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.
I originally published this recipe in 2017 and have since added new photos and helpful success tips.
Today we’re mixing big chewy oats with the flavors of butter, brown sugar, a touch of molasses, a dash of cinnamon, and a mountain of chocolate chips.
One reader, Kelly commented: “These are hands down the best oatmeal choco chip cookies I’ve ever made! Soft and chewy, I followed the recipe exactly except for adding 1/2 cup chopped walnuts. Perfection. ★★★★★“
And another, Valerie, commented: “More compliments than I have ever heard from my family and friends, and I bake a lot! ★★★★★“
My Favorite Base Oatmeal Cookie Recipe
These soft & chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies start from my base oatmeal cookie recipe and it makes quite a few appearances in my cookbook, 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 standard muffin recipe. This chocolate cookie dough and this peanut butter cookie dough have both inspired quite a few spin offs as well.
The cookies have a slightly crisp edge with a soft center and enough chew that the cookie won’t immediately break when you bend it. A “slow bend cookie” as I like to call them—and this is the key difference between a regular oatmeal cookie and a really great oatmeal cookie.
They’re also:
- Supremely soft, buttery, and flavorful. Using more brown sugar than white helps guarantee a flavorful base.
- Super chewy thanks to old-fashioned oats. Thick whole rolled oats, not quick oats, guarantee a chewier cookie. Quick oats are finer; you simply don’t get the same texture.
- Loaded with chocolate chips. Lots of chocolate in every single bite. And for my fellow raisin lovers: try subbing in half raisins. The dough is pretty similar to my oatmeal raisin cookies.
- Taste just like grandma’s. I find the 1 Tablespoon of molasses is what makes these taste like grandma’s old-fashioned oatmeal cookies. I strongly encourage adding it.
About the molasses, one reader, Hannah, commented: “These cookies are FANTASTIC! I’ll admit, I was a little skeptical about adding the molasses, but it added a depth to the cookies that I wasn’t expecting. Bookmarking to use again for sure! ★★★★★“
Key Ingredients You Need & Why:
- Baking Soda: Baking soda helps the cookies rise and spread.
- Butter: Butter is the base of any delicious cookie recipe. Make sure you are using room-temperature butter.
- Brown Sugar & Granulated Sugar: Sugar is not only used for sweetness, but also for providing structure and tenderness. I like to use more brown sugar than white sugar because (1) it has incredible flavor and (2) it contains more moisture than white, which produces a softer cookie.
- Molasses: Molasses is my secret ingredient! 1 scant Tablespoon enhances all the wonderful flavors of these buttery, cinnamon-sweet cookies.
- Vanilla Extract, Cinnamon, & Salt: Each provide flavor. You can also top the cookies with a little flaky sea salt for more flavor.
- Oats: Oats provide a chewy texture, and there is no shortage in this dough! I use and recommend old fashioned whole oats here—just like I do for flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookies and big giant monster cookies.
How to Make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
I especially love this recipe because the process is quick & simple—with minimal dough chilling.
Whisk the dry ingredients together. Just the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt—you’ll add the oats later. Use an electric mixer for the wet ingredients, then add the dry ingredients and mix in 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.
How Large Do I Make the Cookies?
These are drop-style cookies, so scoop the dough and drop it onto the baking sheets. 1.5 Tablespoons (30g) for regular-size cookies, 2 T. (40g) for large cookies (pictured), or 3 T. (60g) for XL cookies!
Success Tip: Use a cookie scoop. Oatmeal cookie dough is super chunky and soft, and this one can get pretty sticky. A cookie scoop not only prevents a mess, it also helps ensure all cookies are the same size and shape.
The cookies are done when the edges are set and the centers still look soft. After baking, I like to lightly press a few more chocolate chips into the tops of the cookies while they’re still warm. This is optional and just for looks. I also add a light sprinkling of flaky sea salt, which, again, is optional.
Here are the 3 characteristics we should look for in oatmeal cookies: Slow bend, chewy goodness, and ultra soft. Check, check, check! Today’s cookies have it all.
And if you’re looking for a peanut butter version, try my peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies next! Or try the sweater-weather, festive-feeling cousin recipe, these big fat dark chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookies!
Print
Soft & Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 24 minutes
- Yield: 32-35 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. To prevent the cookies from over-spreading, don’t skip the brief dough refrigeration in step 4.
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 (16 Tbsp; 226g) 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 (315g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- optional: flaky sea salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until combined and creamed, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, molasses, and vanilla and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed until combined. Beat in the oats and chocolate chips. Dough will be thick and sticky.
- Cover and refrigerate 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 firm.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop the cookie dough, about 2 Tablespoons (40g) of dough per cookie, which is a heaping cookie scoop-ful, and place 3 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 cooling rack to cool completely. While the cookies are still warm, I like to press a few more chocolate chips into the tops and sprinkle with flaky sea salt—both are optional!
- 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 4. 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 | Medium 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!
- Different Size Cookies: Use 1.5 Tablespoons (30g) for regular-size cookies, 2 T. (40g) for large cookies (what is pictured), or 3 T. (60g) for XL cookies. The bake time will be a minute or so shorter for regular-size and a minute or so longer for XL cookies.
- Can I Add Raisins or Chopped Nuts? Yes, you can add either. I recommend 1 cup (180g) chocolate chips and 3/4 cup either raisins (110g) or chopped walnuts or pecans (100g).
Reader Comments and Reviews
Can I use brown butter in these cookies? Would I have to add more butter or another liquid?
Hi Melissa, you can use brown butter – yum! Just keep in mind you might have to brown a bit more than the recipe calls for so that after it is browned (there is some moisture loss) you end up with one full cup. See our complete guide on How to Brown Butter. After the melted butter is browned, you’ll want to let it solidify again so that it can be creamed properly in the recipe. Let us know how they turn out!
First batch came out flat and burnt-AI let me know it was short on flour and needed to be at 325 vs 350 as to not burn the sugar and molasses-those changes helped. For some people this will be amazing because of the textures and flavors, but it has too much going on to please the masses—not a potluck pleaser.
The molasses… next level!
Delightful. Crispy edges, tender middle. Sigh, so good. I added walnuts and did refrigerate overnight. This is a keeper.
I’ve made these twice now—I’m a fan! The second time, I slightly decreased the amount of granulated sugar called for (by about 25 grams) and upped the oats called for (by about 25 grams) and LOVED it! I also added toasted salted chopped walnuts, which really improved the texture. My partner prefers a less chewy cookie, so I baked half for 15 minutes instead of 14 and honestly they got a great color, so I’m excited to try them out. I also used a blend of semisweet and dark chocolate this time, but it’s great either way. I do recommend at LEAST an overnight chill to mitigate spreading here, but otherwise this is a great and forgiving recipe!
Mine came out perfectly! I made a couple of changes:
– I don’t buy brown sugar anymore (trying to be zero waste and eliminate plastic packaging in particular), so I used all granulated sugar (comes in paper packaging) and added another tbsp of molasses.
-I was making them late at night because it’s hot where I live and I wanted to cool down the house with the whole house fan while we slept, so I didn’t chill the dough for 45 minutes. Instead, I scooped out the cookies onto the silicon sheet. While the oven was preheating, I stuck the cookies on the pan into the freezer. They were in there maybe 10 minutes. I have four cookie sheets and four silicon mats, so I did two pans at a time, one dozen per pan. The last batch had 8 cookies on it.
-I mixed everything by hand because I didn’t want to have to wash my stand mixer, so I just used a bowl and a spoon. That’s actually how my mom taught me to make chocolate chip cookies when I was 5 (in 1965). More exercise, less electricity used!
Hi!
I just made these and they turned out heavenly!
Crispy from the outside and chewy from the inside!
They did not overspread despite multiple people commenting otherwise.
Thank you! This recipe is definately a keeper!
I’m having a problem right now where all of my cookies bottoms are coming out dark and the side too. I have more my rack up to the second from the top and still they are browning. To you think it may have something to do with over or under creaming? I also use the same light pan and this problem has been occurring just this past month.
Hi Kaitlynn, my first thought was that it’s your baking sheets, but if you are using light-colored pans, then that’s not the issue. It may be an issue with your oven instead. Have you checked whether it’s properly calibrated? Do you have an oven thermometer?
Can I use quick c9oking oats?
Hi Julie, Whole rolled oats guarantee a chewier cookie. Quick oats are finer; you simply don’t get the same texture and the cookies may taste a bit drier. We recommend sticking with whole oats for best results.
Hi sally!! Thanks for all the great recipes. I usually always choose yours first. These cookies are a household favorite!! Can you freeze the baked cookies?
Hi Kelsey, yes! Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months.
I haven’t made these yet but what is the difference between this recipe and the Soft and chewy oatmeal raisin? (Besides the obvious chocolate chips vs raisins).
They’re the same base recipe!
I love this recipe and I’ve come to it countless times. I have made a few changes as I’ve gotten comfortable with it.
I skip the molasses and the granulated sugar completely. They were too sweet he first time around and this change helped for a family that takes little to no sugar.
For an added trip I make a cookie sandwich with peanut butter and my toddler loves it.
I refrigerated the dough for 45 minutes. But the cookies still spread more than I wanted. Chill longer? Add baking powder? Help!
Hi Joseph, so sorry to hear these cookies didn’t come out as expected! If your cookies spread too much even after chilling, it could be that the butter was too soft going into the dough (room-temperature butter is still cool to the touch). If you are having this problem repeatedly, try adding a bit more flour (just a Tbsp or 2) to the dough next time. And here are all our best tips to prevent cookies from spreading—-hope this helps for your next batch of cookies!
Hey what if i don’t have molasses?
You can leave it out if needed.
Best recipe for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies cookies!
Is it possible to swap coconut sugar for the granulated sugar? Or can I use organic cane sugar? Just looking to lessen the amount of refined sugar. Thank you, love all your recipes SO much!
Hi Maddie, we haven’t tested those swaps. Let us know if you do!
Haven’t made these yet but will in the next few days. Since it’s a Sally’s Baking addiction recipe I KNOW it’s gonna be delicious!!
Hi Sally!
Your recipes are totally amazing :-D. I would request you to give me an alternative to eggs for the cookies (this one, Red Velvet, etc.) as living in India many people want eggless options. TIA
Hi Anisha, we haven’t tested this recipe with any egg substitutes. If you give anything a try, we’d love to know how it goes for you! And you may want to browse all our egg-free recipes here.
You can probably use flax “eggs.” To make a flax egg, mix 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed meal with 2.5 tablespoons of water and let it sit for about 5 minutes until it thickens. My niece is vegan, and I’ve had good results with this substitution in other recipes for baked goods. I’ve haven’t tried it with these though.
Can i substitute the molasses with golden syrup?
That should work fine, Ayesha!
Love these cookies. Thanks for the recipe! I’d love to learn how to make them chewier. Is it my molasses? I made it homemade. Any other tips to help? I think they are a little less chewy than I would like? Does quick oats make them less chewy!
Hi Adrienne! Whole rolled oats guarantee a chewier cookie. Quick oats are finer; you simply don’t get the same texture. We recommend sticking with whole oats for best results.
I look how chewy these turned out! I used mainly brown sugar and reduced the chocolate chips to 1 cup as I felt there were way too many already!