Alongside baking essentials like flour and sugar, oats are one of the longest standing pantry items. The cereal grain has been adding fiber to recipes for centuries, playing a role in both sweet and savory dishes. There are dozens of oat-based recipes from silky oatmeal to non-dairy milk, but everyone’s favorite has got to be oatmeal raisin cookies. Chocolate chip may be the most famous cookie, but nothing beats the chewiness of a humble oatmeal cookie. The chewy treat feels like an American tradition, but we were actually late to the oat game. The U.S. was nearly 400 years behind Scotland, the true inspiration behind the cherished oatmeal raisin cookie.
It might not have been called a cookie, but the first sweet, oatmeal based treat was concocted in Scotland, as early as the 14th century. The country’s notoriously unpredictable climate made agriculture difficult, until oats arrived and saved the day. Their durability could handle Scotland’s damp climate and it quickly became a beloved ingredient, with one of the most popular recipes being Scottish oatcakes.
Before sugary oatmeal raisin cookies, there were Scottish oatcakes
Without sugar, the snack was essentially a breakfast version of today’s oatmeal cookie, sans eggs. Some modern recipes explore leavening agents like baking soda, but the foundation is incredibly simple — just oats, salt, water, and some fat. Even hundreds of years later, they’re still enjoyed at all hours of the day, kind of like crackers in America (but way better).
The U.S. oats industry didn’t really kick off until The American Cereal Company established itself in 1888, now known as Quaker Oats. Early records of oats, culinary speaking, were mostly centered around oatmeal recipes and other porridges. Many bakers toyed with oats, developing variations of the classic oatcake, but it would be decades before the oatmeal raisin cookie took shape. While dozens likely dabbled, Fannie Merrit Farmer’s oatmeal raisin cookie recipe in her 1896 cookbook “Boston Cooking School Book” may be the first printed record of the classic cookie. Alongside her simple oatmeal cookie recipe, there’s Farmer’s Cape Cod oatmeal cookies which include molasses and cinnamon, but most importantly, the finishing touches — raisins and nuts. The oatmeal raisin cookie has come a long way, but its roots began with Scotland’s oatcake.
