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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4.60 from 5 votes
Slice-and-Bake Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies
By Averie Sunshine
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.
Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes minutes
Servings: 15
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup old-fashioned whole rolled oats, not quick cook or instant
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup whole wheat flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- ½ cup raisins, I used 1/4 cup regular raisins and 1/4 cup golden raisin medley from TJs
- ½ 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
Serving: 1, Calories: 176kcal, Carbohydrates: 30g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 3g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 13mg, Sodium: 63mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 20g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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