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!
These look delicious, and I actually wound up with 22 cookies, just what the recipe says. I didn’t have quite enough brown sugar but that seemed to be no problem, and I used up the last of my white chocolate chips along with the dark chocolate chips. Changed nothing else.
Have you figured out the calories per cookie?
Hi..wondering if I could substitute coconut oil for the butter?
Hi Terri, We haven’t tested it with this exact recipe but it should work, obviously the flavor will be different. Let us know if you try it!
Delicious recipe! I had no molasses so I used a bit of honey and it still tasted delicious. This is a keeper thank you!
I tried this recipe and the cookies came out really hard. Tasted okay though.
Excellent! Just perfect. Pretty sweet.. But hey, they’re cookies! I substituted some store-bought maple syrup for the molasses before reading not to substitute with anything, lol. But they turned out great anyway. I also added about a half cup of coconut just because I had a little bit to use up. Super delicious 🙂 thank you!
I absolutely LOVE this recipe. My 3yr old helps me and she LOVES them too! As well as my picky-eater husband, my mom and my friends. Thank you so much for posting. I’ve made them a few times and finally wrote it out on an actual recipe card to add to my selective collection of recipes.
Hi Sally, how much nuts can be added on this recipe? And what kind of nuts is best to use? Would love to try this with nuts. Thank you!
Hi Celeste, 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 walnuts, pecans, or any other combination totaling 1 and 3/4 cups.
Unfortunately, these are delicious. Ya nailed it again, Sally. 🙂
Also, there’s massive agreement in my house that the cookies are actually better the next day, so make them the day before you plan to bring them/sell them/give them away.
I always reduce the chocolate chips in things (to about half or 2/3) because of chocolate/migraine issues in our house, but I added sweetened cranberries to make up for that bulk. Absolutely delicious.
The BEST cookies I’ve ever made and everyone in my household agrees. Can’t believe a couple of people said they’re “bland”! Huh?? Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe!
These are amazing! I didn’t have enough oats, so I added some more flour. I also didn’t have molasses, so I used maple syrup. I was worried they were going to spread too much, but they were perfect!
Made these the other day! They are SO delicious and by far the perfect cookie! Shared with some friends who had to have the recipe. Making our second batch just a couple days later, to share and of course enjoy ourselves! Thank you! This one is a keeper!
I’ve made this delicious recipe 3 times in the last 2 months. Excellent recipe! I have enjoyed several other excellent recipes of yours.
I have started swapping out all but a quarter of the amount of sugar (granulated) in recipes with Stevia Blend. So far I have not had a notable difference in how my recipes’ taste or texture.
Thank you Sally! #LeighLuvsSallysbaking
Sally, I’ve tried several of your cookie recipes, and this one is by far my favorite! Your tips, especially about adding ROOM TEMPERATURE eggs/butter have GREATLY improved all of my cookies! Thank you! 🙂
My son is allergic to dairy, but I would really like him to try this recipe! Sally or fellow baking addicts, what are your thoughts on substituting butter with dairy-free margarine (Fleischmann’s unsalted margarine sticks)? I would use dairy-free chocolate chips or raisins, of course!
Thanks so much!
Hi Nancy, thank you so much for the positive feedback. We really appreciate it! We haven’t tried a dairy-free version of this recipe, but we’d love to know if you give anything a try. We also have a dairy-free collection of our recipes that your son might like. Hope you both find some to enjoy!
I don’t normally comment on recipes but OMG were these ever good !! Recipe is perfect – I would not change a thing. Thank you for sharing.
Awesome cookies!! I like to use butterscotch chips instead of chocolate chips. Delish!!!
BEST! COOKIE! EVER!! Sorry for shouting, but I could literally eat these all day long. When I make a batch I freeze half so there’s a required delay in eating them as they defrost, LOL. They have the right amount of sweetness, are chewy and just divine with the two sizes of chocolate chips. I haven’t used molasses so far but will buy that soon to see if it increases the flavor as you say. Who knows, I might find that they taste good frozen :-).
Is there a way to make this with steel-cut oats instead of rolled oats? I have an absolutely enormous bag of them…. I imagine they would be less absorptive, but maybe the result would still be yummy. Or maybe somehow soften them in advance…
Hi Melis, we don’t recommend it. We have never gotten quite the same results with steel cut oats, no matter how we adapt the recipe. For best results, stick with old fashioned whole rolled oats and use steel cut oats for oatmeal and such.
Awesome recipe! Thank you! Second time around, I doubled cinnamon, split vanilla with maple extract. If not for a hint of maple, the aroma is an added positive! Cheers! Great mix!
Poor consistency when done. Runny. Just super weird. Maybe too much butter or not enough flour but a waste of ingredients. Bummer
Oh my gosh these are the best cookies I’ve ever made/probably my favorite cookie ever.
A quick Q before I start: can I replace the flour with wholemeal? I totally trust the recipes in the blog and the tips, faultless each time, hence I am asking. It turns out we bought too much wholemeal..mmm
Hi Michela, we haven’t personally tested it but wouldn’t recommend it. The cookies would likely be very dense using that switch. For best results, we recommend sticking with all-purpose flour.
These cookies are delicious!! I have one question though – mine didn’t seem to spread out on their own, I kind of had to squish them down from their ball shape. I followed the recipe very closely, but is there something I did wrong? Thanks!
Made these following the recipe to a T, except for the optional molasses because I didn’t have any, and for fun added peanut butter chips. Perfect delicious and super easy to make. Will make these again probably a million times…
So delicious! Agree with the past comment of them tasting like Mrs. Fields ❤
I’ve made this recipe exactly a few times and love it. But the last time I replaced half the chocolate chips with butterscotch chips, if you’re a butterscotch fan these are delicious! Love them with a cup of coffee.
Can I omit the chocolate chips and just make them as oatmeal cookies? Or will I need to up the oats to make sure the dough still sticks together?
Hi Liz, you can leave the chocolate chips out if you would like. You may also like these Iced Oatmeal Cookies!
Hello
I attempted this recipe tonight. I was really excited about it. Everything came together as described, instead of chocolate chips, I used raisins. The batter when wet was packed full of flavor. I baked it as directed & after cooled I tried one & I immediately noticed that it did not taste anything like the batter did. It was bland & had very little taste. I don’t know what I could’ve done or what happened during the cooking process. Has this happened to anybody else?
I searched for days for the right cookies recipe, when I came across your page on Instagram. I thank God I found you. I just made the cookies and my little prince loves it. My husband says no buying cookies from stores. Best ever
Hi Sally
I made these today and they are truly a HIT !!! Thanks muchly 🙂
Your directions say if refrigerating the dough for more than a few hours to let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Yet your notes say to let the dough COME to room temperature after refrigerating it. Did you mean 30 minutes here, also?