Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Sweet with a hint of cinnamon and loads of chocolate chips. Chocolate chips > raisins.
Texture: Thick, chewy, soft, crisp at the edges, and a little chunky.
Ease: Super easy.
Appearance: Don’t you just want to take a big bite out of one?
Pros: No raisins!! 😉
Cons: None.
Would I make this again? I’ve made these countless times.
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I’m pretty sure I’ve discussed this before but it is worth repeating: there is nothing 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.
You think your bite is going to be full of bursts of slightly gooey chocolate gems, but instead you’re left with the taste and texture of wrinkly, shriveled, sticky, bland bites of fruit. Can you tell I’m not a huge fan of raisins? I can do chocolate covered raisins or maybe even yogurt covered raisins but I’d just rather not eat them generally. I don’t see the attraction.
I’m not a huge fan of dried fruit to begin with, but raisins are certainly my least favorite. Why choose raisins when you can have chocolate chips?!
Here’s why you’ll love this Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe:
- Warm, homemade chocolate chip oatmeal cookies straight from the oven in under 30 minutes
- No dough chill time required!
- Thick, chewy, and SO soft
- Delicious semi-sweet chocolate chips throughout. No raisins here. 😉
How to Make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Here are some bonus tips and tricks for ensuring your oatmeal cookies come out perfectly soft, chewy, and beautiful. The full recipe is just below.
Ingredients You’ll Need for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies:
- Flour:All-purpose flour is used in this recipe. Be sure to measure your flour properly with a kitchen scale (or the spoon and level method if you don’t have a scale).
- Salt:Helps to balance out the sweetness.
- Leavening:Both baking soda and baking powder are used to help lift the cookies for this recipe.
- Cinnamon:A dash of cinnamon gives these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies the BEST flavor.
- Butter: Make sure to use unsalted, cool room temperature butter. More on this below.
- Sugar:This recipe calls for both granulated and dark brown sugar. I love to use dark brown sugar in this particular recipe because the rich butterscotch flavor it lends complements the nutty oats beautifully. But also, dark brown sugar is made with more molasses, which adds more moisture to this dough and helps keep the cookies softer for longer once they’re baked. You can use light brown sugar if you need to, but definitely consider giving dark brown a try! If you make this recipe without brown sugar, they won’t be as soft, chewy, or flavorful. P.S. if you have granulated white sugar and molasses, you can make brown sugar yourself!
- Eggs: You’ll see this recipe calls for two large eggs plus one egg yolk. Again, that egg yolk lends moisture and richness, helping to make these cookies both softer yet chewier.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds delicious flavor.
- Oats: I like to use old-fashioned rolled oats in my oatmeal cookie recipes. Quick oats can be used if needed. More on this below.
- Chocolate Chips:Obviously! But you can use raisins if you MUST.
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 your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe typically won’t work.
The Chocolate Chips – How to Mix it Up and Customize These Cookies
I love these cookies with semi-sweet chocolate chips, as written, but feel free to mix up the mix-ins as you like! Replace the semi-sweet chocolate chips with the same weight of:
- Milk chocolate chips (will make the cookies slightly sweeter)
- Butterscotch chips (will make the cookies slightly sweeter)
- Dark chocolate chips (will make the cookies slightly less sweet)
- Toasted and roughly chopped walnuts or pecans (I always prefer to lightly toast nuts and cool nuts when baking – it adds a much nicer depth of flavor!)
- Raisins (if you must!)
- Whatever you like!
Just keep to the same overall weight of mix-ins in the recipe as written for best results.
Overview of How to Make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies:
- Combine the dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
- Beat together the wet ingredients. Using a hand mixer or in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together. Then, add the eggs and vanilla and beat again.
- Combine the dry and wet ingredients. Try not to overmix!
- Stir in the oats and chocolate chips.
- Using a spring-loaded cookie scoop, portion out cookie dough balls and flatten slightly.
- Bake. Bake until the edges are slightly browned, rotating baking sheets halfway through. Allow baked cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes, before removing the cookies to a wire rack directly to cool completely.
Why Are My Cookies Flat?
Butter temperature is KEY!
Be sure to use unsalted butter that’s at a cool room temperature, 67°F to be exact. A couple degrees cooler is best if your kitchen is warm. Butter that’s too warm may cause the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies to 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:
Click here to learn why I only use unsalted butter when baking.
How to Make Beautiful Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Use a large spring-loaded cookie scoop to portion out perfectly even and round balls of Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie dough. Then, roll them between your palms to smooth out then flatten slightly so they spread evenly.
- Dot the balls of scooped out 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 the importance of baking pans when it comes to cookies here!
Why Use a Cookie Scoop?
Using astainless steel spring-loaded cookie scoop when portioning out cookie dough is one of the KEYS to beautiful, uniform, evenly-shaped and evenly-baked cookies. My cookie scoop is one of my most frequently used kitchen gadgets. A spring-loaded scoop saves you *so much time* in forming the balls of dough. When using a scoop, you ensure each ball is evenly sized so the cookies bake evenly, meaning you don’t have any small overbaked cookies or large underbaked cookies.Learn more about Cookie Scoops and how to use them here!
Should Oatmeal Cookie Dough be Chilled Before Baking?
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie dough will keep covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Do not refrigerate over 48 hours as oats are a drying ingredient and really soak up moisture. Your dough can dry up quickly! Remove from the fridge and allow the dough to soften slightly before scooping and baking.
How to Make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies Cookies Ahead of Time
You can freeze just about any drop cookie recipe! Freeze pre portioned balls of Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie dough in an airtight container for up to 6 weeks. Learn more about freezing and baking frozen cookie dough here.
There’s nothing more comforting than a warm cookie with a glass of cold milk!
More Cookie Recipes:
- Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Giant Reese’s Pieces Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- S’mores Cookies
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
By: Tessa Arias
4.89 from 305 votes
Yield: 24 cookies
Prep Time: 15 minutes mins
Cook Time: 15 minutes mins
Total Time: 30 minutes mins
Review Print
Thick, chewy, and soft, these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are bursting with ooey gooey chocolate goodness that everyone will love.
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups (222 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon 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.
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.
Show us!If you make this recipe, be sure to snap a picture and share it on Instagram with #handletheheat so we can all see!
This post was originally published in 2013 and recently updated with recipe improvements, recipe tips, new photos, and a new video. Photography by Ashley McLaughlin.
August 2021 Baking Challenge
This recipe was the August 2021 pick for our monthly baking challenge! Every month you can join the challenge by baking the recipe and snapping a photo for a chance to win prizes! Learn more about my monthly baking challenges here.Check out everyone’s cookies:
Cookie Customization Guide
My FREE printable Cookie Customization Guide shows you more quick swaps to customize any cookie recipe to make it softer, chewier, crispier, or whatever your heart desires!
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Kate Markham
1 month ago
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.
Leslie Stevenson
1 month ago
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.
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Jane Mary Carter
5 months ago
Do you recommend Sea Salt or regular table salt?
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Kiersten @ Handle the Heat
Admin
Reply toJane Mary Carter
5 months ago
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! 🙂
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Layla B
5 months ago
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?
Reply
Kiersten @ Handle the Heat
Admin
Reply toLayla B
5 months ago
Hi Layla! So happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe! Check out Tessa’s article on Happy baking 🙂
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AL
1 year ago
Hi, I was wondering if I would be able to use the stated amount of butter called for in the recipe and brown it?
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Reply toAL
1 year ago
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
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Kerrie Schulze
1 year ago
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.
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Karla
1 year ago
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.
Reply
Kiersten @ Handle the Heat
Admin
Reply toKarla
1 year ago
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!
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Kae
1 year ago
Hi! Can I omit the chocolate chips and make it plain?
Reply
Kiersten @ Handle the Heat
Admin
Reply toKae
1 year ago
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!
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PJ
1 year ago
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.
Reply
Kiersten @ Handle the Heat
Admin
Reply toPJ
1 year ago
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!
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Amy I
1 year ago
These cookies are perfect! I made a batch with the chocolate chips and a batch with cranberries. Moist and soft ❤️
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Brittani
1 year ago
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?
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Kiersten @ Handle the Heat
Admin
Reply toBrittani
1 year ago
Hi Brittani! As long as it’s the same amount as written in the recipe, that should work just fine! 🙂
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Lydia
1 year ago
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?
Reply
Kiersten @ Handle the Heat
Admin
Reply toLydia
1 year ago
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!
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