Hi Elise - this is such a lovely post - it's wonderful to have your grandmother's recipe, she must have been a great cook too. The picture is really beautiful as well.

Hi Keiko, well she came from the old school where everything was made by hand. Dad used to tell me about going into the forest to shoot squirrels so they would have squirrel stew. My god, who knows how to butcher a squirrel? Grandma could do all those sorts of things.

Hi Jonathan - yep of course you can use butter instead (I would never recommend margarine for anything), I have a different recipe for oatmeal raisin here. The recipe on this page however came from my grandma, and from a time when people used shortening a lot more than they do now.

Had a terrible urge for Oatmeal cookies, hadn't made them in five years partly because the recipe I have has never really "thrilled" me. Copied yours down and made a big batch of them this evening. They are, hands down, the best, beST, BEST, Oatmeal cookie I've ever made or eaten. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe. I will always think of you and your grandmother everytime I make them. And who knows, maybe I'll live to 92 because of them!!!

This is the perfect oatmeal cookie. Grandma's recipes are usually the best. I also love oatmeal cookies with dried cranberries and white chocolate chips. My family had the cookies eaten before they had a chance to cool!!

Oh my, I just made these oatmeal cookies for my family. Thought I'd put some into a tin and send them off with my college boy. They are the absolute best! I have looked for many years for an oatmeal cookie that was as good as my grandma's. I found it! Next time I will try them with some dried cherries. You and your grandma are the best! Thanks so much!

You add up the fat and protien etc. of each ingredient then divide the total into 24 (24 cookies approximately).
I am omitting the raisins and walnuts because I have none. I also use whole wheat flour in everything :) but If you still want a rough idea of nutritional information:
Per cookie assuming that as stated in a reply above the recipe makes 24 cookies:

201 calories
4 grams fat
ABOUT 76 mg sodium
roughly 2 grams fiber
17 grams sugar
2.6 grams protien (about 2 and a half grams)

Please do correct me If I am wrong. I admit my math is rusty. Using white or bleached flour makes less fiber and protien per cookie. :)
so anyway hope that at least gives you an idea.

I was hunting for an oatmeal cookie recipe tonight and ran across this posting. I whipped up a batch and was pleasantly surprised to find these were the best oatmeal cookies I had ever tasted. My husband agreed. These cookies will make your taste buds DANCE IN YOUR MOUTH!!! You can't get any closer to heaven than that!

Thank you for your recipe. I was searching for oatmeal recipes and some of those I saw had water or milk in them, which I don't recall ever using before. You see, I forgot to bring my own recipe book with me when i left my country. This recipe of yours sounded just like the ones I've been making. One question though, could I replace the baking soda with baking powder? It's just that baking powder is what I have in my cupboard. =) Thanks!

I'd been hungry for oatmeal cookies but couldn't find my recipe. Most of the recipies I could find called for quick oats and I don't use quick oats -- only "old fashioned." Went to the Quaker Oats web page and pulled up a recipe that sounded okay and used old fashioned oats, but I still wanted to look for more. All I did was type in "Oatmeal Cookies" on my Google page and your web page was one of those displayed. Anything that refers to "Grandma" catches my eye so your web page was where I went. To make a long story a whole lot shorter, I made your grandma's oatmeal cookies this afternoon. I cut the cinnamon to 1/2 tablespoon because my husband thinks he doesn't like cinnamon all that much, and the cookies are fabulous! This recipe will definitely go into my recipe file and I will NOT lose it. Thanks so much!

Hi Elise,

I just made the cookies. They come out great!! Thanks a lot. All my flatmates like them.

In fact I didn't expect that the inside has a soft texture. Is it supposed to be like that? I thought they would be a little bit crispy inside. Or perhaps I made them too big?

Hi Elise
Thanks for the great tasty oatmeal cookie recipe. My husband said it is the best homemade cookie he has ever eaten and he said not to lose your recipe.He also said it was a keeper so I will indeed will be baking your grandmother's cookies forever.. Thanks again for sharing with us your delicious recipes

Elaine

I was looking for an oatmeal cookie recipe tonight and found this. Oh, wow!! These are so good!! I used butter instead of shortening and was low on white sugar, so I used 1 1/4 cup brown and 3/4 cup white. I had a bag of Toffee Bits and used those instead of the raisins and nuts. These are soooo good!! Very chewy!! I'm excited to find your blog. Very Nicely done! Thank you!

What a lovely way in which to honor your grandmother by sharing her treasure with the world. The cookies are the best oatmeal cookies I have ever had. I am enjoying them with my family. Thank you. Happy cooking!

I made these for my coworkers and

THEY

LOVED

IT

Thanks for posting this recipe. It was seriously one of the most compliments I'd ever gotten on anything I'd ever made for work.

These are excellent cookies! I added 1/2 c. flour and did not add raisins or nuts and they were great! I also substituted butter for shortening. I really like them. Well done!

I was looking for some cookies to make for my mother who is 75 years old, but her best are oatmeal. I did these and she asks every weekend, are you going to make me those cookies today? Love them. Thank you very much for sharing them with the world. Grandma is still around. Thank you again. Jan.

Hi there, I finally found the perfect oatmeal cookie recipe thanks to you and your grandmother! God bless her soul. Thank you for sharing with the world. Its a cold winter day here in Canada and your cookies have warmed our house and our hearts. My 5 yr old daughter loves them!

It took me about an hour to find, print, and bake these cookies. They turned out with an absolutely indescribable consistency, not to mention they were fast and easy! I split the dough in half and added butterscotch chips, which turned out wonderfully as well. Thank you so very much for this recipe :) !!

1.5 cups flour + 3 cups oats divided by rounded tablespoons /= 2 dozen cookies ... it simply does not compute. As I type, 4+ dozen have come out of the oven and almost 1/2 of the batter is left ... good news for me, but you might want to adjust the expected product estimate - YIKES! LOL

Well if you remember that cookies of 50-150 years ago were often 3-4" in diam. In that case you could get about 2 dozen. For me I get about 2.5 dozen

Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. What a treasure for you have have your grandmother's handwriting.
It is such a good recipe. The only changes I made were to use 1/2 cups shortening and 1/2 cup butter and I also added 1 cup of chocolate chips. They were so very good. Crisp and chewy at the same time.

Hi Elise, tried this recipe over the weekend, my my my, these are so precious! It's the best cookies I have ever tasted.. Thank you so much for your grandma's recipe.

Wow. Tried this recipe today and the cookie came out great. I usually use butter but tried the shortening. Cookies came out with this great crisp exterior, chewy inside. Cookies didn't cook flat - maintained a beautiful shape. This is a winner. I used a mixture of Quaker quick & old fashioned. One TBS cinnamon does not overpower cookie.

I loved seeing the handwritten recipe for the oatmeal cookies by her grandmother...it reminds me of my grandmother's handwriting who was born also in the late 1800s. Their handwriting to me was beautiful...as they were. I surely do miss my grandmother...she has been gone now just a little over 37 years. We called to tell her she was going to be a great-grandmother again for the third time through us and that was on the Wednesday before Good Friday that year and on Good Friday morning, my dad called to tell us, that my mom, who was visiting my grandmother, had called and said my grandmother laid down to take a nap and never woke up. At least her passing was easy. For that we were thankful.

WOW! I just made these cookies and they are so delicious. Now, I didn't get the privilege to add nuts or raisins because I don't have any in the house and I wasn't able to go get them at the store. But even without them they are so good. Nice and light, thin but chewy. Perfection! Best oatmeal cookie I've had. Plus I love the back story behind the recipe. When my Grandmother was alive, all we would do was bake together. Cookies and cakes. So this reminds me of my Mema. Thank you for this wonderful recipe and reminder of some of the best times of my childhood :)

I'm planning to try this recipe on weekend because based on the reviews, this recipe is the best.

However, I have a question. Is the white sugar confectioner's sugar or white granulated sugar. When white sugar is being used in other baking recipe, they're referring to confectioner's but when I saw that brown granulated sugar will be used, then I have to double check.

I'm sorry if this question is quite stupid. If the reply is fast then I'll bake this tomorrow :)

These cookies were very good. It is white granulated sugar that is used. I used the butter flavored crisco sticks and they came out perfectly. I live in Wisconsin if that is any help to anyone in adjusting for altitude. I used craisins as I did not have any raisins (I will try those tomorrow) and that worked just as good. I have added this recipe to my personal cookbook and it will be the only oatmeal cookie recipe I use from now on. I used teaspoonfuls and it made 60 two and a half inch wide cookies. Perfect for my kids lunches. They are crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. Can't get any better than that! Now to find the best chocolate chip cookie recipe.....

I just took a bite from a cookie, straight from the oven and wow are they good! I, too, threw in some chocolate chips instead of nuts or raisins. just what I wanted on a cool fall night...

I didn't realize how low on oatmeal I was, and only used half the amount stated in the recipe. Also added about a teaspoon of cloves. WOW!! The boyfriend now has a new favorite cookie! Thanks!

Wow, this recipe is good. Just like grandma's! I have my second batch in the oven I couldn't wait to comment =] Just as good as all of these other comments write. Thanks so much.

-fussy eater =]

My mother's Oatmeal Cookie recipe is similar, but adds the following:

1 cup chopped dates
1 cup chopped Marachino cherries
1/2 cup coconut

As my husband says..."everything but the kitchen sink"!

These are such a treat that I make them as gifts for those friends and family that I really care about.

My family loves these cookies, even my dog and cat eat them. Sometimes I have them for breakfast. My husband asked who I got the recipe from and I said, oh, this is grandma's old recipe. Hee hee. I put several teaspoons of vanilla and cinnamon in.

I just made this recipe except I added a cup of chocolate chips instead of raisins. This is excellent! My husband is allergic to dairy so shortening is an easy substitute. This is the first recipe that came up when I searched for "shortening oatmeal cookies"! How lucky am I?! :) Thanks for sharing this.

When I awakened this morning I was such in the mood for some home made oatmeal cookies. Went on the internet and saw your Grandmother's receipe. I can only remember making homemade cookies once or twice since I was a little girl which certainly didn't taste anything like these. Boy are they good. I mean even the batter is good. My little girl and I baked them together today. I used the butter instead of the shortening. They are soooooo goooooood! Thank you for sharing your Grandmother's receipe with the world. It's the first time a baked home made cookies with my daughter. It's a memory that will never be forgotten. God Bless and thank you for sharing. Barbara

These cookies were good, but I would suggest to add 2 1/2 cups of oats, instead of 3. Cool picture.

These came out great! I used 1/2 butter 1/2 shortening, and I added sliced almonds. I also soaked my raisins in a mixture of eggs and vanilla w/ about 3 tablespoons of water for about an hour (right before I creamed the sugar and butter/shortening in). They plumped up the raisins. EVERYONE loved them, even people who didn't like nuts or raisins ate them up. They couldn't believe they were homemade. This was my first time making oatmeal cookies. Thanks a bunch! Granny was a big hit.

Excellent recipe. Especially the strong cinnamon flavor since my family loves the stuff. It had been a few years since I used shortening for cookies and I had forgotten how great it is that it makes the outside crisp and the insides chewy. Definitely have to use it more often in other recipes. I also used whole wheat flour and old fashion oats so the cookies were a little different texture. I have been collecting a lot of my Mom's recipes over the years also and it is great to see so many others keeping their families recipes alive.

These were wonderful cookies! I made these for my dad and he is already asking my mom to make them for him! They didn't last long! I made a batch with chocolate chips & the kids love them so much! Thanks for the recipe! Will be making them over and over!!