spices, and my Sourdough Zucchini Bread.

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👨‍🍳 How to Make Brown Butter Sourdough Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Follow this visual and detailed recipe guide as you make the best sourdough oatmeal cookies.

1. Brown the Butter

Browning butter adds incredible depth of flavor. It’s an easy process, but you do need to pay close attention so it doesn’t burn.

To brown the butter, place 226 grams of unsalted butter (two sticks, or one cup) into a small saucepan or medium-sized skillet over medium-low heat.

Melt the butter and use a spatula to constantly stir as the butter begins to foam.

At first, it will simmer as it cooks off the water in the butter, but it will start to foam. Once the butter is foaming and bubbly, pay close attention, as the milk solids start browning.

As the butter browns, continue stirring with a spatula and remove it from the heat once there are many specks of dark brown butter in the pan. It’s very fragrant like popcorn or caramel (maybe the best smell in the world?).

Pour the hot brown butter into a large heat-proof mixing bowl to cool to room temperature for at least an hour.

2. Mix the Dry Ingredients

In a large mixing bowl, mix together 180 grams of all-purpose flour (1 ½ cups), 1 teaspoon baking soda, and ¾ teaspoon of salt.

Set aside.

3. Mix the Wet Ingredients

Once the butter has cooled to room temperature, add the wet ingredients to the same bowl and whisk together:

• 200 grams (1 cup) of light brown sugar
• 50 grams (½ cup) of granulated sugar
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 120 grams (½ cup) of sourdough discard (or active sourdough starter).

The mixture will be thick, almost like applesauce.

4. Make the Cookie Dough and Rest

Pour the wet ingredients into the large bowl of dry ingredients and add 225 grams (2 cups) of old-fashioned rolled oats.

Use a spatula to mix the cookie dough together. It will be very thick and sticky.

When no flour spots remain, fold in 140 grams (1 cup) of raisins. Fold the dough until the raisins are evenly distributed throughout.

If you plan on baking immediately, preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC) and let the cookie dough rest (at least 10 minutes) until the oven is preheated.

5. Bake

Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC) with the racks in the upper and lower thirds in the oven.

Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Use a cookie scoop (or spoon) to portion the cookies into about two dozen 2 ½ TBS cookies, or about 50 grams each.

Roll the cookies into balls and space evenly on the prepared baking sheets with a couple of inches in between each cookie.

Bake for 14 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies turn golden brown and the centers appear soft and slightly underbaked.

Remove from the oven to cool on the pans for a couple of minutes before transferring the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

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How to Store

Sourdough oatmeal raisin cookies store extremely well and remain chewy for many days.

Before storing, always let the cookie cool completely to avoid trapping any moisture.

You can store the cookies in an airtight container for up to a week at room temperature. You’ll get a few more days out of them if stored in the refrigerator.

You can freeze, thaw, and slowly reheat baked cookies as well. If doing so, layer the cookies and separate them with parchment paper to prevent sticking.

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❓ FAQs:

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Other Sourdough Dessert Recipes You May Enjoy:

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