These oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are made with oats, butter, and brown sugar and are the softest, chewiest oatmeal cookies to come out of my kitchen. Use this perfect oatmeal cookie as the base for other add-ins such as raisins, dried cranberries, and nuts. Cinnamon and a touch of molasses add that little something extra. These are the best oatmeal chocolate chip cookies!
Have you ever made my chewy chocolate chip cookies recipe? I have the recipe memorized—I make them all the time! But it’s time to add another legendary recipe to our chocolate chip cookie repertoire. Today we’re mixing big chewy oats with lots of butter, brown sugar, a touch of molasses, a dash of cinnamon, and… glorious chocolate chips.
Start preheating your ovens!
This is My Favorite Base Oatmeal Cookie Recipe
Today’s soft & chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies start from my base oatmeal cookie recipe. This base recipe has quickly developed into my favorite and makes quite a few appearances in Sally’s Cookie Addiction. I’m a firm believer in having a handful of base recipes from which you can develop virtually hundreds of variations. For example: my master muffin recipe. Or my favorite recipe for vanilla cupcakes which you can try many ways—peanut butter & jelly cupcakes, piñata cupcakes, pistachio cupcakes, chocolate caramel coconut cupcakes, and mimosa cupcakes all stem from the same base vanilla cupcake recipe. My peanut butter cookies have inspired quite a few spinoffs, too!
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
How to Make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
I especially love this recipe because the process is quick & simple—minimal dough chilling!
- Whisk the dry ingredients together. Just the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt—you’ll add the oats later.
- Mix the wet ingredients together.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients.
- Add the oats and chocolate chips. The dough will be thick and sticky.
- Chill the cookie dough. I recommend at least 45 minutes in the refrigerator, which helps prevent the cookies from overspreading.
- Scoop cookie dough balls. About 3 Tablespoons of dough per cookie—yes, these are LARGE!
- Bake. The cookies are done when the edges are set and the centers still look soft.
Baker’s Tip: Use a cookie scoop. I never use a cookie scoop when making chocolate chip cookies, but I swear by using one with oatmeal cookies. Oatmeal cookie dough is super chunky and soft, and this one can get a little sticky. A cookie scoop not only prevents a mess, it also helps ensure all cookies are the same size and shape. I recommend the large cookie scoop which holds 3 Tablespoon of cookie dough. Exactly what we’re aiming for with these hearty chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. They’re BIG.
Why You’ll Love These Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Three characteristics I look for in oatmeal cookies? Slow bend, chewy goodness, and ultra soft. Check, check, and check! (This recipe is a lot like my oatmeal raisin cookies.) These oatmeal chocolate chip cookies have a slightly crisp edge with a soft center and enough chew that it won’t immediately break when you bend it. A “slow bend cookie” as I like to call them—and this is what makes a regular oatmeal cookie a really great oatmeal cookie. They’re also:
- Super soft and hearty.
- Supremely buttery and flavorful. Using more brown sugar than white helps guarantee a more flavorful base.
- Super chewy thanks to old-fashioned oats. Thick old-fashioned whole rolled oats, not quick oats, guarantee a chewier cookie. Quick oats are thinner and more powder-y; you simply don’t get the same texture.
- Loaded with extra chocolate chips! I like to use both regular size and mini chocolate chips. This guarantees more chocolate in every single bite. And for my fellow raisin lovers: try subbing in half raisins with the chocolate chips. BEST COOKIE EVER.
- Taste just like how grandma used to make them. I find the 1 Tablespoon of molasses is what makes these taste like grandma’s old fashioned oatmeal cookies. I strongly encourage you to add it.
Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 24 minutes
- Yield: 22 cookies
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
With oats, butter, and mostly all brown sugar, you are guaranteed a soft and chewy oatmeal cookie. Use this perfect oatmeal cookie as the base for other add-ins such as raisins, dried cranberries, and nuts. Cinnamon and a touch of molasses add that little something extra. These are the best oatmeal chocolate chip cookies!
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (188g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks; 230g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) unsulphured or dark molasses (do not use blackstrap; I prefer Grandma’s brand)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 cups (255g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats
- 1 and 3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips*
Instructions
- Whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar and beat on medium-high speed until creamed, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, molasses, and vanilla and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. With the mixer running on low speed, beat in the oats and both types of chocolate chips. Dough will be thick and sticky. Cover and chill the dough for at least 45 minutes in the refrigerator (and up to 4 days). If chilling for longer than a few hours, allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before rolling and baking because the dough will be quite hard.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Use a large cookie scoop to scoop the cookie dough, about 3 Tablespoons of dough per cookie, and place 4 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 13-14 minutes or until lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look very soft.
- Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. While the cookies are still warm, I like to press a few more chocolate chips into the tops—this is only for looks!
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. (See step 3.) Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Large Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Molasses: 1 Tablespoon of molasses helps give these cookies incredible flavor. Be sure to use unsulphured or dark molasses (do not use blackstrap; I prefer Grandma’s brand). If you don’t have any, simply leave it out. Do not replace with anything else. Likewise, cinnamon adds flavor as well. Not necessary, but it sure is tasty!
- Chocolate Chips: I like using 1 and 1/4 cups regular size chocolate chips and 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips. Varying sizes ensure more chocolate in each bite. You can, of course, just use 1 and 3/4 cups regular size chocolate chips. You can even try 1 cup chocolate chips and 3/4 cup raisins. Yum!
Can I use quick oats?
Hi Joy, that would work in a pinch, but quick oats are thinner and much more powdery, so your cookies will be a bit dry. We highly recommend making them with whole rolled old fashioned oats if you can.
Perfect perfect perfect! Made these with semi-sweet chocolate chips and chopped walnuts for my father in law, he absolutely loved them. Also made a batch with white chocolate chips and dried cherries, they were delish. Thanks again Sally!
Are you able to use margarine in place of buttter? We often find butter to be a little too rich and hard to digest.
Hi Ken, we don’t recommend margarine as it has different baking properties than butter. You could try solid coconut oil or even a plant-based butter instead, but results may vary. For best results, we recommend sticking with unsalted butter.
Made these and they turned out great. Very chewy. I had one batch where I got distracted and they were overcooked – not burnt but not chewy. Hubby actually liked those the best – said that they were kind of caramelized. No mistakes in the kitchen – happy accidents!
This recipe was everything you said it was!!! Delicious, chewy and satisfying. Thank you!!
Absolutely fantastic cookie! Everyone in my family loved them. I used milk chocolate chips rather than semi-sweet bc that’s what I had. I think I will always use milk chocolate after how these turned out.
My very picky 8 and 10 year old asked me to tell the lady who created this recipe “Great Job!” I make these cookies weekly and they never last more than 3 days. I sub applesauce for half the butter, and cut both types of sugar in half. Presto- breakfast cookie ; )
I tried this recipe today with 188g of Better Batter GF Flour Blend and they were awesome cookies.
Made these super delicious cookies a couple weeks ago and was asked to PLEASE make these again. The only thing I changed was I used a plant based butter. I give this recipe a 5 star rating!
I omitted the granulated sugar completely, and added 1c corn flakes for crunch and a handful of craisins. Did not need to refrigerate at all and they didn’t spread too much. Taste is delicious – thanks for a great recipe!
These sound yummy. How would you suggest I adjust oven temp and baking time to make a smaller cookie with a standard sized scoop?
Hi Sharon, same oven temperature. The bake time will be a minute or two shorter.
Thank you!!
These are amazing!! Make them last week but again today and I used Girardelli chopped up chocolate to top it amazing!! Would love to share pics
These are INSANELY good! I made them as I needed to use up some oats that were nearing expiration and this recipe was perfect. I didn’t use molasses (completely missed it on the recipe to be honest), but they came out absolutely divine. It was late when I was making the dough and decided to bake them the next day so I popped the dough into cling wrap, rolled it into a log, chucked it in the fridge overnight. It was nice and firm to cut and roll into even balls. I also made this without the chocolate chips and honestly it’s such a star of a cookie, I’m very pleased and my partner is as well! Will be making them again!! Thank you!
Can this cookie recipe be made in a bar form.
Hi Brenda, you can definitely use this cookie dough for cookie bars. A 9×13 inch pan would be best. We’re unsure of the exact bake time. Hope this helps!
Do you have a calorie estimate per cookie…?
Hi Amy, we don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
I will never make another type of oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. These are an INCREDIBLE; bakery quality treat!
This is a very tasty, soft and chewy cookie. I added raisins and they came out great.
Amazing!
I did make several adjustments, but but this was a great base recipe. I cut the flower back and I cut the sugar back. The chocolate chips and the Craisins took care of meeting any further sweetening. I also used one stick of butter and three-quarter cup of oil. I sneaked in some finally greeted carrots as well. I think my grandchildren will love them tomorrow when they get them and then eat them for lunch. Considering the protein and other nutrition, it would be as good as any lunch they could buy on the road when they travel. Thanks so much for this recipe. I saved it.
Delicious and delightful! I reduced the amount of chocolate chips a little, added maybe a half a cup of pecans and about 1/3 cup of marshmallows. The marshmallows make the spread of the cookies a little unpredictable but add these little caramelized spots in the cookies. Totally worth it. I’d like to experiment with adding some cornflakes add some non-sweet crunch texture but that’ll be for another day.
I am really hoping to save the rest of my dough from meeting the same fate as my first batch. I’ve made this recipe before, and I followed it to the letter (measured ingredients by weight) and chilled the dough for an hour and a half. Last time they turned out great, but this time they are spreading way to much and becoming completely brown on the edges while the insides are still raw. The only thing I can think of that is different this time is I used half normal semi-sweet chocolate chips and half bitter sweet chocolate chips (the larger flat ones from Ghirardelli). I still have half my dough in the fridge, any tips on making it turn out better?
Hi Kate, check out our 10 Guaranteed Tips To Prevent Cookies From Spreading. Hope those help!
My cookies spread – anyway to get them taller. Recipe is legit!
My family and I love these cookies! It’s my first time baking oatmeal chocolate chip but it definitely won’t be the last!
I omitted the molasses completely, and used a small cookie scoop (about 1 TBSP size). Baked for 11 minutes and they were perfect!
Crispy on the outside and soft in the middle…cookies came out exactly as pictured with a 15 minute baking time in my convection oven. They were a huge hit with family that thinks oatmeal doesn’t belong in a cookie. I added hazelnuts to a batch and the cookies were even better! The molasses really elevated the flavor of the dough. I typically use the famous brand’s vanishing oatmeal recipe but this is replacing that recipe!