Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
These Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies are packed with oats, chocolate chips, and incredibly soft and chewy. These cookies are so easy to make and delicious!
Are you a fan of oatmeal raisin cookies or oatmeal chocolate chip cookies? To be honest, I actually have a hard time choosing between the two. I’ll happily take a cookie with raisins or chocolate in it any day.
Over the years, so many of you have made my oatmeal raisin cookies and absolutely loved them. So today, I wanted to share my updated oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe with more photos and better instructions. Plus, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to make another batch of these cookies too.
Why You’ll Love These Cookies
- Incredibly easy to make using pantry staples
- Only requires 30 minutes of dough chilling
- Super soft, chewy, and thick
- They’re loaded with tons of melty chocolate chips
This recipe makes two dozen cookies, but you can easily double it to make more if you prefer. I’m also sharing everything you need to know for making perfect oatmeal chocolate chips cookies, plus how to freeze the cookie dough to enjoy later!
Ingredients You’ll Need For This Recipe
To make these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, you’ll be using simple pantry staples that you likely already have on hand. Here’s exactly what you’ll need to get started:
- All-Purpose Flour: This provides the structure for the cookies – just be sure to use the spoon and level method when measuring your flour. You want to avoid scooping your flour from the container, otherwise, you can end up with dry cookies that don’t spread.
- Ground Cinnamon: This is an optional ingredient, but I find that some cinnamon pairs beautifully with the oats in these cookies.
- Baking Soda & Salt: For a little lift and to enhance the flavor of the cookies.
- Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats: I find that rolled oats provide a chewier texture in these cookies. If you don’t have any, you can use quick oats, but keep in mind that the texture won’t be quite the same.
- Unsalted Butter: As always, I use unsalted butter to control the amount of salt in these cookies. Only have salted butter on hand? Just reduce the salt in these cookies to a tiny pinch.
- Sugar: I use a mix of brown sugar and granulated sugar. The brown sugar gives these cookies a little extra flavor and keeps them moist.
- Egg & Vanilla Extract: You’ll be using one room temperature egg to help bind everything together as well as some vanilla extract for flavor.
- Chocolate Chips: There’s 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips for maximum chocolate flavor! Feel free to use milk chocolate or dark chocolate chips if you prefer.
How To Make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Once you’ve gathered your ingredients, it’s time to prepare the cookie dough. Here’s a simple breakdown of exactly how to make this cookie dough:
- Whisk together the dry ingredients: It’s best to whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and then stir in the oats.
- Cream the butter and sugars together: You’ll only need to mix them together for 1 to 2 minutes or until they’re well combined.
- Mix in the egg and vanilla: Once you’ve mixed in these two ingredients, it’s best to stop and scrape down the sides of your bowl, then mix again. This will ensure that all of the wet ingredients are well combined. Your mixture should look like the photo above on the left.
- Mix in the dry ingredients: I prefer to turn the mixer off, add the dry ingredients, and mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are just combined.
- Add the chocolate chips: You can mix these in on low-speed with the mixer or by hand, either ways is fine! Once the chocolate chips are added, your dough should look like the picture above on the right.
- Chill the dough: Cover tightly and let it chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. This will help the butter firm back up and the flavors come together a little more before baking the cookies. Colder butter = thicker cookies!
- Scoop, flatten, and bake the cookie dough: I use a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop and suggest slightly flattening each ball of cookie dough to help ensure that they spread a little. It’s also crucial not to over bake these cookies – check them at about 10 minutes and see how they look. The cookies are done when the tops are set and the edges are lightly browned.
The cookies will be a little soft when they come out of the oven, but the residual heat from the baking sheet will help them finish setting up. I like to let them cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes, then let them cool completely on a wire rack. You can also just dig into them while they’re still warm, the choice is all yours!
Freezing Instructions
I get a lot of questions about freezing cookie dough and you can 100% freeze this dough. I suggest scooping the cookie dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, roll each ball of dough, and gently press each one down to slightly flatten them, then freeze them.
Freezing the cookie dough first will help prevent it from sticking together when you store it in a freezer bag or container. I also suggest slightly flattening the cookie dough before freezing so that you can bake the cookies from frozen and they will still spread.
Once the cookie dough is frozen, you can store it in a freezer bag or container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Feel free to place some wax paper or parchment paper between the layers of cookie dough if you prefer too. To bake the cookie dough from frozen, just add an additional 1-2 minutes of baking time if needed.
You may also bake the cookies, let them cool completely, and freeze them in a freezer bag or container for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to enjoy them, just place them on the counter and let them come to room temperature before serving.
Baking Tips
- When measuring your flour, stir the flour around, spoon it into your measuring cup, and level it off with the back of a knife. If you scoop the flour from the container you can end up with too much flour in your cookies.
- Be sure to use old-fashioned rolled oats in these cookies for a chewier texture.
- Make sure to chill your cookie dough for at least 30 minutes. Feel free to skip this step if you prefer thinner cookies versus thicker cookies.
- These cookies will bake up pretty thick, especially if the dough is cold. I like to gently press down on each ball of cookie dough before baking them to help them spread just a bit in the oven. If you want your cookies to be thicker, you can skip this step.
More Oatmeal Cookie Recipes To Try!
Recipe Video
Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 and ½ cups (150 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats
- ½ cup (115 grams) unsalted butter softened
- ½ cup (100 grams) light brown sugar packed
- ¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (190 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the old-fashioned rolled oats and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer, beat the butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar together for 1-2 minutes or until well combined.
- Mix in the egg and vanilla extract, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined, then mix in the chocolate chips on low-speed until fully incorporated into the cookie dough. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside.
- Using a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, making sure to leave a little room between each one. Gently press down each ball of cookie dough to slightly flatten them.
- Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 10-13 minutes or until the tops of the cookies are set.
- Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
These are delicious chocolate chip cookies, but I was looking for a stronger oatmeal taste.
These cookies are TO DIE FOR!! Hands down the best oatmeal cookies I’ve ever had. I’ve now made them twice in less than a week as they don’t last long once the family smells them baking(yes they’re THAT GOOD)!
The best oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe ever!! They were delicious!
I did 1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts and used whole wheat flour; it made 30 cookies. Baked for 9 minutes – these have got to be best I’ve ever had. So tender & delicious!
Made these cookies today but they did not spread? Any reason you can think of?
Sorry to hear that, Cindy. Did you make sure to spoon and level the flour?
Can’t wait to make these. Do you pack the brown sugar?
Yes, I pack it.
This recipe is actually adapted from my oatmeal raisin cookies I posted a few years ago. If I ever use another recipe for inspiration or adapt from it, then I always note this in my post. Many cookie recipes use similar ingredients though so any similarities are simply a coincidence.
The dough was very crumbly and hard to mix once I got the oats and chocolate chips in. I had to hand form them before putting them in the oven. There were quite a few lonely chocolate chips at the bottom of the mixing bowl. After they baked, they were chewy and soft. Great recipe!
My daughter made these this weekend while home from college and we love them. I’m on a reduced calorie/carb diet and would like to try and reduce the butter and sugar some how. Any ideas on substitutes that could be used to reduce these and lighten up the recipe?
So glad you liked the cookies, Michelle! I haven’t tried reducing the butter or sugar, so it’s hard to give suggestions for how to do that. You may be able to use a sugar substitute, but I haven’t personally tested it.
This is now my favorite cookie. I sometimes substitute 1/2 cup coconut and 1/2 cup chopped cashews for the chocolate chips, and that’s delicious too! Like others have said, go ahead and take the cookies out after 12 minutes even tho they don’t look done.
Oh my god! I’m currently eating these cookies & they’re literally the best oatmeal cookies I’ve ever had. They’re super soft & chewy, the texture is incredible. I swapped out the regular chocolate chips for dark chocolate chips- the bitterness of the dark chocolate compliments the sweetness of the cookie perfectly. This was a super easy & quick recipe, I would recommend it to beginner bakers. Will come back to bake this again! I’m definitely going to share this recipe around! Thank you! (I’m writing this comment on my phone & it won’t let me rate the recipe but it’s 5 stars)
So good I would definitely bake again!
Glad I found this recipe, Im about to make them for the second time and I’m making two batches because they were gone within the night last time. The comment about trusting the bake time is true. If you wait to pull them out when they look done, they’ll overbake as they cool down. It’s now officially my go to recipe for these cookies since I literally JUST printed it out. Lol.
I only have salted butter on hand. Can I use it instead of unsalted?
That would be fine, but you’ll want to reduce the salt to just a tiny pinch.
Wow, wow, wow! These were delicious! I mad these with my two kids, and they loved them. Perfect snack, for lunches and a lot more! Definitely will be making these again. Thank you Danielle! 🙂
I used the quick oats and 1/2 cup of chocolate chips that I had on hand. These were perfect!
Thank you. 🙂
So glad you mentioned this because all I have on hand is quick oats!
Made these cookies today. Used whole wheat pastry flour and only 120g of (dark) chocolate chips. Followed the recipe, otherwise. Lovely texture and taste. Thank you for such a beautiful recipe!
I would like to know when i’m adding the chocolate chip and the oats do i use a wisk, spoon or an electrical mixer to do that?
I just use my mixer to mix them in too.
Can I replace the vanilla extract with bourbon?
If it’s an equal amount it should be fine.
These are fantastic! When I make them again I will use just 1 cup of oats, other than that they were very good! Thank you for the recipe!
Hi Danielle! My cookies taste great but mine came out on the crunchy side and look a little lumpy?! What did I do wrong?
Hi Rose! If they turned out crunchy, it’s likely that they were a little overbaked. If you make them again, try using a light-colored baking sheet or just reduce your baking time slightly. Also, they shouldn’t be super lumpy. Was your dough well combined and everything when you mixed it up?
Hi! This may be a dumb question, but I just want to make sure. I made your oatmeal raisin cookies and was planning to make oatmeal chocolate chip as well. Do you grind up your oats? Or do you leave them as whole oats? I noticed your pictures didn’t look as lumpy with oats as mine did. Either way, I love the recipe and I’m sure I’ll love this as well! Thanks!
Hi Jocelyn! I don’t grind up the oats, I just leave them whole.
would it taste as good to use this same recipe but put raisins in it instead of chocolate chips
Yes, that would be fine!
I remembered half way through the recipe that one of my sisters doesn’t eat chocolate and I didnt have raisins so I just went without. Ended up with half the number and had to do a second batch.
They turned out great though!
can you freeze the dough?
Yes, absolutely! You can thaw it overnight in the refrigerator or freeze balls of cookie dough and bake them from frozen for an additional 1-2 minutes.
I am in the middle of baking these little gems. I did not refrigerate and added half the chocolate chips and they came out perfect! I did get 24 cookies.
Danielle;
Hi,I would like to make your oatmeal chocolate chip cookies,I have all of the ingredients to make your cookies at home except the egg.Can I still make your cookies even though I have no eggs to put in your recipe.What will happen to the cookies if there is no egg in the batter?I am going to copy down your recipe today.
Kim
Hi, Kim! The cookie dough does need the egg or it will be too dry. You may be able to replace it with something like a flax egg.
Made them with whole wheat flour and brought them into work, they didn’t even last through the day, everyone loved them! Will be adding this to my recipe book for sure!
Excellent cookies! I like to add some pecan pieces and coconut oil to my Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies.
And I find weighing out all purpose flour to achieve accurate measurements.
My new favorite oatmeal cookie!! I love anything with oats and when I saw the Halloween m&ms I knew I wanted to throw them into some oatmeal cookies. The recipe I usually use is good but they come out a bit flat so I wanted to find a thicker one. Tried a couple and was about to give up, then I saw this one and figured it looked simple enough so I tried it. I’m so glad I did! I bake a few times a week and now this will be made over and over again! The only differences I made were the m&ms instead of chocolate chips because they’re pretty and my kids love them, and I used bread flour since I only had that or cake flour and I knew bread flour would give me more of that high density chew I was looking for. I chilled my dough for about 45 min and they baked for 10 minutes even. I used a 2 TBS scoop and got 16 perfectly even cookies. I left them in ball form and didn’t flatten at all. They when down about half way which was perfect for me because it left them perfectly tall and chewy! Our family of 5 really enjoyed them and now there’s only 7 left which means I gotta make more! Just writing this review is making me want to get out of bed and go eat a couple more. I love how simple this recipe is and that it didn’t make a huge batch of cookies, it has the perfect warm oatmeal flavor and a great texture! You’ll definitely want to make these, you won’t regret it!
This recipe worked well and tasted great, though I used a 5-grain oat mix because it was all I had on hand. There’s a LOT of chocolate, you may want to cut that back if you prefer more cookie than chocolate… I don’t. They did stay very tall, hardly spreading at all, and didn’t bake flat like the pictures, I know cookie bake timing is tricky and almost every cookie seems underdone when you should take it out of the oven, but these seem REALLY underdone when they’re ready to take out. All of my first batch ended up overdone just because I didn’t trust the initial low end of the bake time. Trust the bake time, take them out even if you think they’re still under.
This recipe was great! The cookies turned out delicious and with more depth of flavor than other recipes that I’ve tried. I’ll definitely be making these again.