WWII Oatmeal Molasses Cookies

I wanted to re-review this terrific recipe and add that I keep oatmeal that I grind up into flour that I use in this recipe with great success. The cookies are very tender and soft rather than crunchy. Instead of the whole 2 cups, I add 1 3/4. I have also successfully used craisins when I found out I was out of raisins and it was still very, very good. Still an awesome, 5 star recipe. Grandma definately knows best-and this recipe publisher gets my whole family's thanks for sharing it. My daughters and I baked these after reading Molly, the American Girl who's father was in WW11, and she had to ration sugar. Even if your not crazy about molasses-you will find these the very best cookie recipe any grandma or mom could pass down. It's a hands down winner with all 9 members of my family.

These are SOOOO good!!! They're so soft and....fluffy! I replaced my shortening with butter and added 1/2t each of cloves and cinnamon, but kept everything else the same. This is going to replace my current oatmeal cookie recipe. Thanks so much!!

In my quest to try to eliminate white sugar, these really got my interest! In addition to the molasses called for, I used only half the sugar and substituted half a cup of high quality 100% maple syrup instead. I also used half whole wheat flour instead of all white, plus I threw in a 1/4 cup of flax seeds. I also chopped up dark chocolate and added it because...I felt like it!! These are excellent tasting cookies!!

I recently bought steel cut oatmeal, only to find out that I don't like it. So I found this recipe and figured I could use the oatmeal up this way. I wasn't sure if it would work for oatmeal cookies because it isn't instant oatmeal, but given this is a WWII recipe, I'm guessing they didn't have instant oatmeal back then either. I was pleasantly surprised. The steel cut oatmeal lent itself to a cookie with a bit more crunch, yet still being chewy.

These cookies were wonderfully soft and tasty! I only used walnuts and I put in a little more then the recipe called for. I like my cookies really soft, so I took them out right at 10mins and they were great.

Great cookies! I've made these several times now without butter or shortening substituting applesauce instead and they come out as a great tasting healthy treat before my runs.

Did not like this recipe at all....they have all the ingredients for a good cookie, but they are too dry...maybe instead of dropping by teaspoon using a tablespoon would have produced a bigger cookie and therefor more moist...:(

These are delicious. I added about a teaspoon of ground cloves, pecans instead of walnuts, and I soaked the raisins before adding them. I didn't have light molasses so I used 3 tablespoons of regular. I also used butter instead of shortening, and baked them for 9 1/2 minutes. They were crisp on the edges and chewy in the center. Perfect.

This is a simple cookie, but delicious. My Grandma made cookies very similar to this when I was growing up and she'd tell me stories about her childhood. I make them now to be closer to her and to pass down the same memories to my children. These will be dear to me for that reason.

YUM! I added 2 tsp of cinnamon to this recipe, used 3 T of dark molasses and 2 T of light corn syrup, did not add walnuts or raisins. Ended up flattening the cookies a bit half way through baking the first batch. They turned out very well! Will definitely be making these again.

Awesome recipe. I added nutmeg(1/4 tsp), ground cloves(1/4 tsp), cinnamon (1tsp), 1/2 cup of raisins and about 3/4 cup of Nestle's dark chocolate chips. I also used all butter and Grandma's Molasses: Robust. Baked for 10 min. These were some of the best cookies i have ever made! and I have made alot :) Thanks Diana!

This recipe is perfect just the way it is! A lot of people "tweaked" it, but in all honesty I tried it just the way it is written and nothing needs to be added, deleted or changed in any way = thanks@@!!!!!

these cookies are definitely addictive. almost dangerous - but don't let that stop you from making them! i did make a few alterations: i added 1/2 tsp of both cinnamon and ginger, only used one tsp of vanilla, used butter (smart balance) instead of shortening, and used about 2.5 tbsp regular molasses. they turned out excellent. thank you dls58.

I say YUMMMMY!! I have never made homemade cookies before. They were easy to make. I followed another review on using butter instead of shortening, and added about 1/2 tsp of cloves, and cinnamon. My husband dosen't like oatmeal rasin cookies, but he tried them because I made them, and he said they tasted like a store bought cookie. I was so proud of myself for making them so good. Thanks for the recipes I enjoy!!

Excellent! Nice and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. I used full molasses because I didn't have light, so turned down the temp 25 degrees and cooked about 11 minutes (to avoid overbrowning). Definitely a keeper!

Absolutely the best oatmeal cookie ever...I'm 75 now and I've tried them all!!

I love these cookies. I added 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon of ground clove and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. I substituted Smart Balance Original Blend for the shortening with great results and a healthier cookie. If you use Smart Blend don't use the "lite" version, you can't bake with it, but I have had great results with the original blend in many of my baked goods. I also added walnuts and dried currents. The cookies are chewy and moist. It occurred to me that maybe cooks in the forties and during wartime didn't have access to alot of spices like cinnamon and nutmeg.

These are a very "oaty" oatmeal cookie. They could easily be made into what I call "hippy cookies" if you use some wheat flour, flax seeds, dried fruits, twigs, bark, etc. I added chocolate chips to mine. :) Don't get me wrong -- I love me a good hippy cookie as much as the next Alica Silverstone but I'm just sayin'... I also used butter in place of the shortening. I used regular molasses -- all 5 tablespoons worth and it was not in any way overpowering or really even noticeable with the chocolate chips to hide it. I assume if you add spices instead, it would also drown out the molasses (if that's even an issue for you). I baked mine at 325 in a new, higher-end convection oven and watched them closely. I pulled them out before they were 100% done and let them sit about one minute before transferring to the cooling rack carefully. They stay soft this way. It's a nice recipe but for my money, I think Oatmeal Chip Cookies from this site is the best oatmeal cookie recipe if you're looking for a crowd pleasing hit. These are a nice healthier twist.

I agree w/ some other reviewers that these are like "muffinettes" since they are raised more like muffins than cookies. They only add-in I used was a walnut half pushed into the bottom of each cookie. I also added 1 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice to the dry ingredients for a very lightly spiced taste. The simple muffin-y part had a lovely, retro, homey taste and texture, and they are very quick and easy to make. I ate way too many of them while they were warm.

Great recipe w/lots of flexibility! In the interest of making this a bit more healthy, I did the following: 1) Whole wheat flour instead of white, 2) Replaced white sugar with 1/2 parts Stevia & brown sugar, 3) Added extra vanilla (recommended by others), 4) Replaced shortening with 1/2 parts olive oil & applesauce, 5) Replaced raisins with dark choc chips, 6) Added 1/2 tbsp cinnamon VERY YUMMY!!!

I will give this 5 stars I did some changes for health reasons. 1. 1/2 c. splenda & 1/2 c. brown sugar(sugar) 2. 3/4 c. unsweetened apple sauce(shortening) 3. 1/2 c. egg beaters Also I added 1 c. shredded carrots and 1/2 c. pineapple tiblets and more cinnamon(because we like it) The cookies were great almost like a mini muffin.

I followed some of the other reviewers' suggestions and used butter instead of shortening, used 3 T regular molasses, added 1/2 tsp cloves and 1/2 tsp cinnamon, left out the nuts and doubled the raisins. These turned out very good, my husband likes them, and I will make these again. I was looking for an oatmeal raisin recipe to make for a friend and am glad I found this recipe. My yield was over 6 dozen cookies.

Very yummy with wonderful deep flavour! I think next time I may try adding some cinnamon and cloves though, since I generally like a spicy oatmeal raisin cookie

These are wonderful. Soft and chewy. Attempting to use what was on hand and avoid a trip to the store made the following changes: butter instead of shortening, 1 cup brown sugar instead of molasses, dried cranberries instead of raisins, chopped pecans, and followed the advice to add cinnamon and cloves.

These were very tasty! I didn't know what kind of "oatmeal" to use, so I used old fashioned oats, since it's what I had in my cupboard. I also couldn't find light molasses, but used mild tasting molasses. The result was wonderful!

I followed the recipe exactly, exceot added cinnamon. In my opinion, toomuch flour and dough was dry. Have had much better oatmeal cookie recipes- will go back to my old standby.

the best ever oatmeal cookies! the molasses taste is not overwhelming, it just gives it a little something...and they came out puffy and soft, each and every one of them! only things i tweaked was no walnuts (my son does not like them in cookies) and doubled the raisins since we all love them...

This is my go-to oatmeal cookie recipe. Oatmeal cookies just don't taste right without molasses, IMHO. I made the following minor changes: 1) I used 1/4 cup of regular, full-flavor molasses. 2) If you miss the flavor of brown sugar, substitute brown for white. It rounds out the molasses flavor, too. 3) As some other readers did, I substituted butter for shortening. 4) I added a scant teaspoon of cinnamon and a dash of cloves. 5) Finally, I substituted one cup of ground oatmeal for a cup of the flour (I like oatmeal!) and dried blueberries for the raisins (don't like raisins). Great recipe--thank you very much!

These were really yummy! I left out the walnuts and raisins and instead I used mini chocolate easter eggs to make bird's nests. I would make these again!

Awesome cookie! I was looking for something between a ginger snap and oatmeal raisin & it definitely fit the bill. I added some cloves, ginger and cinnamon to spice it up, as well as replaced the shortening fully with applesauce and it was great. Chewy and yummy! Thanks!

ok ... goute bcp la melasse

Very good recipe! However, I made some changes per reviews! I used 3 T. molasses and 2 T. light corn syrup. (The wife is not to crazy about molasses but loved these after this change)! Also, I cut the sugar to 1/2 cup, then added 1/2 cup of maple syrup, added 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp ground cloves, cut vanilla down to 1 tsp, added 1 tsp almond extract, used butter instead of shortening, and used 1 cup white flour and 1 cup wheat flour. These changes made this a Awesome recipe! Thanks Diana for sharing!

Really "old fashioned tasting" and I mean that in a really good way. Very good. very very good. I'll definitely make them again. Don't overcook them.

These turned out wonderful even with the few tweaks I had to make, since I discovered I no FLOUR once I had already started to make these! I used Bisquick in place of flour, didn't need the baking powder, baking soda or salt since the Bisquick already has it! Used a little less sugar too. Also I used half butter flavored shortening and half coconut oil. These came out so delicious and tender.

Just made them, still slightly warm...LOVE this cookie!

So chewy and moist!! Love the subtle taste of the molasses :)

Cookie was really moist and flavourful, especially if you like molasses cookies. I didn't bother to sift the dry ingredients and instead just dumped all but the oats into the wet ingredients. Stirring the oats in at the end worked out perfectly.

My new favourite cookie! I could make these every week. I use butter and brown sugar. The walnuts and raisins really make it special. Thanks for sharing this recipe!

Tasty, quick cookie. I subbed applesauce for 1/2 c. of the shortening, and just used 1/4 c. regular shortening. I also used half whole wheat and half white flour and cut the sugar to 3/4 c. and it was plenty sweet for us! My one year old couldn't stuff his face fast enough!

I ended up with dry, raisin-ey hockey pucks.The silver lining is that this recipe made me even more thankful that we won the war.

These turned out amazing, I accidentally added the sugar to the rest of the dry ingredients but it turned out just fine. I baked part of the batter and froze the rest for later since its just my husband and myself. They were fluffy, soft and just tasted amazing!

Good cookie but I preferred without the oatmeal.

My cookies weren't as puffy as other featured photos but still very good. I overcooked my first batch and then got the hang of it. For me, they were perfect after 10 minutes! I like a soft textured cookie. I didn't have raisins so I used craisins which I plumped in hot water for about 15 minutes.

Excellent- I halved the recipe, added 1 tsp allspice and used butterflavored shortening. On a few I made them into oatmeal cookie sandwiches with a thin layer of vanilla frosting. SECOND TIME- so I made the cookies exactly to the recipe without the raisins. Immediately my husband noticed a difference. I had forgotten that I had added allspice the first time around.DO NOT SKIP THE ALLSPICE- it makes a huge difference.

I replaced the shortening by 3/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce and added less than 1/2 cup of unsalted butter. They were good and low-fat!

VERY GOOD! I was looking for an oatmeal cookie that didn't use butter because I didn't want to run to the store. This recipe was perfect. I was surprised how nice they held their shape and were so tasty. Thank you Diana S. for sharing such a VERY GOOD recipe.

Added pinch of cinnamon and cloves. DH and son loved them, I thot they were so/so, maybe too much salt, too.

As written, I have to give this 4 stars (actually 4 and 1/2) because I found the cookies a bit too salty, but otherwise perfect. I also added about 1 teaspoon of Pampered CHef's cinnamon plus (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice). I used butter flavored Crisco and chopped walnuts (no raisins). My daughter helped chop the walnuts and ended up pulverizing half of them, so I actually had something more like walnut flour. I cooked the first batch for 12 minutes and the following batches for 10 minutes (since they went onto a hot stone they required less baking time). The cookies are pleasantly crisp on the outside and amazingly soft and chewy on the inside. Next time, I am going to try to reduce the salt to 3/4 teaspoon and see if that helps.

No fail recipe. I was tired and didn't mix the ingrediants in the order they should go (which I usually am sure to do) and they still came out great! I even halved the sugar and substituted maple syrup and dark corn syrup for the molasas; still ended up sweet, maybe due to the raisins (used golden and regular). The only problem I have is that I can taste the baking soda (this is the reason for the 4 stars, would otherwise give it a 6!). I may cut it down or out next time and see what happens. But as the recipe stands it is so fluffy, even at the teaspoon size. I did add cinnamon and nutmeg. Will keep making. Thanks for the great cookies.

For personal taste, I added a tsp of ground cloves, cinnamon and ground ginger. The final result was an extremely soft, flavorful cookie. Will definitely make, again. Great recipe!

Used cranberries instead of raisins, pecans instead of walnuts and added 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Wonderful recipe!

I liked 'em, but they were kinda bland. I used 1/4c butter, 1/4c margarine & 1/4c shortening, reduced salt to 1/2t, added 1/2t cinnamon & 1t vanilla (Love my vanilla!). Used 1/4c molasses. Really made to use up my molasses, which it did; & I may make them again - depending on how they are once they cool. Good, but not great. Made 4 1/2 dozen.

I love this recipe! I have made these many times. I also like to add cinnamon. SO good!! and easy! I recommend everyone try these!

Wonderful recipe! I used 1 1/2 cup flour. I will make them again!

This recipe is incredibly good. I only changed a couple things out of strictly personal preference and because of items I had on hand. I used butter instead of shortening, cranberries instead of raisins and I added a half tsp of all spice and a half tsp of cinnamon. The cookies came out so moist and flavorful. I just noticed that another reviewer used applesauce instead of butter...will definitely try that next! Thank you for a great recipe!

these cookies were so easy to prepare, and done in only a few minutes! i used almond extract instead of vanilla which tasted great!

This was a nice variation of the oatmeal cookie - and a good history lesson too. Everbody enjoyed these cookies.

This is the third time that I've used this recipe and I love these cookies! They are so versatile and tasty no matter what I do to them. I always used all whole wheat flour, and once I used apple sauce for half of the fat. I've done them with or without nuts, but never with the raisins. No matter how I make them, they are so good and don't last long with my 3 kids.

These cookies are so tasty! The flavor of the molasses is there but not overpowering and the chewy texture of the oatmeal is just right. Next time I will make with raisins!

Pretty good and super easy. I made a few adjustments... I cut the white flour in half and added 1 C whole wheat flour Added one additional cup of oatmeal I made half the batch with chocolate chips, the other half with raisins and chocolate chips I used regular unsulphered molasses, no light molasses in the pantry I only gave it four stars because the flavor is pretty plain. I'm going to play with this one some more, maybe cinnamon and butter instead of shortening.

A family member requested the cookies like his 'granny' used to make. I tried this, and he loved them!

These cookies were almost bland even after I added some butterscotch chips to dough and rolled tablespoon sized balls into sugar before baking.

I don't know, these were ok. chewy and soft, but not very oatmeal-y, and kind of bland I thought. I used butter instead of shortening and I added raisins and walnuts and chocolate chips, eh.

I took these cookies to a church social...they were a hit (didn't have any to take home - darn!). The only changes I made was a few suggestions from others: I used 3 TBSP dark molasses (since that was all I had) and added 1/2 tsp. cloves. The cookies were much more tangy and interesting than regular oatmeal cookies.

These cookies have a nice taste. The family enjoyed them. I not going to judge the presentation because, I am not sure if they were suppose to appear flatter. My turned out exactly how I spooned them on and didn't flatten out even the slightest.

This is a big hit in my house! I did use butter insetad of shortening (cause if your going to be eating fat, then eat good tasting fat!) and about 1/2 tsp cinnamon. Will be making these a lot!

Not a big fan of molasses, but I had some for another reciepe and decieded to try these to use it up. I had a 1/2 bag of chocolate chips and a 1/2 bag of white chocolate chips I decided to throw in as well and these were wonderful!! Everyone loved them including me!

These cookies were amazing. I will absolutely be making them again, they were gone before I could finish baking the last batch! Next time I will double or triple the recipe for sure!

nice soft chewy cookie! I used dark molasses as that is what I had on hand, still turned out great! thank you for sharing this.

I didn't have any butter in the house so I tried this intriguing recipe. My family, including extended family, conclude that these are the BEST oatmeal cookies they have ever had! & my husband who usually picks out raisins, ate the raisins & all! I made them exactly as written. PERFECT! Thank you for the recipe Diana S!

I made this recipe as written, except that I didn't have any nuts or raisins on hand. They were delicious, but I can imagine they would have been even more delicious with the nuts and raisins.

Made these a while ago and will make them again. They were a good for something different at a cookie swap I attended. Thank you for the recipe.

It was OK~I think with a little tweaking this basic cookie dough recipe could be incredible!

Great recipe! I tried making it healthier and substituted about 1/2 the shortening for one mashed avocado (or half a large avocado) then filled the remaining 3/4 cup with shortening. Also I didn't have molasses so I used 3 Tb honey and 2 Tb agave (I said I was sort of trying to make it healthy didn't I? lol) and they turned out great! Nice and soft. I'd advise mashing them down a little bit so the inside cooks better. If you want a crunchier outside drop by teaspoon (the uneven edges cook faster and get crunchy leaving the inside nice and soft). If you want the cookies very soft roll in ball form first. Hope this helps!

Made this yesterday. Used butter instead of shortening and had great results. One mistake - I substituted choc chips for the raisins and the taste combination doesn't work out. I'm still giving this recipe 5 stars as with raisins the flavors would be perfect!

This is the third or fourth time I made these cookies. I modified a little. I used regular molasses instead of light molasses. I didn't have a half cup of raisins. I used up what I had sitting around. I used mixed nuts. Planter's snacking mixed nuts. I chopped up a half cup. I used steel cut oats and my colon is much happier with the fiber content. All other ingredients stayed the same. These oatmeal cookies were delicious as usual. They won't last too long in this household.

These cookies may become a favorite of mine. I know other people made changes but I followed the recipie and found the cookies to be soft and not too sweet.

I love the warmth you get in a cookie so I did this recipe but I replace the molasses with honey and instead of raisin I used dried cranberries

I ran out of Brown sugar & decided to try this one. It's pretty good, but I do like my mom's better which uses the brown sugar.

These cookies are fantastic. I can't keep them in the jar! The molasses provides a unique taste that compels you to keep eating more cookies! Thanks for sharing.

very yummy! My son doesn't want the raisins added next time, and my husband said it needed butterscotch chips. I cannot please everyone, but I will make it again. Next time I'm going to add dehydrated apples.

I've made several Oatmeal and several molasses cookies but this cookie just didn't turn out well. The cookie needed less molasses, more sugar and more oats I think. I'll keep looking for another recipe.

I have been making these cookies for a couple years now. We love them! They seem to hit the spot during the autumn especially. We make them every Thanksgiving and Christmas. We don't add the raisins and nuts because of personal preference. We do, however, add chocolate chips sometimes! Yum!

Excellent recipe! Just the right amount of molasses and oatmeal. I added mini semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of the raisins...MY NEW FAVORITE!!! Thanks for sharing!

I don't like raisins so I added a 1/2 cup of chocolate chips instead. I also added 1/2t of cloves and 1/2t of cinnamon (I could have added more because I can barely taste these spices). I used pecans instead of walnuts. These are light and fluffy. The cookies don't spread on the cookie sheet so you can fit a lot on one sheet. This recipe made 52 cookies for me. These are yummy (maybe not mind blowing where I want to call a friend to tell her about them) but definitely a nice twist on just regular oatmeal cookies. I will make these again.

Excellent recipe. So moist. I followed this to the letter and we were thrilled with the results. My husband does WWII models and games and wants me to make a batch for his game night next week.

My boyfriend's fav cookies are Oatmeal and Molasses. I made this for his birthday and he's been requesting them since he finished them... the next day! Nice and chewey. I doubled the amount of raisins, for personal preference.

Whole family loved them! Used 2 1/2 tbsp regular molasses, substituted in butter, and added in tsp of cinnamon.

I have made these cookies several times...with the addition of chocolate and/or butterscotch chips too. EVERYONE loves these cookies, and claim they are best oatmeal cookies ever! Instead of shortening I used butter....and also added some cinnamon. They are soft and chewy and ever sooooooo good!!

I just made such a perfect oatmeal cookie after semi-following this recipe. However, I didn't use any molasses as I didn't have any on hand. I happend to find the recipe because It didn't require any butter, as I only had a 1/4 cup on hand. I only made a half batch...so my changes refer to a half batch in terms of measurements!!!! Okay, instead of using 2.5 tablespoons of molasses, I used 1/2 cup of brown sugar. I added 1/4 cup of butter because that is all I had and added lots of pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon to taste....probably a couple teaspoons of both. These cookies are terrific. They hold together well, are soft, and came out the perfect thickness....almost like what you would buy professionally made. I also rolled mine into small 1inch balls before I baked them....Superb!

I chose this recipe for the oatmeal and the molasses. Oatmeal, a healthy ingredient. Molasses, a flavor we don't find every day. Nuts and raisins added a lot, too. The cookies are great! I appreciate the cook that shares. Thank you, Diana.

They might look hard, but they're surprisingly fluffy. I added raisins only and cut the sugar by 1/4 cup because I was afraid they might turn out too sweet, but this way they were fine.

Delicious! I used chocolate chips instead of raisins and added 1/4 t cinnamon. My husband and kids asked for more!

I love these cookies! I used 1/4 less sugar and dark brown molasses, because that's what I had on hand. Dark walnuts added to the yummy "earthy" taste.

delicious !!! I love these cookies !!

Makes fabulous cookies. It is a great recipe as is and a great base for adding in different ingredients like pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice or craisens, pecans, and white chocolate. Never fails no matter how I make them.

these are great. I used home made sorghum and they turned out great.

i made these for my dad. he loved them because they didnt have any butter in them.we all loved them too.not because they didnt have any butter in them, though.

This is my go-to recipe for oatmeal cookies. I'm so glad I don't need to wade through dozens of oatmeal cookie recipies any more. They do well if you add 1/2 a cup of chocolate chips. I use sorghum instead of molasses and add some cinnamon.