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!
Too dry and thick
Too much chocolate
I don’t understand how others who made this recipe had problems with them spreading out. For me, these came out just like the pictures show and are perfect. I added 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter and craisins which made them perfect for my taste. Great recipe!
I think it’s because people don’t know how to cream the butter/sugar properly. That is the key. Mine come out perfect every time. Love this recipe!
These turned out so good! I halved the recipe, accidentally melted the butter, didn’t have chocolate chips, forgot the vanilla and used only sugar in the raw since thats is all i had on hand. But they came out of the oven thick, chewy and probably the best oatmeal cookie I’ve eaten. I can’t imagine how they’d be if i made them properly, which i will definitely be trying. Thank you
Hi again Sally!
These didn’t spread too much at all. I chilled the bowl for 5-10 minutes, but the last batch DEFINITELY wasn’t chill and they were gorgeous. I DID cut the white sugar by 1/4 cup and will cut the brown by 1/4 next time– they were still plenty chewy. I ALWAYS salt after oven and added a few chips too. I DONT like “big” cookies, but I followed the recipe as a first-timer (added 3/4c finely-chopped prunes, since someone’s plumbing is slightly off here… ; )
Excellent recipe. Thanks again.
I try not to bake Cookies as much. I see why now
Love the taste of the Molasses in the Cookies. Added some Raisins to the Mix.
They turned out so good that I ate 6 of them right out of the Oven
. I then walked around and gave them to My Neighbors.
I’m sure I’ll make them again.
Yummy!
Works well with adding raisins to the mix also. One thing I found is I like to use coarse kosher salt. It tends to not dissolve as much and gives a nice tang of salt in every bite to balance out the sweet.
These cookies are DELICIOUS! Perfect amount of chocolate chips and oats. Perfectly buttery. Texture is chewy and slightly crunchy at the edges. That salt, though. Amazing. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!
I followed the instructions and ingredients exactly except… I had no white sugar so I left that out. My 3 yr old beat the batter to death and then licked the spoon. They still came out gorgeous and delicious! If a 3 yr old and distracted mama of 7 can make these, anyone can. Also one batch was one treat for us. No leftovers. Somehow that molasses amps up the flavor. Or my kids were extra hungry ….
I tried this recipe today and my mom loves it! The whole family loves it! I adjusted the cookie size to 1 tbsp per ball since they do spread too much (I think longer time in the refrigerator could help) and made over 35 pcs. I didn’t add molasses since I didn’t have any but the cinnamon makes it so yummy. What I really love about it was that it’s super soft and chewy and easy to make. Will probably stick with this recipe forever!
I’m new to cooking and baking and after trying 3 other recipes that didn’t turn out well, this recipe came in to save the day! I had my doubts about how much mixing it called for, and was annoyed that I had to let it chill (I wanted my cookies NOW, DAMMIT!) But let me tell you as soon as I took that first bite it was all over, this is THE recipe! Even better with walnuts! I didn’t have any problems with spreading, I made the dough into 2tbsp portions then pressed down just a little. They were thick and so light and airy at the same time! Cannot give enough praise yummmmm
I bake frequently, and always follow directions exactly the first time. I weighed my ingredients, my butter was room temp, and chilled as instructed. I made the dough yesterday, baked these today- like others have said these spread so much. They are unusable. I took the last of the dough and mixed in more flour and that helped. As the recipe is written, it doesn’t work. 🙁
I followed the instructions and ingredients exactly except… I had no white sugar so I left that out. My 3 yr old beat the batter to death and then licked the spoon. They still came out gorgeous and delicious! If a 3 yr old and distracted mama of 7 can make these, anyone can. Also one batch was one treat for us. No leftovers. Somehow that molasses amps up the flavor. Or my kids were extra hungry ….
I have been on a longtime quest to bake a soft, chewy oatmeal cookie. I used this recipe and followed some suggestions I learned to obtain a soft cookie, and now I have a very delicious, pleasingly soft and chewy oatmeal cookie! I want to share some of the methods I used to accomplish my success. The first thing I did was to follow Sally’s recommendations and used room temperature ingredients. I also used the cinnamon and molasses as Sally suggests in this recipe. I added 1/3 cup toasted chopped pecans, 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips and 1/3 cup raisins. A few hours before I was ready to bake I took the butter and eggs out of the refrigerator and I took my flour out of the freezer. I used KAF white whole wheat flour, I store all of my lesser used flours in the freezer to maintain freshness. Tip #1) I replaced 2 1/2 tablespoons of flour with cornstarch, making it cake flour in hopes of resulting in a more soft and tender cookie. I did not have old fashion oats as Sally suggests using. I had quick oats and used those instead. I also used a 2 tablespoon scoop instead of 3 tablespoons. I have small grandchildren and the smaller size cookie appealed to me more for them. I scooped the cookies onto a baking sheet and placed them in the freezer a few hours before baking. Tip #2) I baked them at 325 degrees instead of 350. I put 1 tray in the top 1/3 of the oven for 6 minutes then rotated the tray and baked 5 more minutes. I checked them every minute after that and baked for a total of 14 minutes. I kept them in the oven until they no longer had the wet center. I kept them on the baking sheet until cool. Tip #3) I do this for all of my cookies, 1 bake alot of cookies, especially at Christmas (14-16 different kinds) To keep them soft I place a piece of white bread in the container with them. The cookies absorb the moisture and the bread becomes dry, I replace with fresh bread if there are more cookies left. This will rejuvenate crispy cookies of any type. Thank you Sally for this delicious recipe.
Well that’s fantastic. First time I don’t read the comments because I figured Sally really knew her stuff. THAT bit me in the a**. These cookies spread so much, they looked like a bar cookie!! And I need 24 oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for a band meet & greet in 4 hours.
I followed the recipe EXACTLY. I weighed the ingredients. My butter was not too soft. I even used a slightly smaller scoop because I didn’t want huge cookies.
The cookies in the picture are nicely rounded while mine look like lace cookies. SOOOO UNHAPPY!! Out expensive ingredients AND now almost out of time.
Waste of ingredients which are expensive today. The cookies spread out and were runny. If I try it again I would increase the flour. Very disappointing.
Just put my first batch in and they really spread out almost like I was missing something. I checked and I did it correctly. Very flat and too greasy for my liking. I added flour and they turned out a bit better. We all have different tastes.. still love the site!
I just found your site. Best. Cookies. Ever. I did try them once, and they spread too much. Have tried them again today after reading the above comments and your tips….Yay!! and Thank you!
I can’t wait to make these cookies. I’m wondering if pecans or walnuts can be added? If so how much should I add?
Hi Alyce, we recommend keeping the total amount of add-ins to 1 and 3/4 cups. You could try 1 cup of chocolate chips and 3/4 pecans / walnuts for a total of 1 and 3/4 cups. Enjoy!
It’s Ramadan (a holy month for Muslims when they fast) – and I was fasting yesterday when I suddenly craved chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal. I hadn’t had oatmeal cookies for about 3 years, and right when this craving hit, I knew I had to make them for iftar (the time when Muslims break their fast). I instantly went on your website and searched these up and made them – AND HANDS DOWN, BEST COOKIES I’VE EVER HAD! I live in a family of 13 and everyone was soooo impressed!! I made half the batch yesterday and the other half today, and everyone was crowding around me, asking if they could have seconds. Now I’m sitting here, waiting for iftar just so I can have another bite of these cookies. Next time I’ll make sure to double the recipe so there’s enough for everyone to have seconds!! Thanks Sally <3
I made these tonight, weighed all ingredients and they turned out perfectly. I added 1/2 C. chopped walnuts. My only comment is that the dough was very, very stiff after refrigerating for one hour, almost to stiff for my cookie dipper. I liked the molasses addition and will definitely make them over and over!
I made these cookies and they taste amazing. I kept dough in fridge so I had fresh cookies each day we wanted some. Lynne from Toronto, Canada
Similar to Mother’s go to recipe except that she added finely chopped pecans and also coconut flakes. One of the few cookie recipes that I do not recommend doubling. Make TWO batches instead !!
I just made these this morning. YUM! The molasses put them over the top. I did add raisins and nuts because that’s how I roll. I’ve read on other places to use quick oats and I’ve never like how my cookies turned out until now. I appreciate your explanation of the type of oats and I’ll never go back to quick oats again.
Hi, is it ok to use quick oats instead of rolled oats?
Hi Sarah, your cookies will be ok – they may just have a slightly different texture than intended.
This is by far the most loved recipe of my family and friends! Thank you so much! It is so easy to follow and so yummy.
Love this recipe and have made it multiple times! I’m wondering if you have tips for adding cocoa to the dough for an inside out chocolate/white chocolate chip situation. Thank you!
Hi Caroline, We have a great recipe for inside out chocolate chip cookies!
Hands down, the best oatmeal chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made! The molasses really does give it that something extra.
This recipe will be enjoyed for a long time to come.
Just made these and they are so good!
Thank you for this recipe! I subbed the eggs for flax eggs (2tbs flax meal plus 1/3 cup water in place of the two eggs) and subbed the butter for half earth balance vegan butter and half spectrum shortening. They turned out amazing! We have allergies to eggs and dairy but the subs would also work for anyone who follows a vegan diet. Just wanted to share!
I loved these cookies. They are delicious. I especially liked that they have a bit of extra iron in them with the addition of the dark molasses. There was no problem, for me, with the cookies spreading. I left the cookie dough in the fridge for a couple of hours, and they were perfect.
Thanks
These cookies taste delicious but they spread out so much! I quick googled what to do and Sally suggested we use a spoon and fold the outer edges over the center and rebake. I tried this and it worked but wish I didn’t have to do the extra work to be make these presentable. I also turned the temp up to 400.
PS. I followed the recipe exactly!
Hi Mary, so sorry to hear you’ve been having troubles with your cookies. It sounds like your butter was perhaps too soft, which is usually the culprit for overspreading cookies. Here is more on what room temperature butter really means, and here are 5 tips to improve your next batch of cookies — see #2 there for more on how to prevent excess spreading. Let us know if we can help troubleshoot further, and we appreciate you giving these a try!
This wasnt my original comment but your reply was very helpful, havent tried this recipe yet but i usually have a problem with excess spreading using other recipes, so I appreciate these tips!