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
My husband really liked these. I’m not an oatmeal cookie fan at all, so I won’t rate these for myself. ; )
With that said, I LOVE every other kind of cookie & I appreciate and thank you all the recipes you post.
Hi, Sally. Would it be possible to omit the eggs in this recipe? I’m assuming that would alter the texture but, are the eggs absolutely necessary?
Hi Aman, yes, eggs are necessary for this cookie dough. The cookies would fall apart with them. I haven’t tested an appropriate substitute in this particular recipe. Let me know if you try anything!
Sally, my cookies spread. I even froze them for 30 minutes and put them in the oven frozen. I may have mixed the butter and sugar too much. My wife said that her sister used margarine and that it worked better than butter. Your thoughts, Please. Flavor is great!
Hi Donald, We don’t recommend swapping butter with margarine. Margarine has a higher water content than butter and can make baked goods spread more. You’ll also miss the buttery taste. However, here are all our tips to prevent cookies from spreading. Thanks for giving these a try!
These are really good, highly recommend.
I made the chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. Followed all directions. Chilled them 4 plus hours. Spread way too much. Chilling did not solve this issue
Hi Cindy, happy to help. Are you starting with proper room temperature butter? It makes a big difference and is cooler than most would think – you can read more about it here. And here’s more tips for preventing cookies from spreading!
Sorry if I missed this in other comments, but why not use blackstrap molasses? I made the dough using blackstrap before noticing this on the bottle. Fingers crossed it turns out okay. Thank you! Love your recipes.
Hi Amanda, blackstrap molasses is very strong and can be quite bitter. However, if you don’t mind it, feel free to use it here!
could i use chunks of a chocolate bar instead of chocolate chips?
Hi Lulu, sure can! You might wish to use our very similar dark chocolate oatmeal cookies instead, which uses chopped chocolate bars. That recipe has a touch more flour to help with the melty chocolate.
I made these exactly as listed. Actually refrigerated them for an hour and half because I was worried about spread. That’s exactly what they did, despite extra chill time. Super flat, thin and crispy. Not what I was going for, I like thick & chewy cookies. 1.5 cups of flour just isn’t enough.
I made these with gluten free flour and oats and they were WONDERFUL!! Definitely making again!!
That’s great to hear… I was going through the comments looking for feedback from somebody who would bake them with gluten-free flour! Thanks for sharing
Unlike any cookies I’ve made before by SO worth a try. These are everybody’s favourite!! I have learned to FOLLOW your recipes exactly and perfect results are guaranteed! Your soft grain bread is also what I am baking all the time. Thank you!!
I love my cookies crunchy. Are there any modifications to recipe that I could make so that they turn out crispy?
Hi Leslie, if you flatten out the cookie dough a bit more before baking and extend the baking time by a few minutes, that should help crisp them up a bit more!
can I use quick oats instead of whole rolled oats?
Hi Lisa, thick 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.
These tasted great but I had an issue with them spreading out and being pretty flat. I double checked my measurements and they all appear to be correct. And I chilled the dough. This isn’t the first time this has happened to me with a cookie recipe! Any idea what could be going wrong?
Hi Stacey, happy to help. Here’s our best tips for preventing cookies from spreading.
My cookies did not flatten out
I have found using rolled oats doesn’t soften enough in the baking process. Is there a particular reason you use rolled instead of the thinner version?
By the way, I make your recipes all the time and thoroughly them. I always look forward to another Sally recipe!!
Hi JoAnn, thick whole rolled oats, guarantee a chewier cookie. Quick oats are finer; you simply don’t get the same texture.
Love your site…Pumpkin roll and oatmeal choc chip cookies are favorites..than you..Tina pankow
I am a fan of your blog and great recipes. These cookies seem absolutely decadent. My issue is the high amount of overall sugars required in the recipe. Would cutting the sugars affect the consistency of the dough making it “unworkable” ? Thank you for your expertise Sally. Wishing you the best.
Hi Emma, sugar plays an important role in the overall taste, texture, and structure of baked goods, and in cookies in particular, it helps them to spread properly. You can certainly experiment with reducing the sugar, but keep in mind that it will change the intended outcome of the cookies. Let us know if you give anything a try!
Even though mine ended up spreading out way more than shown in the pics (I weighed the ingredients that had weights and let the dough chill for the recommended 45 mins and even put the dough back in the fridge in between pans), they still taste absolutely amazing! Crispy edges and, even though they’re very thin, still chewy in the center. I’ll try chilling them longer next time, but even if they still turn out thin, they will be a regular in my house!
Hi Elisa, I came across your comment and could help chiming in. I find that when cookies spread out too thin I can usually it when the cookies come out of the oven during the tray cool down stage before they head to the wire rack for the final cool-down. In case this might help, here’s what I usually do. I take a small bowl or cookie cutter (the desired size for the cookie) and place it upside down/over the cookie jiggling it around the edge of it till it fits inside the mould. The don’t much spread after its taken off and hold shape by the time they hit the wire rack. Never fails.
Hi Sally, I like your oats recipes and this more. Can I use oat fluor instead wheat flour? Thank for share 😉
Hi Lilly, we haven’t tested it, but it would likely take some trial and error to ensure results—oat flour has very different baking properties than all purpose flour. Best to stick with all-purpose flour for best results!
I don’t like molasses. Can I substitute real maple syrup?
Hi Brenda, you can simply omit the molasses if you wish.
I made these last week and they are AMAZING! New favourote cookie recipe (other than your iced gingerbread oatmeal cookies). I want to make them again sometime soon, but need to take some to work as otherwise it’s so easy to eat way too many!
Greatest oatmeal chocolate chip cookies of all time. Make them multiple times a year and they are always fantastic and everyone’s favorite. Add m&ms for next level yum. Molasses is key and don’t skip the fridge time!
Just made these this evening. They are okay/good, but not *great*, in my opinion. Definitely not what I’d be going for when I have a craving for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I love a chewy cookie, but something about the texture of these cookies is throwing me off. Also, despite reducing the granulated sugar to 1/4 cup and using only 100g of chocolate chips, I still found these to be a bit too sweet for my liking.
Hi Pris, the texture will change if you alter the sugar in the cookie. Sugar does a lot more than sweeten a cookie. Granulated white sugar helps the cookies spread and flatten out, which gives the edges a crispy texture. I don’t recommend reducing it.
I make these all the time, and everyone loves them – I get requests all the time! Couple of changes I make – I use T of honey instead of molasses, and I combine semi-sweet, milk, and butterscotch chips. I think it’s the butterscotch that takes them over the top! Def a favorite recipe!
Our favorite cookie from the cookbook. We don’t use molasses but most definitely add seasalt flakes on top. (That was my addition to your recipe back then). You’ve since added cinnamon and changed a couple measurements. I will have to give the cinnamon a try. It is definitely the dirtiest page in the book. Signs of a well loved recipe!
These cookies are amazing. The recipe is perfect and the batch of big chewy cookies is gone in a heartbeat. I recently added dried cranberries for a tart kick. Very nice with the chocolate!!
THANKS FOR ANOTHER GREAT RECIPE. WHEN I’M LOOKING FOR A SPECIFIC RECIPE, I CAN ALWYS FIND IT ON YOUR SITE. THANKYOU
Hi
Can I substitute normal flour with oat flour?
Thanks
Hi Biggi, we haven’t tested oat flour in these cookies. Let us know if you do!
These turned out great. I even used about 1/4c less granulated sugar! I did a quick pulse on the oats so they were partially chopped up which added more crunch to the texture without the cookie crumbling. I used a standing mixer and went the full 2 minutes mixing the butter, sugar, etc. I am looking forward to trying these again with gluten-free flour and maybe even some cane sugar alternatives. My picky 6-yr old daughter who only likes chocolate chip cookies asked me to keep this recipe. PS – the regular chocolate chip cookies from this website are also a family favorite.
Hi – can you substitute honey or maple syrup for the refined white sugar?
Hi Sheri, you can certainly give it a try, but the taste and texture can change with a sugar substitute. For best taste and texture (and so you don’t waste your time trying to adapt this recipe since it may not work properly), it may be more useful to find a recipe that is specifically formulated for sugar substitutes. Thank you!
This is a great recipe but I do not like to make the cookies so big, What would the appropriate cooking time be for 1.5 tablespoon scoops?
Thank you!
Hi Amanda! We’re unsure of the exact bake time, but keep an eye on them in the oven and look for lightly browned edges.
I baked with the smaller 1.5 Tbsp scoop at convection 350 (which sets my oven to 325). For me a heaping 1.5 Tbsp scoop under convection baking was cooked at 9-10 minutes.
Amazing recipe? Is there a way I can make these eggless?
Hi Priyanka, we haven’t tested an egg-free version, but let us know if you do.