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
Yummy! I made these today for my kiddos and they are the most delicious amount of chewy and crispy. I used the Walmart brand of molasses and they taste amazing. My scoop made 46 cookies and 13 minutes in the oven was perfect for them.
These are absolutely delicious cookies! I’ve made them twice in the last week and they were so good !
Been making this recipe with my kids for a while now and is my go to. In fact when I am searching for recipes and it is between yours and someone elses I usually choose your because they have always delivered. Many thanks!
Absolutely delicious Chocolate Cake. Light and decadent. It is always quite difficult to make a chocolate cake as they rarely actually taste of chocolate, but this one really is the ticket. The only thing I would say, was that I couldn’t taste the Guinness in this cake, and my frosting was a little loose. Any tips you could give to rectify would be great.
These cookies turned out perfect! I followed the recipe exactly but added a few tablespoons of hemp seeds. Perfect level of chewiness!
Wonderful cookies but by far the most challenging one of the bunch that I have been making. Since the issue is that they spread more than they should, I’m sure it’s the trick of letting the butter soften but not too much. I’m going to continue working on it because when I did get it right, they were also delicious.
I have made these cookies at least a dozen times. I reduced the butter to 3/4 cup to prevent spreading. Refrigerate for an hour or more is a must. I shred one large carrot to the mix. Works for me every time.
So good. Loved these. Followed recipe exactly. Family loved these cookies as well. Easy to make and bake. Will be making these often. Also, froze really well!!
Hi….made these yesterday. The taste was really good but the cookies spread a lot even though I refrigerated the dough for an hour. Pls help me get this right.
Hi! I’m so glad you enjoyed the flavor—thanks for giving the recipe a try. If your cookies spread too much even after chilling, it could be that the butter was too soft going into the dough (cool room temperature is best, not melty). You might also try chilling the dough even longer—overnight if you have time, as that can make a big difference. If you’re still having trouble, baking a test cookie first can help you adjust before committing to the whole batch. Let me know how it goes!
These are so good! Thinking about adding peanut butter. Any suggestion for how much to add and what else would need to modified to accommodate the addition?
Hi Cassie, for a peanut butter version, we’d follow the recipe for our peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies recipe instead. Hope you enjoy them just as much!
Would there be a nutrition list available that I’m overlooking?
Hi Linda, 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 LOVE this recipe so much it makes me seem like a more put together mom. Can I possibly get the nutrition facts? I get this request from my child and husband often and I want to make sure I’m not feeding them too much sugar too often
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
Obsessed with these!!!!!! Sally, are they gluten free? I’d like to make for my mom who is celiac.
Hi Jent, we’re glad you enjoy them! These are not gluten free. Here are all of our gluten free recipes if you’re interested in browsing.
I used 1/2 butter & 1/2 coconut oil, reduced chips to 1c. So I could add 1/3 ish cups each of unsweetened coconut, chopped walnuts and dried cranberries. Cookies were delish. I learned from the 1st batch to not press down on the formed cookie dough (keep in rolled ball shape) and to bake for less time. The rest of batches turned out great. More time in the refrig is helpful too. Thanks Sally will be making these often!
Made an 14×20 Banana Cake and it was a big favorite this weekend. So I tried you Oatmeal Chocolate chip cookies and again another winner. Thanks for the recipes.
Sooo delicious!! Minor difference is I scooped the dough then placed in ref. for 2 hours, so much easier on my wrists!!!!
These cookies are AMAZING and super easy to make ❤️ my kids absolutely love them. I plan on making these again for a friend who just had a baby!
Hi,
My husband is on a no salt diet. Can I use Morton’s “Salt Substitute” for the salt or a brand called ” No Salt”? Do I need to adjust the baking soda and/or baking powder?
He would love these cookies.
Thank you!
Hi Doreene, we haven’t tested that substitution before, but you can certainly give it a go. No other changes needed.
Hi, I was wondering if I could replace baking soda with baking powder?
Hi Zea, no, they are not the same and can’t be used interchangeably. You can learn more about baking soda vs. baking powder here.
I did that by mistake. Cookies turned out great. They were very tall. Next time, no mistakes. I’m curious to see if they are any different.
The most delicious cookies I’ve ever made! My bfs mom had 7 in one day. A must for any family occasion or sweet treat craving!!
The directions do not specifically mention when to add the rolled oats
Hi Sheena, step 3: Beat in the oats and chocolate chips.
Love these so much! I used Bobs Red Mill 1:1 Gluten free flour and used desiccated coconut, white chocolate chips and craisins. I also used golden syrup instead of molasses as I couldn’t find any. DELICIOUS!!!!!
Rave reviews. We liked them very much
OKAY THIS RECIPE BUT WITH SALTED BROWN BUTTER INSTEAD OF REGULAR UNSALTED. Best cookie I’ve ever had.
I’ve made these cookies, and they were amazing. I loved the flavor. Can they be made into bars?
Hi Christine, 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!
Made these last night and everyone loves them including my picky neice who’s 3 and don’t even like regular chocolate chip cookies but loves these and so do I even had one for breakfast great treat and good breakfast if you’re a busy person on the way to the gym
If I wanted to turn these into lactation cookies, how much brewer’s yeast and flaxseed should I add? Do I need to make other changes too?
Hi Anna, we haven’t tried adding extra ingredients to to these cookies, but you can definitely experiment with them. Sally has turned these breakfast cookies into lactation cookies (scroll down toward the bottom of the post)! We’d love to know what you try!
Oh my GAWD these are good cookies. Definitely go with the added chocolate chips and sea salt at the end.
Best chocolate chip oatmeal cookies that I’ve tried! Love the soft texture, and the cinnamon flavour. It’s become a repeat recipe in my family and goes down well every single time
Thank you for posting this recipe. I followed your instructions for the basic cookie but made one small addition. I had a half jar of maraschino cherries left over from the Easter pineapple upside down cake. While the butter was softening, I sliced the cherries into eighths and let them dry on some paper towels. The sweet cherries went very well with the dark chocolate chips. The next time I make these cookies I think I will add either raisins or dried cranberries. Again, thank you for this wonderful recipe.
The cookies came out Way to dark, over done would be more like it. My daughter and I made them 2 weeks ago and the same thing happened. We just tried them again, same thing happened. I feel that 13 minutes was way too long, also my opinion that there is to much brown sugar. This is another batch unsellable, we will be going back to our tried and true recipe. I’m sorry but we will not try to make again, not a third time. Ingredients are just to expensive.
Not all ovens are alike. No one else had this issue so the problem may be with your oven.
What can I replace with molasses? I don’t have it. Please advice
Hi Menchu, you can omit the molasses if needed.
I was looking for an updated oatmeal cookie recipe, usually like recipes from this blog, however this is one was sickeningly sweet, even with less chocolate chips and added sea salt it was just waaaay too sweet. Children would probably like them, adult pallets, not so much