Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies Like Grandma Made Them
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Soft, chewy, and just like Grandma used to make, this recipe for old-fashioned oatmeal cookies come together using just one bowl in under 20 minutes. Made with vegetable shortening, not butter, the classic cookies are soft in the middle, crisp at the edges, and full of cozy nostalgia. No fancy kitchen gadgets required.
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When I visited my grandma, there were two things I could count on. We would play Uno and eat these oatmeal cookies with tea while we played. Sometimes she would pull out the Bingo machine (yes, she had her own) and we would play that, but usually only when my sister was around too.
My grandma lived a long life, living until she was 97 and until the last few months on her own. I miss her very much. Before she passed at the younger age of 95, she gave me recipe cards filled with as many of the family heirloom recipes as her hands could write out. Her recipes for gingersnap cookies, flaky shortbread cookies and classic buttertarts are the bomb! I am slowly trying to share these with you all, but this oatmeal cookie recipe card I lost… until recently! It was tucked inside another recipe where I couldn’t see it.
So… now you are in for a real treat! These are the best oatmeal cookies I kid you not. One bite and I was right back at the table with my teacup and cards!
Tips for Making The Best Oatmeal Cookies
- Use shortening instead of butter for the fat. Shortening works differently from butter. It coats the flour and gluten, literally shortening the strands/connections, which in turn causes a weaker bond. That weakened bond between the flour, oats and sugars is where shortening wins the flakiness battle.
- Don’t overmix! I like to mix the shortening or lard into the wet mixture using just a fork to break up the fat. I don’t like to use a hand mixer because then the fat will be worked into the sugars and eggs too much. What you want is ripples or tiny pieces of fat throughout. When the fat cooks, these little ripples of fat melt, creating the flaky texture you want. Overmix and you get a tough cookie… no one wants one of those in their life!
Star Ingredients
- Rolled Oats – I like to use old-fashioned rolled oats and not quick oats. Quick oats will cook too quickly, and you risk losing the texture you are aiming for. Gluten-free rolled oats work just as well.
- Shortening – Creates the light, flaky texture you want in an awesome cookie! Lard is a good substitute for those who are not living a vegetarian lifestyle.
- White sugar – Adds sweetness and works with the fat to create a chewy texture.
- Brown sugar – A deeper caramel flavour while still adding sweetness and texture.
Step-By-Step Made Simple
Recipe Variations
Feeling fancy? Need a change? I got you! Here are some of my favourite ways to jazz up these old-fashioned oatmeal cookies. Just add about a cup of any of these.
- Chocolate chips
- Raisins
- Dried Cranberries
- Butterscotch bits
- Caramel chips
- White chocolate chips
- Chopped dates
If You Don’t Eat Them All…
Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months. To thaw, just let them sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes.
Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Sheet
- Large Bowl
- Fork
- Spoon
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Spatula
- Cooling rack
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ lb vegetable shortening
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl whisk the eggs together. Add the sugars, optional vanilla and shortening and mix to combine breaking down the shortening with the fork to ripples or small pieces throughout the sugar and egg mixture.
- Add the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix until just combined.
- Add in the oatmeal mix until oatmeal is evenly dispersed throughout the cookie batter.
- Roll a heaping teaspoon full into balls and 12 balls evenly on the baking sheet. Use the back of the spoon to flatten them to about a 1/2" thickness.
- Bake for about 7 minutes or until they are starting to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and let them rest for a minute before transferring them with a spatula to a cooling rack to cool.
Video
Nutrition
Notes
- Bake cookies on parchment paper. This keeps the sugar from sticking. I have a clay baking sheet so nothing seems to stick but even then I have to be careful. I started without parchment and on the second batch added a sheet.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a minute. Then you can transfer them to a cooling rack. These cookies are fragile and will break apart easily or fall out of shape when they are too hot to move.
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
These are great! I had to bake a little longer. Also used a little less oatmeal as I like them to really flatten out.
So glad you enjoyed them!
16 oz in pound so 8 oz in 1/2 pound. 8 oz = 1 cup
Thanks Lorie for sharing this for those that like to work in oz.
Made them just as you said. Perfect! Had to bake longer – I have old oven. Love them
Is there an option of adding raisins? If so, how much and should they be plumped in some way or just stirred in?
Hi Cindy, you can absolutely add raisins, chocolate chips, cranberries etc. I would start with a 1/2 a cup and add more if you want. It won’t affect the baking time. I don’t plump mine up because I like my raisins chewy but you can plump them up by soaking them in water if you like just make sure they are drained well.
I enjoyed your story about Grandma. Could you move the ingredients list a bit closer to the top of the article?
I am glad you enjoyed them. At this time I am not planning to change the format of this post but you can use the jump to recipe at the top of the post if you want to skip to the end.
Fantastic! Just like grandma used to make.
1/2 lb is how much in cups?
A half lb of butter is one cup.
I’m glad I read through the comments before trying this recipe…..you say you’ll correct it to read one and a half cups of flour instead of just one half, but the recipe still says one half. I’d like to try them but am somewhat hesitant…are you standing by the original one half cup?
Hi Vicki,
Yes, it is 100% 1 1/2 cup of four. I just checked my grandma’s recipe card again. Sorry, it wasn’t updated in the recipe card. My computer died and was in the shop and just got it back yesterday afternoon. I will update it right now!
Was the shortening supposed to be half LB? I followed the recipe using 1/2lb but my cookies totally flattened out like a lace cookie. I attempted both smaller balls, larger, flattening with the spoon and leaving round. No matter what I did they baked at 350 to a flat disc. I am an avid baker; so I was extremely disappointed. No one else had this issue?
Hi Lisa, These cookies are fairly flat and fine not like a thicker chewier oatmeal cookie but not as thin as a lace cookie either. I checked my grandma’s recipe card and it is actually one cup which is about a 1/2 lb of shortening so not sure why yours spread so thin. I would put the cookie batter in the fridge for an hour to firm up and then try baking. This is something that often helps keep cookies from spreading too thin.
We just made these cookies today and had the same result Lisa had. The cookies tasted great, but were very flat and lacey. In some spots, you could see the plate through them. So I got out my church’s cookbook and found an oatmeal cookie recipe that was almost exactly the same except instead of using 1/2 cup of flour, it used 1-1/2 cups. The cooking time was 8 minutes at 350 degrees. These cookies came out perfectly. Is the amount of flour correct here on your website for your grandmother’s cookie recipe? We were making them to take to a family dinner tomorrow and we had to throw away the whole batch. They looked nothing like the picture above. They cooked so thin that they ran together even though we only put 12 on each cookie sheet. I’d like to know what we did wrong? Thanks!
So sorry Vicki this is my mistake. You are absolutely right it should me 1 1/2 cups of flour. I couldn’t see my mistake until you pointed it out. My apologies for this error. I will correct the recipe so this doesn’t happen again.
Thank you for your reply. You might want to let Lisa know (from the comment above) if you have her email address. I’ll have to try them again.
Thanks Vickie I will!
They are delicious with tea!
Perfect homemade cookie for an afternoon treat! Hard to just have one though! 🙂
Everyone at my house loved these cookies! So good and easy to make!
So happy to hear your family enjoyed them Toni!
Love this old fashioned recipe. Reminded me of being a kid!