These Oatmeal Molasses Raisin Cookies (also called World War II (WW2 cookies) Cookies due to the need to use sugar substitutes during the economics of the time period) are an oldie but goodie that needs to brought to the forefront of your recipe card index! These cookies are super chewy, extra tasty, and highly addictive!!
These super chewy Oatmeal Molasses Raisin Cookies (aka World War II Cookies) are an oldie but goodie that all are sure to enjoy!!
Oatmeal Molasses Raisin Cookies (World War II Cookies) Recipe
If you're unfamiliar with these cookies, you have truly been missing out on something that was a childhood staple and favorite for me. They were always on hand, or easily baked upon request, when I visited my Grandma...which is why this post totally deserves the #justlikegrandmamadethem hashtag...in the post even, which I don't think I have ever done!
Tips for baking Oatmeal Molasses Raisin Cookies
- I prefer to use Old Fashioned oats for these cookies as they yield a chewier cookie, using quick oats will change the texture and yield a more moist cookie.
- Yes, you most certainly can substitute dried cranberries or cherries for the raisins. You can also add chocolate chips or nuts, if desired.
- This is a one bowl recipe for drop cookies that do not require any chilling time, which makes these cookies quick, super easy, and easy to clean up after too!
- Room temperature butter and eggs shorten the amount of time cookies require for baking, if you are making cookies in a hurry you can soften butter by placing near your preheating oven and warm eggs by placing them in a cup or bowl of warm water.
Every time I bake or cook one of the recipes that we shared, or that has been handed down through our family, I think about how wonderful time spent in the kitchen together was and is.
Thankfully, our daughter Lauren is so enthused about learning to be a great home chef that we are frequently found sharing these memorable moments in the kitchen together.
For all of you that are working hard at creating great food at home for your families and sitting down with your family to spend quality time around the dining room table...take advantage of another great time to spend with your kids!
So many treasured memories from childhood and in life have food as a component, don't miss a chance to build life-long memories with your loved ones.
One of my childhood memories, was whenever I went to my Great Grandma's house she would always have the iced Santa sugar cookies in a tin, regardless of the time of year. Which explains my fixation with sugar cookies, since both my beloved Grandma Janet and Great Grandma T baked sugar cookies with me every year during the holidays.
Even though I was, and am to this day, addicted to sugar cookies I am a huge fan of great cookies in general. So many to share! But these Oatmeal Molasses Raisin Cookies are one of my all-time favorites and a great way to start out a return to sharing my recipes here at Bake It With Love.
I have missed posting and sharing my family recipes here, and even though we still had to eat so there was never any shortage of cooking, I have been away from baking as well. It feels so good to have recipes ready to be added, and a large queue of baking I'd like to get completed before the holidays.
With love from one cookie obsessed individual that adores anything with oatmeal and/or molasses, enjoy!
Desserts with Oatmeal
- Oatmeal Molasses Raisin Cookies (aka WWII Cookies) (this page)
- Old Fashioned Irish Oatmeal Cake with Caramel Pecan Frosting
- Peanut Butter Oatmeal No Bake Cookies
- Apple Oatmeal Muffins
- Chocolate No Bake Cookies (without peanut butter)
- Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
📖 Recipe Card
Oatmeal Molasses Raisin Cookies (World War II Cookies)
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter, salted (softened, at room temperature)
- 1 ¼ cups sugar
- 2 large eggs (beaten, at room temperature)
- 6 tablespoon molasses (or more, be generous for chewier cookies)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ cups old fashioned oats
- 1 cup raisins (substitute dried cranberries or cherries, if desired - you can also add chopped walnuts or chocolate chips)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and line your baking sheet(s) with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the (softened, room temperature) butter and sugar together until smooth.
- Add wet ingredients (eggs (beaten, room temperature) and molasses). Stir, then add salt, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Combine thoroughly.
- Add flour, stir in gently to wet mixture. Add old fashioned oats and raisins, then stir until all ingredients are combined into a sticky cookie dough.
- Using a tablespoon, portion out the dough into 1-1 ½ inch dough balls and place cookies onto baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart to allow the cookies room to spread during baking.
- Bake cookies at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 12-15 minutes, or until cookies are browned on the edges (the baked cookies are lighter brown in appearance than the dough).
- Remove cookies from the oven and allow them to set up on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Cool for an additional 10 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Angela is an at home chef that developed a passion for all things cooking and baking at a young age in her Grandma's kitchen. After many years in the food service industry, she now enjoys sharing all of her family favorite recipes and creating tasty dinner and amazing dessert recipes here at Bake It With Love!
Wayne Lind says
Wonderful!!! Only thing, what a sticky dough to handle. Well worth the effort. THANK YOU
Wayne
Nakusp British Columbia
Renee says
Good morning....I was wondering if I could use chocolate chips in place of the raisins? Some of us in my family are not very fond of raisins.
Thank you,
Renee
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Yes, you can definitely make this swap! You can use chocolate chips or a combo of chips and crushed nuts like walnuts, almonds, or pecans. They're all quite tasty. Enjoy!
Janice says
My cookies baked perfectly ..great flavor..but in a couple hours they became very hard and dry...inedible..the squirels are having a party!
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
That does indeed sound weird, I've never had these cookies be anything but chewy. I would suspect that perhaps they were fine while warm and just baked, but that the cookies may have over-baked. If it was my batch of cookies, it would also be entirely possible that I forgot an ingredient! 🙂
Marixi says
Made these yesterday. So good! Here are my modifications:
Used 1/2 C brown sugar and 1/2 C white sugar
Used 5 T molasses
Used 2 C flour (by accident)
The most important modification I made that brings the recipe over the top IMO is I soaked my raisins in warm water for about 30-40 minutes. Drained and patted them down to dry. It really plumped them up.
Added walnuts and dark chocolate chips.
what I love about this recipe is that I could make a full batch of cookie dough with one stick of butter, which is all I have left in my fridge. These came out delicious and I really loved the flavor. I think the only things that I would change next time is: use the proper amount of molasses and add vanilla, and use the proper amount of flour.
Grandma S says
I have been making these cookies since I was a child, over 60 years ago. They are one of my favorites. Yes, they do spread a lot, that is how the recipe is. I use 2 cookie sheets and let the baked cookies sit for a few minutes before I take them off so they are not so soft when removed. I also cream the soft butter, eggs, vanilla, sugar and molasses in my stand mixer and then, on low speed add the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Hand stir in the oatmeal and a generous cup of raisins. It was also a sneaky way to add fiber to my kids diets!
Misty D. says
Ok, I haven’t actually baked these cookies yet but I know they are going to be fantastic! A few weeks ago my husband & I stopped at a tiny gas station as we were driving through Missouri and I impulse-bought 2 oatmeal raisin cookies that were at checkout. Those were literally the most delicious cookies I’ve ever eaten! The taste of molasses was obvious so I came to the internet to find a recipe & there you were!! The comments are fantastic so I’m very excited to be making your cookies very soon!
Paulette rowe says
I used steel oats that’s what I had, best cookie I ever made
Diane K. says
Regular oatmeal raisin cookies are my favorite anyway, but this recipe with molasses takes them to a whole new level! I also love ginger so I subbed 1 tsp powdered ginger for the cinnamon. Delicious!
Soledad says
Primera vez en mi vida que hago galletas de avena y quedé satisfecha con lo facil que es elaborarlas y lo deliciosas que me quedaron. Yo le puse 8 cucharadas de melaza y me quedaron muy bien. Pero creo que mejor respetaré las cantidades exactas. Excelente receta!!
"First time in my life that I make oatmeal cookies and I was satisfied with how easy it is to make them and how delicious they were. I put 8 tablespoons of molasses and they were very good. But I think I'd better respect the exact amounts. Excellent recipe!!"
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
¡Me alegro de que te haya gustado la receta de las galletas!
"I'm glad that you liked the cookie recipe!"
Ron says
Wonderful recipe. I also added hemphearts,fine ground flax and chia seeds. Also skor bits
Gryphonisle says
Nice flavor and texture, easy to make. Realizing that todays leavening agents are more stable than they were in the War era, I combined the baking powder and soda with the flour as you would today and added the flour mixture to the creamed ingredients without incident. All in all a nice cookie to add to my collection.
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Wonderful! So glad that you like these cookies!
Rachel says
I am eating these cookies right now and they are SO GOOD! I realized I was out of eggs after promising my 4yo we could make them, so we substituted a single over-ripe banana. That obviously changed the flavor profile and consistency a bit, so I can't claim we made them exactly how you said. But they are delicious!
Rachael says
This is an amazing recipe! I followed it exactly and came out with a batch of beautiful and delicious cookies! This ones going in the recipe box. Thank you!
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Thank you so much for the kind words I love these cookies too!
Isadora says
We meaning me and my brother love makeing it.
AEmilia Jarvis says
I can find, and have watched, your video easily but CANNOT obtain the recipe no matter how I search for it.
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Looks like you've found the post, the recipe card is at the bottom of the page (above the comments section). I did add the link to my youtube video - thanks for letting me know it was missing! ~ Angela
Teresa says
The butter was softened and the eggs were at room temperature. I did not refrigerate the dough for the first batch. I added a little more flour then the recipe called for. I tried refrigerating the dough after they spread out so much they weren't edible. I looked at some other recipes for similar cookies and saw that they called for a lot less molasses. I did not add any more then stated in the recipe. The dough was sticky and very thick. I am very disappointed in this recipe and will not try it again.
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
I'm sorry to hear that your results were poor. Without having been there, I cannot say what may have gone wrong? As you can see, the exact recipe and method was baked as photographed in the video here in the page. Again so sorry to hear that your cookies flattened!
Teresa says
I made these cookies exactly as you directed and they spread so flat they weren't edible. I them refrigerated the dough for one hour and the same thing! The dough was definitely cold and stayed cold while I shaped them. What could I have done wrong!
Angela @ BakeItWithLove.com says
Hello Teresa, since this is one of those cookies that are best made with room temperature ingredients, I have never refrigerated the dough. So that shouldn't be the issue. May I ask if the butter was softened, or melted? Either way, when making a new recipe of cookies, I like to bake a test batch of 2-3 cookies. Add flour as needed to work best for your oven, altitude, humidity, etc. These are great cookies, so I do hope you try them again! Message me for any other thoughts or questions, I'll be glad to help 🙂