Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Perfectly sweet with a hint of cinnamon and loads of chocolate chips. Chocolate chips are WAY better than raisins 😉
Texture: Thick, chewy, soft, crisp at the edges, and a little chunky.
Ease: Super easy.
Pros: Quick and easy recipe, ready in just 30 minutes!
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Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies are ultra-chewy and soft, with the perfect slight crispness at the edges. Heaven!
And bonus: they’re super quick and easy to make!
The best thing about these cookies? Chocolate chips instead of raisins.
What Makes Cookies Chewy, Crisp, or Cakey?
My free guide reveals the ingredients and tweaks that matter.
Is there anything worse than biting into what you think is an Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie, only to discover they’re RAISINS instead!? It’s such a horrendous surprise.
Can you tell I’m not a huge fan of raisins?
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
How to Make Soft, Chewy Cookies
- Measure Your Flour Correctly: Use a digital kitchen scale to measure your flour. When measuring with cups, it’s so easy to accidentally compact the flour, resulting in dry, hard cookies that don’t spread. If you don’t have a scale, use the spoon and level method instead.
- Don’t Reduce the Sugar: Sugar does SO much more than just sweeten your baked goods. Learn all about sugar’s role in baking here. More on the sugars used in this recipe below.
- Eggs: This recipe uses two large eggs plus one egg yolk, for moisture and richness, helping to make these cookies softer and chewier. I have not found anything that can easily replace the magic of a real egg, but feel free to experiment with egg substitutes if needed.
What Kind of Oats are Best for Oatmeal Cookies?
You can use old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats in this recipe. Quick-cooking oats are smaller in size and will provide a more uniform texture, whereas old-fashioned oats will provide a more craggy, rough texture.
Oats tend to zap moisture in any recipe, which is why simply adding them into a Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe won’t work well.
The Chocolate Chips & How to Customize the Mix-Ins
I love using semi-sweet chocolate chips, but feel free to replace the semi-sweet chocolate chips with the same amount of:
- Milk chocolate chips – will make the cookies slightly sweeter
- Butterscotch chips – will make the cookies slightly sweeter
- Bittersweet chocolate chips – will make the cookies slightly less sweet
- Toasted and roughly chopped walnuts or pecans – I recommend lightly toasting the nuts and allowing them to cool before using
- Raisins – if you must!
- Any other mix-ins you like! Just keep to the same overall weight of mix-ins in the recipe as written for best results.
Cinnamon in Oatmeal Cookies?
A dash of cinnamon gives these Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies the BEST flavor – but feel free to simply omit it if preferred.
The Sugar
This recipe calls for both granulated sugar and dark brown sugar. I love to use dark brown sugar in this recipe – its rich butterscotch flavor complements the nutty oats beautifully.
Dark brown sugar contains more molasses, bringing more moisture to this dough and helping keep the baked cookies softer for longer.
Can I Use Light Brown Sugar Instead of Dark Brown Sugar?
You can use light brown sugar if needed, at a 1:1 ratio – just note that your cookies will be slightly lighter in color and won’t be as rich in flavor.
Out of brown sugar? If you have granulated white sugar and molasses, you can make brown sugar yourself!
Why Are My Cookies Flat?
Butter temperature is KEY!
Be sure to use unsalted butter that’s at a cool room temperature – around 67°F is perfect (or a couple degrees cooler if your kitchen is warm). Butter that’s too warm may cause the cookies to over-spread and flatten while baking. In general, the cooler the dough is when it enters the oven, the thicker your cookies will be. If you want thicker cookies, try popping the balls of dough in the freezer while your oven preheats.
Just take a look at the impact butter temperature can have on how much a cookie spreads:
How to Make Pretty Cookies
- Use a large spring-loaded cookie scoop to portion out perfectly even and round balls of Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie dough.
- Roll the balls of dough between your palms to smooth out, then flatten slightly so they spread evenly.
- Dot the balls of shaped dough with a few chocolate chips on top.
- Bake on a heavy-duty unlined aluminum half-sheet pan lined with parchment paper for golden brown cookies. Learn more about baking pans here.
Should Oatmeal Cookie Dough be Chilled Before Baking?
While this recipe doesn’t require refrigeration, chilling the dough will yield a thicker, chewier cookie. Keep the dough well-covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
Do not refrigerate longer than 48 hours. Oats are a drying ingredient and really soak up moisture. Learn more about chilling cookie dough here.
Can I Freeze Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies Cookies?
Portion your cookie dough into balls, place inside an airtight container, and freeze for up to 6 weeks. Thaw overnight in the fridge before baking. Learn more about freezing cookie dough here.
More Cookie Recipes You’ll Love:
- Bourbon Rye Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies – Joe’s new favorite cookie!
- Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Monster Cookies
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups (222 grams) all-purpose flour, measured correctly
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 sticks (170 grams) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups (250 grams) packed dark brown sugar
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs plus one egg yolk, at cool room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups (297 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 1/2 cups (255 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until smooth and well combined, about 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture and beat until just combined. Stir in the oats and chocolate chips.
- Using a large spring-loaded scoop, drop 3-tablespoon sized balls of dough onto prepared baking sheets. Flatten slightly with the bottom of a measuring cup.
- Bake for about 14 to 15 minutes, or until the edges are slightly browned, rotating baking sheets halfway through. If you prefer a slightly softer cookie, bake about 12-13 minutes, or until the edges are slightly brown but the middle still looks underdone (will firm up while cooling). Let the cookies cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
Recipe Notes
The Ultimate Cookie Handbook
Learn the sweet SCIENCE of cookie baking in a fun, visual way to customize your own recipes frustration-free. Plus, my best 50+ homemade cookies!
This post was originally published in 2013 and has been updated with recipe improvements, recipe tips, new photos, and a new video. Photography by Ashley McLaughlin.
These cookies are a perfect addition to a cookie box or all on their own. A true classic, you can’t go wrong with this recipe at any time of the year.
I have family members who ask for oatmeal cookies, so one day I made several different recipes to taste test for a favorite. I had a go-to. After trying this recipe, I have a new go-to. They baked up high, remained soft in the middle, and had good flavor. Sadly, the recipient likes raisins, so I subbed those and added toasted pecans. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Do you recommend Sea Salt or regular table salt?
Hi Jane Mary! Tessa prefers to use fine sea salt in baking, but you can learn more about the differences between salt types in her Salt 101 article here! 🙂
Excellent Recipe!
I made these tonight and they turned out perfect!
They have the right amount of sweetness.
I wish I could eat raisins but this recipe with chocolate chips made up for it.
I used half of the dough and stored the rest in the freezer.
Not sure how long they can be stored in the freezer but
they won’t last long there, lol
With the holidays coming I will be trying
more recipes from Tessa
Thank You!
P.S. Is it okay to store the remaining cookie dough in freezer ziplock bags?
If so, for how long?
Hi Layla! So happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe! Check out Tessa’s article on How to Freeze Cookie Dough (& Bake From Frozen) here! Happy baking 🙂
Hi, I was wondering if I would be able to use the stated amount of butter called for in the recipe and brown it?
Hi Al! This is actually a complicated question to answer! American butter is about 80% butterfat and 20% water (typically, depending slightly on the brand of butter), so when you brown butter, you lose that extra moisture/water as it evaporates through the browning process. It takes some experimentation to alter a regular non-browned-butter recipe to work with browned butter for that reason. You can simply try adding a little water back into the recipe, or start with more butter than the recipe requests, in order to compensate for the moisture you’ll lose as it browns. It’s something you’ll have to experiment with a little in order to perfect, but it can be done, and it’s a fun experiment in the meantime
I just got done making these cookies and they turned out amazing. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe. Since I started following your advice to weigh rather than measure, my baking has gone up several notches.
Hi, For the first time trying one of your wonderful recipes, this one didn’t work out at all. I followed the recipe exactly. You said “No dough chilling required” and that is what I did.
The cookies spread out and lost their shape. Half baked, I decided to “save” them and I placed the “cookies” from pan #1 on top of the ones on pan#2. I finished baking them as if they were brownies. I cut them in bars, while still hot, and that way I was able to use them and not through them in the garbage.
Any comments?
I love all your recipes, this one was the first one that I’m not sure if I’ll try again.
Thank you very much for sharing.
Hi Karla! I’m sorry to hear that these cookies didn’t turn out as they should! There are a few reasons why these cookies may have spread so much. I’ll note a few suggestions here, and hopefully something here will help!
– Your butter may have been too warm when creaming, and/or you may have under or over-creamed your butter and sugar. As Tessa says in the pink tip box above the recipe, “Butter that’s too warm may cause the cookies to spread and flatten while baking.” Have a look at this article, all about creaming butter and sugar, and the ideal temp of butter at this time.
– How do you measure your ingredients? By volume (using cups), or by weight (using a digital kitchen scale)? When measuring by volume, it’s so easy to mis-measure ingredients (particularly flour) and throw off the entire chemistry of a recipe. Tessa talks about how to best measure ingredients to ensure accuracy every time, in this article here!
– How old are your leavening agents? If your baking soda/powder are not fresh, they won’t do their jobs and your baked goods can not rise properly, fall after baking, and much more. Tessa talks about the science behind leavening agents, and how to test for leavener freshness, in this article here!
I hope something here is helpful, Karla, and I hope you give these cookies another try sometime! Let us know if there’s anything else we can help you with – we’re always happy to help troubleshoot 🙂 Happy baking!
Hi! Can I omit the chocolate chips and make it plain?
Hi Kae! We haven’t tried omitting the chocolate chips in this recipe, and I think it would make the cookies flatter than pictured, but it should still work okay. Alternatively, Tessa does have this delicious recipe for Oatmeal Creme Pies – they’re a plain oatmeal cookie, and if you don’t want them sandwiched with the filling, you can just skip that 🙂 Happy baking!
Should this dough be chilled for best results? At one point it says it doesn’t need to be, but then there is a section about how long to refrigerate oatmeal cookie dough.
Hi PJ! As Tessa said in the post, it’s not vital that these cookies be chilled before baking. Oats mean the chill window is shorter because they’ll dry out much faster than most cookies – 24 hours won’t hurt them, but don’t exceed 48 hours in the fridge. We find that most cookies do improve in flavor and structure after 24 hours in the fridge. Let us know what you think once you’ve given these cookies a try!
These cookies are perfect! I made a batch with the chocolate chips and a batch with cranberries. Moist and soft ❤️
Hi there! I just made this recipe but I’m using butterscotch chips, is that okay? can the oatmeal recipe be a base oatmeal recipe?
Hi Brittani! As long as it’s the same amount as written in the recipe, that should work just fine! 🙂
I ADORE this HTH recipe as I love oatmeal cookies! I have a question however – if I added walnuts should I cut back on the amount of chocolate chips or can I keep it them same and just add on nuts?
Hi Lydia! We are so glad to hear that you enjoy these cookies so much! If you wish to add some chopped nuts, I would definitely recommend cutting back on the chocolate chips to accommodate the same weight/volume of nuts – so say you will add 1/2 cup of chopped nuts, then add 1/2 cup less of chocolate chips. This will ensure your cookies will still have the same texture and ratio of cookie-to-mix-in 🙂 I also recommend toasting the nuts and cooling them, before adding them to your cookies – really kicks the flavor up a notch! Enjoy!