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Resistance is futile, people. These chewy, perfectly sweetened, Amish Friendship Bread Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are going to be your downfall.
You all know how much I love using the starter to make cookies. It’s not only a great way to use up excess starter when you run out of people to give the starter to, but it makes a ton of cookies that are super giftable. No one in their right mind would turn down a gift of cookies, right? Not only that, these cookies freeze well, so you can have cookies anytime you want, which of course is the whole purpose of any self-respecting cookie, I think.
The full printable recipe is below. What you need to know:
- This recipe makes 4 dozen. That’s 48 cookies!
- This recipe has two cups of rolled oats, which is heart healthy.
- There’s a giveaway below for a glass cookie jar.
Soft, chewy, and delicious, these Amish Friendship Bread Oatmeal Raisin cookies are a twist on a family favorite.
- ½ cup Amish Friendship Bread Starter
- 1 cup shortening
- 1 cup brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon ground
- ½ teaspoon allspice ground
- ¼ teaspoon ginger ground
- 2 cups rolled oats uncooked
- 1½ cup raisins
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Preheat oven to 350° F (176° C).
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In a mixing bowl, cream starter, shortening, and both sugars.
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Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
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In a large bowl, sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and ginger. Create a well in the center and fold in starter mixture until combined.
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Stir in oats and raisins. Cover and chill in refrigerator for at least 15-30 minutes, then let dough rest at room temperature for five minutes.
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Using a 1" cookie scoop or rounded tablespoon, drop cookie dough onto a prepared cookie sheet (ungreased or lined with parchment), approximately 2" apart.
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Bake for 15 minutes, or until cookies are nice, toasty brown and set. Allow to cool on pan fo 3-5 minutes before serving.
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ENJOY!
>> Have you tried this? Share your best pic with us or leave a comment below and let us know how it worked for you!
I will be trying this recipe very soon! My husband loves oatmeal raisin cookies! He may like some cranberries added in. I may have to try that! Thanks for the recipe and wonderful web site for all kinds of Friendship bread recipes!! ?
Love Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. Will have to try this soon with holidays coming. May add some small chocolate chips for chocolate lovers. I love this site. I am new to Amish baking so anything I learn is great. I love the loaves, especially the Triple Chocolate Coconut loaf. My family loves it.
Oatmeal cookies are a staple. I make them for everyone that requests them ! The add-in’s are endless according to whom i am baking for.
Are you kidding? I’d make this for ME! I love oatmeal cookies!
Thank you so much for doing this. I remember my Mom having a starter and we only had the basic recipe but she would add to it. Now there is so much more. I have not started yet because of busyness BUT I plan to start soon. We love to make oatmeal cookies with cinnamon or butterscotch chips. We are not raisin fans. This makes baking that much easier. The recipe variety you have is great! I plan to be prepared this year for all our neighbors who brought us baked goods last year.
I Love Oatmeal Cookies! Just not a fan of raisins.I may add pecans or walnuts. I’ve added toffee bits to my oatmeal cookies. They’re a big hit with the family and coworkers! I just started my first Friendship Starter in over 30 years ? Now I just need to wait.
I love oatmeal cookies! I might add some walnuts or toffee chips but they look really good just as they are. Just in time for holiday baking! Love your recipes please keep them coming!!
I love oatmeal cookies and I will be making them for friends and family this year. I might would try to add dates and nuts to change it up a little!
I’m going to make these next week when my starter (Holly—named for our beloved cookbook author the late Holly Clegg) is ready for baking!
I’m Jenn Wilson. I used to make Amish Friendship Bread back in the 90’s – we called him “Herman”. I lost touch with “Herman” after moving to another state and forgot all about my faithful friend! So just a few months ago, I thought about how I missed Herman and went looking for information on how to create him again and I found your website! I’m so glad I did! I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all your efforts in providing so many recipes! It’s awesome!
I love oatmeal raisin cookies. My husband, on the other hand, does not. And since we are emptynesters, I guess I’ll be making them for myself as a birthday treat – this month is my birthday! I might add chocolate chips and possibly a little mint extract to the last dozen to create what my mother in law used to call “Cowboy Cookies”.
Thanks for all your dedication to this website! You are wonderful!
I don’t like raisins, so, I’ll probably add chocolate chips instead. I like to bake especially at holiday time. I’ll give this a try. I like all the recipes for friendship bread. I think my favorite has to be chocolate friendship bread.
I love oatmeal cookies. Alway have. I would add chopped pecans to the recipe. and more cinnamon as my family loves the taste of cinnamon. I grew up eating oatmeal cookies. This will be one of the cookies I will be making for the Christmas Holidays!!
Oatmeal Raisin cookies are my favorite!!!! I have not made cookies with starter – just realized that I could. To shake up my cookies I add chocolate chips or walnuts (my mom’s favorite.)
I love oatmeal cookies. I would add craisins (dried cranberries) and chocolate chips to one batch, butterscotch chips and walnuts to another batch. I use pumpkin pie spice in place of the other spices, less to measure.
Oatmeal cookies, our favorite since childhood. Another addition for us is orange peel zest, or candied ginger bits. Looking forward to making the pecan sandies too! Thanks you for posting ?
Definitely one our favorites, especially my husband’s! Among the add-Ins we enjoy are candied ginger bits, and also orange peel zest. Thank you so much for sharing, want to try the Chinese almond cookie next!
Hi! I’ll definitely be trying this with walnuts. Bought a bag and didn’t know what to do with it until now. This will be great holiday baking fun to do with my son. Dough-lores (my starter) will contribute of course.
I will definitely be making some of these! I like to add chocolate chips and walnuts to them and leave out the raisins sometimes too.
I love oatmeal cookies. I would might add chocolate chips. Can’t wait to try these.
Hey! My name is Candy, and I never met a cookie that I have not loved! Cookies are my kryptonite. Everyone in the house loves cookies, too, especially my husband. We love oatmeal, chocolate chip cookies. But this time of year white chocolate chips and dried cranberries…YUM!!! You can even add macadamia nuts…
These look awesome! I’m a mom of 4 cookie living boys so I am going to try them for my boys. I may try some with dark chocolate chips instead of raisins.
My husband freaks out because he thinks the starter will make him ill. Its rotten he yells at me as he’s wolfing down those yummy oatmeal cookies made from the recipe listed above. Men are so funny!
Love seeing these have to try some. Hubby lives oatmeal cookies, I just live it all. Thanks for sharing
Yuum! I’m gonna be making these babies for myself! I love oatmeal cookies with dried cranberries so Ill probably do those one week and then chocolate chip and toffee bits the next week. Im always looking for new recipes for Marge (my starter).
Terri here from Texas and a big fan of Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and also love Pecan Sandies, as well! They both are my favs! My family loves cookies, so I make them for family and friends with the Amish Friendship Bread starter recipes I love chopped pecans in my Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. Sometimes I like to add extra of the Allspice to the oatmeal raisin recipe to make them extra tasty, not too much of it’s overpowering. And to the Pecan Sandies, sometimes adding Dried Cranberries to them. Usually instead of a cup of Shortening, I use a 1/2 cup of Shortening and a 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter. My husband likes to bake them also! These cookies are Yummy!
I am a total cookie monster and these are THE BEST!!! A few more minutes in the oven turns chewy into crunchy and they are both my favorites. Next time I’ll add pecans. I made a batch and took to a meeting and people went nuts over them.
My husband and I love oatmeal cookies so much. We love raisins and nuts in them also. Oatmeal raisincookies are our favorite. Thank you so much for a chance to win this lovely cookie jar. I would love to fill it with these delicious cookies.
I’m super excited to try these oatmeal cookies and add some blueberry crasins. These will make a yummy breakfast cookie. Can’t wait to share with my grandchildren.
Can you use your starter from the freezer (thawed of course) or does it need to be fresh bubbly starter?
Thawed from the freezer is perfect, Dwana!
Can I use buttermilk instead of starter
Yes!
These cookies turned out awesome ..soft and chewy…I ended up with 6 dozen using the smallest cookie scoop from pampered chef …my husband isn’t a fan of raisins so will make this recipe again only using chocolate chips instead of raisins ! Thanks for this yummy recipe !
So glad they turned out for you, Ruby! If you take any pictures with the chocolate chip twist, we’d love to see them, too! Feel free to show us on our Facebook group page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/amishfriendshipbread/?ref=bookmarks
These were so delicious, I made a half recipe because oatmeal raisin cookies can be hit or miss, but they were so good I made another batch the next day. Thanks for the delicious recipe, it’s really fun to try different things with the starter.
Thanks for sharing, Tina! So glad they worked out for you! It’s always fun to discover new recipes!
I have made these many times and they are a big hit. 4 dozen may seem like a lot, but they never last long. Our family’s favorite way is to make them a bit larger, flatten them out a little before baking. They make excellent ice cream sandwich cookies: it’s it’s doppleganger.
That sounds amazing, Carolyn! Feel free to share photos on our group Facebook page if you take any, too: https://www.facebook.com/groups/amishfriendshipbread/
Would regular sourdough starter work in place of the Amish bread starter?
Hi Gwen! This post should help figure out how to substitute with a traditional sourdough starter: https://www.friendshipbreadkitchen.com/faq-substituting-regular-sourdough-starter-in-place-of-amish-friendship-bread-starter/
Could I use vegetable oil instead of shortening for this recipe? Going to make these tonight.
For best results, we recommend using shortening for these cookies. We haven’t tried it yet for this recipe, but you can try substituting 1 cup shortening with 3/4 cup vegetable oil and see how that works. You might need to boost the sugar a bit or add another egg until you get the texture to your liking. Keep us posted!
Does it make any difference if you use old fashioned oats or instant oats?
Hi Elizabeth! As long as the instant oats doesn’t have any additives, they both should work well in this recipe. In general, people prefer to use old fashioned oats for cooking because they are a less finely chopped.