These zucchini oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are extra soft with chewy centers and crisp edges. Loaded with chocolate chips, each cookie is flavored with brown sugar and a hint of cinnamon. Best part of all? You can’t taste the vegetable hiding inside.
Zucchini bread & oatmeal chocolate chip cookies: two worlds beautifully collide! Consider these zucchini oatmeal chocolate chip cookies the mandatory solution to a surplus of fresh zucchini. Over the past several years, I’ve tried throwing zucchini into plenty of cookie recipes and this one is the best version I know!
Each Cookie Is:
- Soft with slightly crisp edges
- Flavored with butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar
- Moist, tender, and very chewy
- Loaded with whole oats and plenty of chocolate chips
- Delicious in a totally unforgettable way (like any good version of chocolate chip cookies should be!)
Plus, should any cookies survive after a few days, they freeze and thaw like a dream. Also important to note: you cannot taste the zucchini. Vegetables have never been so sneaky.
#1 Success Tip: Blot the Zucchini
Have you ever made my brown butter pumpkin oatmeal cookies? In that recipe, we blot the pumpkin to rid excess moisture. The purpose of this is to reduce the amount of liquid in the cookie dough. Too much liquid = excess spreading and/or a cakey cookie. We’re applying the same technique here. Shred the zucchini using a box grater, then lightly blot it with a clean kitchen towel or paper towel. No need to squeeze out all the moisture; gently blotting is plenty.
You need 1 cup of shredded, lightly blotted zucchini.
Pro Tip: Shred extra to make zucchini cake or one of these 20+ favorite zucchini recipes!
Overview: How to Make Zucchini Oatmeal Cookies
After you blot the zucchini, prepare the cookie dough. The full written recipe is below, but let me walk you through the steps so I can answer any possible questions.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together. This includes oats, all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- Beat the wet ingredients together. Cream the butter and sugars together. Beat in 1 egg, then a little maple syrup and vanilla. The maple syrup adds flavor, but it also helps the cookies spread out and crisps up the edges. You can use honey instead or you can leave it out completely. (Though I highly recommend its addition!)
- Combine the dry ingredients, zucchini, and the wet ingredients.
- Beat in the chocolate chips.
- Chill the cookie dough. Important step! The cookies will over-spread otherwise.
- Scoop & bake. I always use a cookie scoop when I make oatmeal cookies. Oatmeal cookie dough is pretty sticky and textured, so a cookie scoop is helpful. The medium size is perfect because each dough ball should be around 1.5 Tablespoons of dough.
Other Add-Ins
Though I typically use semi-sweet in these zucchini oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, you can use milk chocolate or white chocolate chips instead. Or try mini chocolate chips or chocolate chunks. For something different, try peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, or even raisins, chopped pecans, or walnuts. Some may think it’s blasphemy to replace chocolate with raisins but I’m ALL FOR IT. If you love oatmeal raisin cookies, you should definitely try raisins here or even 1/2 chocolate chips and 1/2 raisins!
One last tip: This recipe calls for room temperature butter. Remember that room temperature butter is imperative in the creaming step. If butter is too cold or if it’s melted in the slightest, it won’t properly aerate with the granulated and brown sugars in step 3. As a result, the cookies won’t hold their shape and will likely over-spread. Room temperature butter is cool to the touch and about 65°F (18°C), which might be colder than your kitchen. If you’d like to read further, I have an in-depth post about room temperature butter.
More Zucchini Recipes
- Zucchini Bread & Chocolate Zucchini Bread
- Zucchini Muffins
- Chocolate Zucchini Cake
- Zucchini Casserole
- Greek Yogurt Zucchini Bread
- Zucchini Fritters or Zucchini & Sweet Potato Fritters (a favorite!)
And if you need more summertime cookie inspiration, today’s cookies join 25+ others on my Summer Cookie Recipes collection page. 🙂
Print
Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 35 minutes
- Yield: 2 dozen
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These zucchini oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are extra soft with chewy centers and crisp edges. You can’t taste the vegetable hiding inside! Chill the dough for at least 2 hours before baking.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (130g) shredded zucchini (lightly blotted, see step 1)
- 2 cups (170g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats*
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed dark or light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup*
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (180g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Lightly blot the shredded zucchini with a clean kitchen towel or paper towel. No need to squeeze out all the moisture; gently blotting is plenty. You need 1 cup (130g) of shredded, lightly blotted zucchini. Set aside until step 4. (Or cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day. It can be cold when you add it to the dough.)
- Whisk the oats, flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the softened butter and both sugars together on medium speed until creamy, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the egg and mix on high until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the maple syrup and vanilla and mix on high until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients and the zucchini to the wet ingredients, then mix on low speed until combined. With the mixer still running on low speed, beat in the chocolate chips. Cover and chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (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.
- Scoop or roll cookie dough, a heaping 1.5 Tablespoons of dough per cookie (I like to use this medium cookie scoop), 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. For crispier edges, bake for 15 minutes.
- 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 are extra soft out of the oven, but become chewier as they cool.
- Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the refrigerator for 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Baked cookies freeze well up to three months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well–up to three months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Here’s how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Box Grater | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Zucchini: I do not peel the zucchini before shredding, but you certainly can if you’d like.
- Oats: For these oatmeal cookies, I use and recommend old-fashioned whole oats, not quick or instant oats. Whole oats provide the ultimate hearty, chewy, and thick texture.
- Maple Syrup: The maple syrup adds flavor, but it also helps the cookies spread out and crisps up the edges. You can use honey instead or even molasses for a strong flavor—or you can leave it out completely. (Though I highly recommend its addition!)
Reader Comments and Reviews
Another winner from Sally!!! So much so my husband is now asking for them when we are down to a few in the container. I gave some to my neighbour who’s son dispises zucchini… he LOVED these cookies. Well done!!!
I love these cookies! I can’t taste the zucchini but love seeing the hints of green in the cookie. I will definitely be making these again.
OMG, they are really delicious ! Thank you so much !
This recipe is absolutely brilliant! Thank you so much for another option to deal with zucchinis as well as sneaking in veggies to a couple of fussy boys. The great thing is that the mix freezes in balls so well, meaning I can just cook smaller batches
Our new favorite oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. Even friends who don’t like zucchini said they liked it & couldn’t taste the zucchini. Very moist. Thanks for sharing!
I absolutely love this recipe! I easily substituted the flour with King Arthur Gluten Free flour and they came out delicious! This recipe is definitely a keeper!
I’m currently baking my third double batch of these cookies in as many weeks. We have so much zucchini and this is a great recipe! I reduced the sugars by almost half and added flaxseed meal and walnuts. No other changes. Thanks, Sally!
These were very tasty. More like the top of a muffin than a typical chocolate chip cookie. Sort of a zucchini loaf made into a cookie. A great balance of sugar and spice.
These were delicious Sally. Thank you for the great recipe.
I made these into cookie bars since I read that some people struggled with the consistency even after chilling. Gluten free flour is known for that and since I am gluten free I decided to skip the chilling process and bake as bars. I baked for a total of 22 minutes checking the bars at 15 and 20 minutes.
I may never make traditional chocolate chip cookies again! These are superb!
Really loved these cookies! Using my food scale, I followed the recipe to a ‘T’, refrigerated for 2 days before baking, returned the batter to the fridge between batches, and they were perfection. (I did use mini choc chips.) These will be made on repeat to use up the remaining zucchini that continue to come from my garden.
I think I am in the minority, but I am not a fan These taste just odd. I substituted honey for the maple syrup, and maybe that was the problem. The zucchini did little more than make the dough really wet and grassy.
I liked the recipe and I followed your advice so I wouldn’t have flat cookies because I read a some of the comments before I made them. Mine turned out perfectly!
Next time I make them, I think I’ll switch the chocolate chips for raisins!
I really like the way they tasted, but they do not stay together for me. I kept them in a round ball on the tray before putting them in the oven. They all congealed together. I was able to form them back into circles, but they just crumbled as soon as I tried to pick one up. I have so much more dough too. Hopefully it will get better
Here’s our best tips for preventing cookies from spreading!
I have an abundance of zucchini. I have made 19 zucchini breads. Then Your cookie recipe popped up. To be honest I just wasnt sure about a cookie. But thought what can I lose. My husband said it was the best cookie I have ever made. Making more tomottow.
These cookies were are hit with my colleagues and neighbors. I picked the zucchini fresh from the garden!! I didn’t have chocolate chips (astonishingly) but everything was followed exactly. I made the about 1 1/2 TBS in size and formed them into a “tall blob” because I knew they would spread.
Huge hit in my house! I have a bumper crop of zucchini so I am freezing these exceptional cookies.
Very dissatisfied- very bland. I was looking for a sweeter cookie
I have to have done something wrong, because these didn’t turn out well at all. I followed the whole recipe, chilled for 3 hours, but they all just spread and flattened and didn’t end up looking like cookies at all. It’s almost like there wasn’t enough flour or something to make them actual cookies? I wish it had worked, but I don’t know that I would try this again.
Hi Kate! We’re happy to help – here’s our best tips for preventing cookies from spreading.
I used half cup of coconut sugar instead of the whole cup of granulated + brown. batter was a little soft so i put some ground flax seed meal in. came out great! still very sweet.
I followed your recipe to the letter, but did not like the results. I cookies didn’t flatten out and the second batch I flattened with a fork before baking. Just not what I expected.
Hi Sally, can I ask if I can omit the oats? I’m making this so a nursing home and some of the elders don’t want oats but all want zucchini. Thank you for your help.
Hi Elizabeth! This recipe really needs the oats, we haven’t tested a zucchini cookie without them.
We have a bumper crop of zucchini this year, and I have been steadily working my way through all of your recipes: cookies, bread, and fritters. There are all winners, but the cookie recipe is the one that keeps getting requested over and over.
Absolutely love this recipe, and so did everyone else who ate these. Moist, flavorful, will be a regular in my house!
I substituted zuchinni for sunflower microgreens, gave it a nutty flavor with the chocolate and oats! Great recipe!
These turned out great! Not too sweet, but just sweet enough. Nice and chewy. Got 2 thumbs up from the whole family!
I made this recipe last season. But can’t remember if its ok to use a LARGE (lost zucchini!) I plan on dbl batching anyway
Hi Lindsay, it should be fine!
I really like the flavor of these, but they didn’t age well. If I make them again, I will store them between sheets of parchment or wait until we have enough people in the house to eat them quickly. They’re crumbly and have smooshed into a giant cookie.
Would you be able to substitute shredded carrots for the zucchini in this recipe?
Hi Janice, freshly shredded carrots should be just fine. (I wouldn’t use pre-shredded carrots from the store, shred/grate them yourself.)
5 star rating!!! These cookies are SO delicious!!! I made them for my neighbours and they were devoured. Many asked for the recipe. I used 1/2 dark chocolate and 1/2 semi sweet chocolate chips which really added great flavour. I will be making them again!!!