Soft, chewy, and delicious, these Amish Friendship Bread Oatmeal Raisin cookies are a twist on a family favorite.
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.
Amish Friendship Bread Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Ingredients
- 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
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F (176° C).
- In a mixing bowl, cream starter, shortening, and both sugars.
- Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
- 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.
- 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.
- Using a 1" cookie scoop or rounded tablespoon, drop cookie dough onto a prepared cookie sheet (ungreased or lined with parchment), approximately 2" apart.
- Bake for 15 minutes, or until cookies are nice, toasty brown and set. Allow to cool on pan fo 3-5 minutes before serving.
- 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 made them last week. I used a little ground clove instead of allspice and ginger. They came out good, but flat. They don’t look like your photo. We’re eating them. The appearance doesn’t change the taste. I just wish they looked more like the oatmeal raisin cookies I used to make. Also I used all butter instead of shortening. Maybe that’s why they came out so flat.
Perfection in a cookie ❤️ delightfully chewy and ooh so delicious. Thank you for this recipe. I even went out and bought a cookie jar because I have to stock up on these and, for two people, we go through them surprisingly quickly.
I didn’t have raisins on hand, so I used a mix of milk chocolate and dark chocolate chips, soooo good. I also substituted some of the butter for coconut oil, because as much as I love butter, for some reason I like less butter in my cookies 🤷 weird I know.
Anyway, thanks again for this most excellent recipe. I’ve saved it and am about to make another batch 😋
That sounds amazing, Andrea! That touch of the coconut oil sounds like such a great idea. So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I also didn’t have enough raisins. I used a mixture of very old currants, chocolate chips, and dried cranberries. Very good mix. We froze them in bags of 4 cookies. We eat 2 cookies every evening.
When you say “starter” do you mean after day 10 and it’s been fed and separated into 4 portions OR do you mean before it’s been fed?
After it’s been fed and separated it, Leslie. Happy baking!
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.
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!
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/
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/
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!
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
Can I use buttermilk instead of starter
Yes!
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!
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.
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 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.
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!
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).
Love seeing these have to try some. Hubby lives oatmeal cookies, I just live it all. Thanks for sharing
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!
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.
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…
I love oatmeal cookies. I would might add chocolate chips. Can’t wait to try these.
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.
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.
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!
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 ?
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 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. 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!!
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’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’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 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 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! 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.
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.
Are you kidding? I’d make this for ME! I love oatmeal cookies!
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.
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.
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 cookies, I’m not the greatest cook so I wouldn’t add anything to the recipe.
I will definitely try these after I have some starter ready. I love oatmeal cookies! The recipe sounds delicious! I’m thinking pecans would be a good add in. Thank you for the recipe!
I would make these for my 84 year old dad. Oatmeal cookies are his absolute favorite. I would add in Craisins and toasted walnuts! Thanks for the chance!
Tomorrow is baking dayI plan on making your Oatmeal Raisin cookies while my bread is rising. I’ve been looking for a good recipe that’s not ‘old hat’ and this fits the bill. I keep about two pounds of ground nuts, not chopped but finely ground, in the freezer and will add two cups to the dough. I have walnuts, pecans, almonds on stand by! I think I’ll make a double batch and use the walnuts in one and and pecans in the other. I’ll have a bounty of goodness to share with family and friend. Thank you for your web site … I know the time and energy it takes to produce the site and am greatly appreciative, MzAnna
This recipe looks perfect. I love the idea of using half cup starter and Oatmeal Raisin are my hubby’s favorite. Oooh and they can be tweaked many ways, adding white or dark chocolate, nuts, etc. Does the dough freeze well? I freeze dough into logs, so we don’t have too much temptation all at once. My family loves the chocolate Amish bread and also the Pumpkin Spice. I often tweak recipes. For the Chocolate Bread, I tried Dark Cocoa and dark chips and replacing 1 cup of whole Wheat flour, it was delicious. I also used Pumpkin Butter and cinnamon chips in the Pumpkin Spice bread and just made a second batch in muffin tins. Now I’m making my own Pumpkin Butter! I am so thankful I found this website and all the recipes you share. Thank you Thank you
This recipe looks perfect. I love the idea of using half cup starter and Oatmeal Raisin are my hubby’s favorite. Oooh and they can be tweaked many ways, adding white or dark chocolate, nuts, etc. Does the dough freeze well? I freeze dough into logs, so we don’t have too much temptation all at once. My family loves the chocolate Amish bread and also the Pumpkin Spice. I often tweak recipes. I tried Dark Cocoa and dark chips and replacing 1 cup of whole Wheat flour, it was delicious. I also used Pumpkin Butter and cinnamon chips in the Pumpkin Spice bread and just made a second batch in muffin tins. Now I’m making my own Pumpkin Butter! I am so thankful I found this website and all the recipes you share. Thank you Thank you
Huge oatmeal cookie fan and so is hubby. We like to make them and then freeze them. Good cold! 🙂
I will make these for my husband who recently had a bone marrow transplant and is finally home from the hospital. We love chocolate chips in our oatmeal raisin cookies! Thanks!
Oatmeal raisin cookies are my favorite. I would even try chocolate chip and pecans added to make recipe my own!!
We love oatmeal cookies! I would make this for my family – and I would make it without the raisins, in order to make an oatmeal cream pies out of them. Which would require small cookies with a cream filling.
I love these cookies!!! I have made then so many ways. Any dried fruits are good especially cranberries. I love them with cranberries and dates with mini chocolate chips. Make them like spice cookies. Mmmmmm so good!! And dont forget nuts. I always make a batch for my friend and her son and a batch just for me!
I have favorite recipe for Oatmeal Spice Cookies that is very similar to yours with the addition of cloves and vanilla. I make them for my husband but I’ve never found anyone who didn’t love them.
What a great recipe!!I love oatmeal cookies!! I would add dark chocolate chips and maybe skip the raisins!! Or make them both ways!!! I’m on day 6 of my starter, so am ready to try something new! I already have mini loaves of lemon blueberry and triple chocolate coconut bread in my freezer!!
My whole family LOVES oatmeal cookies. I make them all the time for them. We add all sorts of dried fruit, and I would add a dash of nutmeg to your recipe, because we all love it here. I might even be persuaded to add chocolate chips, too, just for fun…
These sound wonderful. Not really an oatmeal cookie foodie but will give these a try. I think some M & M candies and some chopped walnuts would be a great addition.
I like them just as Oatmeal cookies, but have added pecans, cranberries and yes even chocolate chips.
My favorite cookie. I would add dried cranberries and instead of nuts sunflower kernels or pumpkin seeds.
Yes I am a big oatmeal cookie fan. I will make this for family and friends. Add-ins, well let’s see, pecans, chocolate chips, butterscotch, dried cherries… the ideas go on.
I would make these for family and work. I’d swap out the raisins for cranberries and dark chocolate chips. Love your website and all the ideas for using the starter. Glass cookie jar would be a great addition to my kitchen!
I would add dried cranberries and glazed walnuts. It’s a pre made mixture sold in the salad fixing aisle of the grove dry store.
Will definitely make these as I am a oatmeal raisin cookie junkie!! More impossible are my 2 grown boys and 5 grandkids!! Love them the way they are. ❤️❤️❤️???
I’m definitely an oatmeal raisin cookie junkie, but more importantly, my grown sons love them as well!! Will be making these soon!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️????
I was actually just getting ready to make some oatmeal raisin cookies for my MIL, and happen to have some leftover starter I need to use, so the timing is just perfect! Butterscotch chips, craisins, or nuts could be a good addition to these cookies.
Hi I am actually on day 7 of my starter and love oatmeal raisin cookies so I am definitely going to add this to my recipe list. I promised some ladies that I see at a Tarot reading class that I would make them some bread for our last meeting of the year. We have been using your recipes and experimenting with our ingredients to come up with some of our. My grandsons love to help mix the ingredients and to come up with their own flavors. Last year we made all of their teachers mini loaves for Christmas
I love oatmeal raisin cookies. I would also add in chocolate chips. I would make these for my son and husband.
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are my husband’s FAVORITE cookie! He would be delighted to see a batch of these appear in the kitchen. So glad to know I can use some Amish Friendship Bread Starter to make them.
A fun addition to Oatmeal Raisin Cookies is chocolate covered raisins. I also like to add other extract flavors along with the vanilla…..almond is great with dried cranberries and white chocolate chips. Caramel extract is delicious with chocolate chips and chopped pecans. I also use a lot of baking emulsions-Cookie Butter is wonderful in Oatmeal cookies. SO many possibilities!!!
I am a huge oatmeal fan!!! I would make this cookie for me and my family! We love oatmeal anything! I love the cookie jar!!!!! I love glass jars. Thank you!
I love a good oatmeal raisin cookie! I would maybe try toffee in them !
Yes I’m a BIG fan of chewy oatmeal raisin cookies!!! I would love to make them for me, me, and my family/friends, if there were any left over after i was done… I would add walnuts, in a different batch would be chocolate chips, another batch chocolate chips and walnuts, another batch Craisins, butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips, Taffy chunks…..oh yummy yummy
This recipe looks wonderful! I might add nuts probably peacans! I might also substitute craisins for the raisins, just for a change of pace!
I’d have to make a couple batches – one without raisins for my son (don’t ask me why he doesn’t like them!); another batch as above for one of my sisters-in-law for our cookie exchange; and add coconut in with the others (who aren’t allergic to coconut) because it makes them taste GRAND!
This recipe looks so good. I think I’d add cranberries to it for yummy fun! And they’d look so pretty in this beautiful cookie jar!
I am definitely going to make these for my office staff and I may take 1/2 of the recipe and add butterscotch chips
Yum! Unfortunately, I am the only one that likes oatmeal cookies. I will make them for me and freeze them so they will last a long time! I will sub cranberries for raisins and add walnuts. Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Love Oatmeal cookies!!?
can’t wait to try this for hubby & me with chocolate chips (me) and peanut butter chips (him)
Oatmeal Raisin my favorite cookie as well as my husband’s favorite. Most of the food groups, dairy, grains,fruit…so a “healthy” choice as cookies go. I would add nuts, either pecans, walnuts or black walnuts. Chocolate, vanilla or butterscotch chips could also be added; I believe I would prefer the butterscotch. The main thing to add is participants willing to eat them!!
My husband is the worlds biggest oatmeal cookie fan! I would make them for him and maybe add some dried apricots.
Love oatmeal cookies! Will make these for the coffee social where I live. Will add something different each time. Chips, different dried fruits maybe different nuts. Can’t wait to make these!
Love oatmeal raisin cookies. So does my husband. I would definitely make them for him. I would add in walnuts for him. If I made them for the office I would add dried cranberry and walnuts.
Awesome new recipe, must have walnuts! Thank you for the new twist on Oatmeal cookies!
Blessings
I would make these for the whole family, they don’t like store bought cookies ever since I started making them from scratch lol.
I would probably add in some mini semi sweet chocolate chips just to entice the little ones.
Thanks for the great new recipe!
I love oatmeal cookies !!! I sometimes oput in raisins or else chocolate chips or dried cranberries and walnuts
Yes oatmeal cookie fan. Would make for my husband and add chopped macadamia nuts.
Oatmeal cookies are great , I think I would add cranberry and white chocolate chips , my granddaughter would love these !
I am looking forward to trying this recipe. I would add chocolate chips. I would make them for me. Yum!
These look really good. Love oatmeal cookies, but my family doesn’t really like raisins.
I would probably switch raisins out for chocolate or butterscotch chips.
These are definitely on my list to make!
Oh Gorgeous! I am definitely going to make these!
Oh Heck Yeah! I’d make them. Hubby is a HUGE fan of oatmeal cookies!! I’d maybe add in dried cranberries, instead of the raisins, and some candied orange peel. Leave out the allspice, as we are both allergic to it. With those two ingredients, and no nuts, my dogs could also enjoy a couple. I might add in pecans if just for hubby and me. This looks like a super recipe and definitely a keeper. And, by the way, I could use that cookie jar!!
I will definitely make these. Thanks for the recipe. I would probably add nuts–either walnuts or pecans.
I would make these spookiest for family, friends and coworkers. We have stockings at work that we put small gifts in all of December. I’m the baker in the group, they would love to find these.
I would also add white baking chips. Replace raisins in a batch with cranberries and add the chips. Thank you for the recipe.
I am definitely an oatmeal cookie fan. I would make this for my husband. I would throw in some butterscotch chips to the cookie! Thank you!