When I was in high school, I worked part-time at a Brookstone in Downtown San Francisco. One day, a co-worker brought in a raspberry and dark chocolate cake that was one of the best desserts I had ever tasted. Since then, I’ve always enjoyed the combination of raspberries and chocolate but haven’t actually created a dessert that played with those flavors until now.
These raspberry chocolate oatmeal cookies are quickly becoming one of my favorite cookies. There’s rich bittersweet chocolate chunks, tart raspberries, and umami flavors from miso and soy sauce in every bite. Mama Lin absolutely loved these cookies, particularly the tart raspberry pieces scattered throughout the cookie. They are kid tested and Mama Lin approved!
COOKING NOTES FOR RASPBERRY CHOCOLATE OATMEAL COOKIES
When developing the recipe for these raspberry chocolate oatmeal cookies, I drew inspiration from several cookie recipes I’ve made in the past. The cookie dough in this recipe is adapted from Amy Ho’s mini egg crackle cookie recipe. Instead of adding mini eggs and rice krispies to the cookies like Amy did, I added freeze-dried raspberries and lightly toasted rolled oats.
WHY USE FREEZE-DRIED RASPBERRIES?
A few years ago, I baked Heidi Swanson’s big raspberry rye cookies from her cookbook Super Natural Simple (affiliate link). In that recipe, Heidi uses freeze-dried raspberries, which added a tart punch to the cookie.
When testing this recipe, I thought the sharp tartness of dried raspberries would contrast nicely against the sweetness of the chocolate chip cookie dough. Indeed, the freeze-dried berries worked very well in this cookie recipe.
WHERE TO FIND FREEZE-DRIED RASPBERRIES
Freeze-dried raspberries can be a little difficult to find. Fortunately, Target sells freeze-dried raspberries through their Good & Gather brand at a good price point ($4.59 for a 35-gram bag). Some grocery stores carry Natierra organic freeze-dried raspberries, which are good but much more expensive. If freeze-dried raspberries are difficult to find, feel free to substitute them with freeze-dried strawberries.
HOW TO PREVENT BURNT RASPBERRIES
In one of my test batches, I pressed pieces of dried raspberries on the outside of the cookie dough, thinking this would add a pop of color to the cookies (see photo above, left). I was wrong. Because freeze-dried raspberries lack moisture, the exposed berries burned during the baking process (see photo above, right). However, if you mix all the raspberry pieces into the dough, the moisture and fat from the dough will keep the berries from burning. Some raspberry pieces may darken, but they shouldn’t turn black.
CAN I MAKE THESE COOKIES WITH FRESH OR FROZEN RASPBERRIES?
I did not test this cookie recipe with fresh or frozen raspberries, so I can’t answer this with 100% certainty. I have seen other raspberry cookie recipes online that use frozen raspberries and it seems to work.
WHY ADD MISO & SOY SAUCE?
I started experimenting with adding miso and soy sauce to cookie dough after developing this orange & black sesame cookie recipe. Miso and soy sauce add depth and subtle umami flavors and they balance the sweetness of the cookies. You won’t be able to isolate and identify the miso and soy sauce while eating these cookies. However, they make the cookie taste more interesting instead of just a one-note, sweet cookie.
COOKIE SCOOP
This recipe yields about 11 to 12 large cookies (depending how much you pack in the cookie scoop). To shape the cookie dough, I used a large #16 ice cream/cookie scoop (affiliate link). If you don’t own a large cookie scoop, use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to shape the cookie dough. Make sure not to pack the dough into the measuring cup too tightly because the dough will be difficult to release.
CAN I MAKE THE DOUGH AHEAD?
This recipe is designed to be baked right after the cookie dough is mixed. If you are not ready to bake the cookies immediately, transfer them to a container and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
If you want to freeze the cookie dough, use a large cookie scoop to measure out the portions of dough. Then, transfer the cookie dough to a lined baking sheet and freeze. Once frozen, transfer the dough to a freezer bag. Because these cookies are large, I recommend letting the frozen dough sit on the counter for 30 to 45 minutes before baking. Also, add another minute or two to the cooking time.
Raspberry Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
Equipment
- large cookie scoop (affiliate link)
- large sheet pan or cookie sheets (affiliate link)
- stand mixer
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (85g) rolled oats
- 1 cup (25g) freeze-dried raspberries
- 1 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (220g) all-purpose flour, measured with spoon-and-sweep method
- 3/4 teaspoon (4g) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (3g) baking soda
- 10 tablespoons (140g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons (40g) white miso, (see note 1)
- 2/3 cup (132g) dark brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce, NOT dark soy sauce
- 4 ounces (117g) bittersweet chocolate, roughly chopped (see note 2)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (175ºC) and position an oven rack to the upper third and lower third positions. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Spread the oats over a quarter baking sheet or a large pan and toast them for 9 to 10 minutes (see note 3). Let the oats cool as you prepare the dough.
- Roughly crush the freeze-dried raspberries with your fingers or a mortar and pestle and then set aside.
- In a bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Set the bowl aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter, miso, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Beat on medium-low speed for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is very light and sticking to the sides of the bowl.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg, vanilla, and soy sauce, and mix on low until everything is incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
- Add the flour mixture all at once and mix on low speed until just incorporated, about 15 seconds.
- Set aside 22 to 25 larger chunks of chocolate. You’ll press them onto the shaped cookie dough later.
- Add the rest of the chocolate, toasted oats, and crushed raspberries. Mix on low speed until everything is incorporated, about 30 seconds. To ensure that all the add-ins have been incorporated thoroughly, use a silicone spatula to scrape the bottom of the bowl and fold the dough a few times.
- Grab a large ice cream/cookie scoop (see note 4) to scoop out a portion of cookie dough. Transfer to the lined baking sheets. There should be enough dough to make 11 to 12 cookies.
- Press 2 to 3 chocolate chunks over each ball of cookie dough. Bake the cookies for 12 to 14 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden. Make sure to rotate the pans halfway through baking and switch their positions on the oven rack.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Store any leftover chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container for up to 4 to 5 days.
Notes
- Miso: I used this white miso paste from Miso Master. They also sell a “sweet white miso,” which contains slightly less sodium and will work for this recipe. Other brands of white miso should work well for this recipe, too.
- Chocolate: I prefer to use 70% bittersweet chocolate bars, but feel free to use semi-sweet chocolate or chocolate chips.
- Toasting Oats: Toasting the oats isn’t necessary, but I did so to give the oats more texture and to draw out their aroma a bit more.
- Cookie Scoop: To shape the cookie dough, I used a large #16 ice cream/cookie scoop. If you don’t own a large cookie scoop, use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to shape the cookie dough. Make sure not to pack the dough into the measuring cup too tightly because the dough will be difficult to release.
- Making the Dough Ahead: If you are not ready to bake the cookies immediately, transfer them to a container and refrigerate for up to 2 days. If you want to freeze the cookie dough, use a large cookie scoop to measure out the portions of dough. Then, transfer the cookie dough to a lined baking sheet. Once frozen, transfer the dough to a freezer bag. Because these cookies are large, I recommend letting the frozen dough sit on the counter for 30 to 45 minutes before baking. Also, add another minute or two to the cooking time.
Sarah says
I’ll admit that I wasn’t sure how much I liked these at first because the flavor is much more complex than the average chocolate chunk cookie, but these really grew on me. I appreciate the tart raspberry combined with the dark chocolate, and the oats give a nice chewiness and body as well. I could really smell the miso when these came out of the oven but I couldn’t taste it once I tried it. I usually reduce the sugar when baking but I didn’t this time and while it’s still sweet enough, I probably ate way more in one sitting than I normally would because it doesn’t get icky-sweet.
Thanks for sharing Lisa!
Lisa Lin says
Sarah, thank you so much for trying this recipe!!! I am glad you gave it a chance even when you weren’t sure how it would taste. Glad you enjoyed them!!
basket random says
I’m ready to see how my creation stacks up to that heavenly high school treat!