Taste Test Showdown: Quaker Oats vs. King Arthur Oatmeal Cookies – Who Wins?

Oatmeal cookies have a special place in my family’s history. Although baking wasn’t my mom’s forte, she spent several years attempting to perfect oatmeal raisin cookies for us. After countless trials with various recipes, one autumn she finally mastered the classic Quaker Oats cookie recipe. Infused with cinnamon and just the right amount of sweetness, those cookies had a wonderfully chewy texture that we all loved. It’s a memory that sticks with me to this day!

Unfortunately, she never managed to replicate that batch of cookies, insisting that Quaker Oats had altered the recipe.

Now as a mom myself, I’ve embarked on my own journey to win my kids over to the joys of oatmeal cookies. I decided to compare the modern version of Quaker’s Best Oatmeal Cookies with a gourmet recipe from King Arthur Baking Company. Could the old-school recipe hold its own against a refined version from baking professionals? I tested them both to find out.

Crafting Quaker’s Ultimate Oatmeal Cookies

Quaker Oats offers several variations of its oatmeal cookie recipe. Unsure which version my mom used back in the day, I opted for their well-regarded “Best Oatmeal Cookies.”

You begin with a generous amount of butter or margarine, to which you add brown and white sugars, creaming them together. Then mix in an egg and a touch of vanilla extract.

After the sugars and butter are well mixed, you add all-purpose flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon, salt, and a dash of freshly grated nutmeg. Stir in the oats last. The recipe gives you the choice between quick-cooking and old-fashioned oats; I chose quick-cooking for a nod to my mom’s method. I left out the raisins, though they are optional.

The dough should be scooped into rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet. I used my preferred cookie scoop for this task.

The combination of the unlined, ungreased sheet and a high baking temperature of 375°F was a bit unusual. My first batch resulted in unevenly baked cookies—some spread thin, while others remained nicely rounded. After a quick additional mix, the next batch turned out much more uniformly. This was a good reminder of the importance of consistent mixing.

Preparing King Arthur Baking’s Oatmeal Cookies

My introduction to making King Arthur’s oatmeal cookies came from their book King Arthur Baking Company The All-Purpose Baker’s Companion. Although their website features nearly thirty different oatmeal cookie recipes, I chose their most basic and traditional one.

This recipe starts with creaming together butter, shortening, and both brown and granulated sugars. You then add the cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, vanilla extract, and a teaspoon of vinegar directly into the creamed mixture. The addition of vinegar is a clever trick to cut the sweetness and activate the baking soda.

After incorporating an egg, you mix in all-purpose flour, baking soda, oats, and golden raisins. I opted for rolled oats this time, following the recipe closely.

The dough should be portioned into rounded tablespoons and placed on a parchment-lined baking sheet. The cookies do spread somewhat, so it’s advisable to space them out more than usual—maybe nine per sheet—to keep them from sticking together.

The Top Pick: King Arthur’s Oatmeal Cookies

Oatmeal cookies, while simple to prepare, can be profoundly satisfying. I really hoped the Quaker recipe would come out on top because it lacks complex ingredients and steps. Yet, the results were inconsistent.

Approximately half of the 36 cookies I baked spread out significantly. Fortunately, removing them from the baking sheet wasn’t difficult, even though it wasn’t greased or lined. The cookies that maintained their shape offered a pleasing chewiness with crisp edges, and the blend of brown sugar and cinnamon was delightful.

On the other hand, King Arthur’s oatmeal cookies needed a few more ingredients—like butter, shortening, vinegar, and raisins—but mixing them took no extra effort.

They baked into perfectly rounded cookies with crisp edges and tender, chewy middles. The use of vinegar and golden raisins produced a not-too-sweet cookie that kept my family reaching for more—even from someone who typically dislikes raisins!

Next time, I’ll heed my own advice and bake fewer cookies per sheet, but King Arthur’s oatmeal cookies will definitely be on my baking agenda again soon. They were the first to be devoured and the clear favorite in my home.