You will love this recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. They are soft, chewy, and have the perfect mix of flavors. Don’t miss my tips and tricks that make these the best oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
Nathan’s favorite dessert is my Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe. Though I love a great oatmeal raisin cookie, my heart truly belongs to chocolate.
Here I’m taking that five-star recipe and simply swapping the raisins for chocolate chips. The result is a cookie that my family devours quicker than you can blink! I’m sure they will be a huge hit in your house too.
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Why These Are The Best Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
I went through so many different batches of cookies to come up with the perfect oatmeal cookies recipe for you. Here is what makes this the perfect recipe:
- They don’t spread too much.
- The dough doesn’t need to chill.
- The cookie texture is the perfect amount of soft and chewy.
- There is a hint of cinnamon that is magical without being overbearing.
How to Make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Here is a brief overview of how this chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe comes together. It is important that you follow the prompts in each step to make sure that these cookies turn out perfectly, so be sure to see the recipe card at the bottom of the post for the full recipe including all measurements.
- Combine dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
- Beat the wet ingredients. Cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until it is light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl and beat the eggs into the mixture one at a time. Then add in the vanilla.
- Add the flour mixture. Scrape down the bowl and then add all of the flour mixture. Beat very low until just incorporated, then turn up the speed to fully incorporate, until just combined. Gently fold in the oats and then the chocolate chips.
- Roll into dough balls. Scoop out the dough using a cookie scoop, gently roll, and then place one to two inches apart on the baking sheet.
- Bake the cookies. Rotate the sheet halfway through and bake for about 10 minutes, or just until the edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown.
- Let cool and enjoy! Let the cookies sit on the tray for two minutes and then remove to a cooling rack. Enjoy or store for later.
Using Brown Sugar
This recipe uses both white sugar and brown sugar. While the white sugar is great in this recipe – it brings sweetness and helps the cookies spread – the brown sugar is critical. It is the brown sugar, with the molasses it brings to the party, that keeps these cookies soft and chewy.
The Best Oats For Cookies
I’ve made this recipe with both quick cooking and old fashioned oats. Some recipes will tell you that old fashioned oats will yield a chewier cookie, but honestly, I’m not sure that’s what’s making it chewy. I think that has more to do with the ratio of white to brown sugar and how the ingredients were combined. I think you can use either type of oat and both work well.
Tips and Tricks
In addition to these chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, these tips and tricks are great for all cookie recipes!
- Use room temperature butter. Do not soften it in the microwave! Let it sit on the counter, cut into one inch pieces, for a half hour. You should be able to press your finger in and dent it easily without pushing it all the way through.
- Make sure your baking soda is fresh. Both baking soda and baking powder need to be replaced every six months or so because they lose their freshness. To test your baking soda to see if it needs to be replaced, mix a little bit with some vinegar. It should bubble up right away. If it doesn’t, it is time to toss it and get new baking soda.
- Measure your flour correctly. This step is so important it gets its own section below.
- Thoroughly cream the butter and sugar together. This process of combining the butter and sugar, or creaming it, is critical. The sugar is adding air to the butter which will not only puff up in the oven, it will actually make it so you get more cookies out of your batch of dough than if you just mixed them together. (Did your mind just explode?) You need to beat the sugar and butter together until it is light and fluffy and this will take about five minutes.
- Make sure you scrape your bowl! Sounds basic, but it’s easy to forget and during different steps the dough doesn’t stay together as it should.
- Invest in a cookie scoop. I love my cookie scoop! The benefits of using a cookie scoop are that it makes all the cookies the same size so they bake at the same rate. It also makes scooping very quick. This is great since your ingredients are already combined and science is already happening in that bowl! Finally, it keeps you from heating up the dough a ton with your hands.
Cookie Scoop
Measuring Flour
Flour packs really easily, creating more flour in your recipe than you really want. Extra flour happens to be a great way to ruin a cookie recipe. To prevent that, be sure to follow these steps anytime you are measuring flour without a scale (follow the link in the box below for a detailed post and photos):
- Fluff the flour. Whisk the flour in the container it is stored in.
- Scoop it using a spoon. Use a spoon to gently scoop the aerated flour into the measuring cup. Allow the flour to pile up above the rim. Do not scoop it directly using the measuring cup.
- Level it off. Use the back of a knife or a flat spatula and level off the excess flour by sweeping it across the top of the measuring cup. Ensure the flour is even with the top edge of the cup.
How to Measure Flour
Mixing Flour
For years and years, I gradually added my flour to my creamed butter and sugar so as to not overbeat it, develop the gluten too much, or create tough cookies. I have since learned that adding it slowly actually makes the gluten issue worse. Now I add all of the flour at once, give it a really slow quick mix so it doesn’t fly everywhere, and then a quick high-speed mix to integrate it. It adds the flour quicker – win – and it means less overall mixing – double win.
Picture perfect!
To make your cookies look as delectable as the ones in my photos, add more chocolate chips to the tops of each cookie as soon as they come out of the oven. You will need about 1/4 to 1/2 cup more of each.
Storing and Freezing Cookies
These oatmeal cookies are great for freezing. Simply allow them to completely cool and transfer them to a freezer safe bag or container and store in the freezer for up to three months. Enjoy right from the freezer or allow to thaw on the counter.
Other Great Cookie Recipes
Now that you have all these great tips, do you want to make all the cookie recipes you can?? I don’t blame you.
If you make these Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies or any of my other recipes, please leave me a comment and let me know! I love hearing from you!
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour (240 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 14 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature (197.75 grams)
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar packed (159.75 grams)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (148.5 grams)
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups old fashioned oats quick cooking will also work (180 grams)
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips (170 grams)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.2 cups all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until it is light and fluffy. This will take between 3 and 6 minutes.14 tablespoons unsalted butter, 3/4 cup light brown sugar, 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- Scrape down the bowl and one at a time beat the eggs into the mixture. Then beat in the vanilla.2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Scrape down the bowl and then add all of the flour mixture into the butter-egg mixture. Beat very low until just incorporated, then turn up the speed to fully incorporate, beating until just combined. Do not over-mix.
- Gently fold in the oats and then the chocolate chips.2 cups old fashioned oats, 1 cup milk chocolate chips
- Using a 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop to make the cookies consistent in size, scoop out the cookies, gently roll, and then place them 1-2 inches apart on the parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for about 10 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway during the baking process, or just until the edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown.
- Remove the cookies from the oven. Let the cookies sit on the tray for 2 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack.
- Enjoy right away or store in an airtight container for up to one week.
Susan says
These look fabulous, my question is if you did not want to use chocolate chips could you substitute coconut? I already have a chocolate dessert and looking for an soft chewy oatmeal cookie.
I haven’t tried these with coconut. If you do, let me know how it goes!
Susan says
I made the Chewy Oatmeal cookies this morning and I added about 2 1/2 cups of flaked coconut instead of the chocolate chips, it was warm in the house and the dough was quite soft so I refrigerated it for a couple hours. I scooped enough dough for two cookies as practice, one I left as is with just the coconut. The second cookie I added about a quarter of a piece of Werther’s soft caramel cut into small pieces. I baked them and let them cool, they were both really good, soft and chewy, my daughter in law and I both agreed the one with caramel was the definite winner, those little pieces of chewy caramel melted into little puddles of pure caramel chewy bliss. Not sure if I will ever add chocolate chips to this recipe after coconut and caramel but will make the recipe again. Might try another practice cookie and add some pecans too.
I love that you experimented with it! The caramel in there sounds amazing!! Thank you for coming back to let me know.
Annette Hebbeler says
you say to use a measuring scoop but you do not say what size to use. I have a small, medium, and large. So to yield 34 cookies, which size scoop would work.
Hi Annette! I use a 1 1/2 tablespoon scoop.
Makistine Sokia says
Cookie scop. I tried it and love it, they are nice and big good size.
Fail says
Could you use dried cranberries instead of chocolate chips
Yup!
Sean says
Great recipe!!! Thanks so much for sharing!
You’re welcome!