Classic Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
This recipe for classic oatmeal chocolate chip cookies is simply the best. Soft and chewy, it is a tried-and-true favorite!
There is truly nothing better any given day than a warm oatmeal chocolate chip cookie.
The hearty chewiness of this classic cookie makes regular chocolate chip cookies look, well, positively wimpy.
A Tried-and-True Recipe
After over a decade, these are still one of the cookie recipes I make the most (I almost always have them baked and ready to go in the freezer).
They really are the best oatmeal chocolate chip cookies ever. Soft and chewy, loaded with chocolate chips (i.e. no raisins in sight…nope, not for me!), and perfectly puffy.
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
The dough for these cookie is super straightforward (and kind of irresistible):
- butter
- brown sugar + granulated sugar
- eggs + vanilla
- basic dry ingredients (oatmeal, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt)
- chocolate chips
You can use either old-fashioned rolled oats or quick oats for the cookies.
Pro Tip: for the best oatmeal chocolate chip cookie texture, use both old-fashioned rolled oats AND quick oats!
Freezable Cookies
I almost always have these cookie waiting in the freezer for just the right craving or moment.
The cookies can be baked, cooled and frozen.
OR, you can freeze the cookie dough balls and bake from frozen.
To bake from frozen, place the cookie dough balls a couple inches apart on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for 12-13 minutes (adding time as needed).
Rave Reviews
I’m not the only one completely head over heels for these cookies.
Kat writes: Mel. These cookies are perfection. Perfection! One bite, and I threw away my family favorite recipe. Seriously. No regrets. They are soft and delicious even the next day. Did I mention they are perfect? This is now the standard, and I doubt it will ever be topped. I can’t think of anything I’d change to make it better. Texture, flavor, saltiness, sweetness, chocolate to cookie ratio, you absolutely nailed it! Thank you Mel!!
Katie B. commented: I have made these several times over the last few months and I absolutely love them!! A perfect cookie in my opinion! Thanks for a great go-to recipe everyone loves!
Leia says: I loved the texture of these cookies and of course the flavor was amazing, even a few days later!
Classic Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 g) butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (212 g) packed light brown sugar (see note)
- 1 cup (212 g) granulated sugar (see note)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (284 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ cups (250 g) old-fashioned rolled oats (see note)
- 2 cups (340 g) chocolate chips or chocolate chunks (butterscotch chips are delicious, too)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper, silicone liners or lightly grease with cooking spray.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until creamy and well-combined, 1-2 minutes. Add baking soda, baking powder, salt and mix well. Add flour, oatmeal and chocolate chips. Mix until no dry streaks remain (don’t go crazy; just mix until evenly combined).
- Scoop the cookies into balls (about 2 tablespoons each) and place a couple inches apart on the baking sheets.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
Recipe originally posted August 2009; updated with new photos, recipe notes, commentary.
I love this cookie recipe! The oatmeal really adds to the flavor and texture!
I don’t know what prompted me to select this recipe over the dozens that popped up on Google….but I’m SO glad I did! This is hands down one of the very best cookies I’ve ever had, like from a VERY good bakery. I always use all whole wheat flour in my baking and they turned out great. They will be my “go to” for my healthy snack!☺️❤️
I made these today – again. This time (due to high humidity?) they did spread a lot so I upped the temp to 375 which helped. One batch got browner than the others accidentally – they are a little chewier and my favorites! This time, I subbed Heather Bit O’Brickle Toffee Bits for half the Ghirardelli Grand Chips Semi Sweet Chocolate Baking Chips I had planned, and Oh Wow! That will be happening every time I make them from now on. Thank you for all your fabulous recipes, Mel, and God bless you.
This is SOOO good!!! We doubled it! And it is so easy for me as a 12 year old! Thank you, Mel! You are the best! We absolutely LOVE your recipes!
Yummy! Pulled back just a bit on both sugars and cooked at 375 for 9-10. Solid cookie. You never let me down! Except my scale. You don’t let that go down
Can you freeze or refrigerate the dough?
Yes, freezing or refrigerating works great!
Yum – this is delicious!! My apologies in advance for writing in changes on a terrific recipe – but I used cold butter and 1/2 cup cake flour 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour and the cookies are absolutely perfect. Thank you! My son and his friends (and the mamas) will all enjoy this at our outdoor V-Day bash (if I don’t eat them first).
Love this recipe! Any chance you think this would work in cookie bar form? If so, would you still recommend baking at 350? Perhaps closer to 25-30 min? Would love your advice!
Yes, I think it should work quite well! I’d bake them at 350 degrees and check them right around 22-25 minutes.
Just made these…great recipe. I happened to have 2 and 3/4 cups of rolled oats in my container (and I didn’t want to leave 1/2 cup behind), so I blitzed 3/4 of a cup in the food processor and added it in. Worked fine. My wife wanted walnuts, so I added in a cup of chopped walnuts. As far as spreading, I’ll bet the people who had problems didn’t mix the dough quite enough. I had a few cookies that spread, and I’m sure that was the cause. Also, I used silpat and parchment. I like parchment better, but they do go a little flatter with parchment. Finally, I tried both the 2 and 1 tablespoon scoops. We like smaller cookies, and both turned out fine. I think your estimate for # of cookies is low, at least based upon my results. Thanks for another great recipe.
These are amazing! I completely forgot about needing to bring someone a promised dessert and literally made this cookie recipe faster than any cookie I’ve made in my life. I accidentally oversoftened the butter a little bit (because of the rush), but they still turned out delicious. I would call this an easy, crowd-pleasing, no-fail cookie recipe for sure!
Perfectly crisp and chewy at the same time. Baked for abt 15 min, as they were still quite pale at 10 minutes. This recipe is a keeper! Will try adding nuts and dried fruits next batch. Thank you!
How many calories are in each cookie?
Delish
In desperation, because I’d promised my toddler we’d make cookies, I used 1 cup of rolled oats, and 1 1/2 cups of Quaker Cinnamon Sugar Instant Oatmeal. I reduced the sugar amount. Still tasted delicious with nice texture. Can’t compare to the original recipe though. Word to the wise always check your ingredient levels before promising toddlers! LOL!
Delicious!
I have made these several times over the last few months and I absolutely love them!! A perfect cookie in my opinion! Thanks for a great go-to recipe everyone loves!
These cookies are amazing! Made them 4 times in the last 3 months to give to friends & they are a hit. Just wondering if I can use whole wheat flour in this recipe instead of all purpose without changing any of the other measurements?
Yes, should work great! I think when using whole wheat flour as a 100% sub for white flour in cookies, it works to add just a bit less (about 1/4 cup less).
I was very very upset with how these turned out. They tasted good, but they flattened out way too much so we increased the temperature like you recommended, but then the edges crisped and the middles were soft and almost raw. we ended up trying to chill them for a bit and add more flour, which kind of helped. they had a good flavor though, so there’s that at least.
These are excellent, Mel! Perfectly soft on the inside, but chewy on the edges. It’s definitely a keeper recipe! I used your suggestion of only 3/4 cup for both sugars, and they were plenty sweet enough for my family.
P.S. At the risk of sounding heretical, I have to admit that I’m planning to try this recipe with raisins because I do love a good oatmeal raisin cookie.
I can’t tell you how many times we’ve made these now, but we are still loving them, Mel! Sometimes, we do 1/2 cup white chocolate chips and 1 cup dried cranberries instead, and those are a family favorite. In fact, just last week, I made them (oatmeal “craisin” w/white chips) and brought them to a ladies’ meeting at church, and almost every lady came up to me afterward, raving about the cookies, asking for the recipe, etc. Your recipes are always a hit! Thanks, Mel!
So I made these cookies using your tips at the bottom of the page and we think they are awesome!! Super good!! I got 3 dozen from it. Thanks for the recipe! 🙂 Keep on cooking and baking, Sheri
Made these during “ lock down “ during the Pandemic as I am baking more.
I used 1 c dark brown sugar and 3/4 c white sugar, 1 c Dark and 1 c semi sweet chocolate chips since that is what I had on hand.
Made more than 3 dozen two inch cookies. Baked 11 minutes they were perfect. Next time I would like to try freezing the cookie dough balls for baking later. Great recipe,
Love this cookie recipe! Made with my kids, super easy & delicious. Thanks
Hi Mel, I have made these exactly as you created them several times and love them. I am making the first of a variety series of how-to videos and would like to use this recipe for my basic baking video. I will give Mels Kitchen Cafe full credit for the recipe and include your website page for my viewers to get your recipe. Is this cool or would you rather I did not?
Thanks
Sheryl
Sure! Sounds great to me!
Hey Mel! We love these cookies, I make a GF version of them and they come out great! My only question is I’ve reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup of each, but since we eat them so fast have you ever tried even less sugar? Do I need to add some more dry or wet ingredients or reduce the baking powder if I am reducing the sugar more than above? I know sugar helps with the spread.
I haven’t tried reducing the sugar – sorry!
Omg they turned out delicious!!! Loved them thank you
I added a tsp of cinnamon and used kosher salt. Delicious cookies!
These were awesome! I actually made them gluten free by using 1 cup gf flour and 1 cup almond flour
I also used less white sugar than called for
Also added 3 T peanut butter
They were fantastic!!
I loved the texture of these cookies and of course the flavor was amazing, even a few days later!
SOOOOOO GOOD and I’m the worlds worst cookie maker. So since these turned out delicious that’s all on Mel! Will definitely be making again.
I made these according to instructions using the lesser amount of oats and sugar. Great!
One question! I weighed out 10 oz of flour on my scale, making sure my container was tarred and my units were set to ounces.
It sure looked like a lot of flour!
There were 4 cups of flour in the container when I scooped it into one cup measures. Four.
I thought I’m crazy it’s got to be my fault although I know I didn’t look like 2 cups of flour and I’m not new at this.
So I repeated it again with a different scale and measured out 10 ounces and it was again 4 cups!
Then I scoope I thought I’m crazy it’s got to be my fault although I know I didn’t look like 2 cups of flour and I’m not new at this.
So I repeated it again with a different scale and measured out 10 ounces and it was again 4 cups!
Then I said, okay, measure 5 oz and see.
Five ounces weighed on my scale measured 2 cups of flour.
I repeated this procedure on my other scale and again 5 ounces equals 2 cups of flour.
Does the recipe need to be changed to say 5 ounces of flour instead of 10 ounces?
I am replying to my own post.
My scales, both weirdly, need to be shot.
I googled how much does one cup of flour weigh in ounces. (And I was not using a 1/2 cup measuring cup. I checked. Several times.)
Everyplace says 5 oz or thereabouts = one cup. What the heck am I doing wrong. Two different scales. Both digital and both Kitchen Aid. I am so confused. I even tried this again and 10 oz is measuring 4 cups. I’m in The Twilight Zone.
My scales need to be put our to pasture to put me out of my misery.
BTW, when I made these awesome cookies I used the spoon into measuring cup method and used the two cups.
Are you sure your scale is in ounces? Sounds like you’re measuring in grams.. One Oz is almost 30 grams
Amy,
Sheesh, you are right!
I did not have my head screwed on that day,
That’s for sure!
Thanks so much for putting it back on for me.
Anne
This is by far the BEST oatmeal-chocolate chip cookie recipe I’ve ever made. They come out chewy in the middle and crunchy on the outside. I’ve made these so many times and always get complimented on how good they are. The only think differently I do is bake them for about 13 mins and the come out perfect! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Thanks, Sara!
I made these last night and they weren’t as flat as the pictures. They still tasted delicious, but I’m wondering what I did wrong. I substituted coconut sugar for the white sugar and used the lesser amounts you noted, maybe it was the coconut sugar? Any thoughts?
Yes, it could be the coconut sugar. I haven’t used that in these cookies and it could definitely make a difference.
“Lead me not into temptation” “Gluttony is a sin” Little Miss Mel must have skipped church when those scriptures were taught! No doubt these are the best cookies I’ve made! I’m 60 years old and have baked for 45 of them. Mel has led me to problems with “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” I’ve failed with that verse too. I’d planned to give my neighbor 3 dozen cookies. She’ll be lucky if she get one dozen now! Seriously, I varied the size of cookies just to check baking times. Every size is delicious and only varies by one minute. I’d refrigerated my dough overnight. After I rolled dough into balls, I put them back into fridge until it was their turn on the baking sheets. The only thing missing is a diet plan.
I made my batter yesterday evening. Ready to pop it in the oven now! When working with refrigerated dough, should I allow extra time for baking? Also, how long can refrigerated dough be kept? Thanks!
Glad you loved these, Deborah! I usually add 30 seconds to an extra minute on to the baking time for refrigerated dough, just keep an eye on it. You might need less or even a bit longer. I usually don’t keep cookie dough in the fridge longer than 48 hours
I made these cookies last night. Absolutely the best. I have never been a fan of the oatmeal cookie but I am now. Great recipe!
Thank you.
Cindi A.
Thanks, Cindi!
I’m looking for a good cookie recipe to freeze the dough and be able to bake the cookies straight from the freezer, do you think these would work or any recommendations?
Love all your recipes!!
Yes! These work great. My son has a cookie dough business and sells these and they bake great from frozen.
Very delicious! I am not having issues with flatness like other commenters. I received advice a year ago from an avid baker that all cookie dough should be popped in the fridge for at least an hour before scooping up to bake. This has made all of my various cookie batches turn out flawless! I am surprised to never see this on any cookie recipe directions. Just wanted to share for other commenters for a more successful batch next time!
I made my batter yesterday evening. Ready to pop it in the oven now! When working with refrigerated dough, should I allow extra time for baking? Also, how long can refrigerated dough be kept? Thanks!
I’ve made this recipe multiple times, with different chip flavors, and they’re always outstanding! My new go-to cookie recipe
Loved this recipe so much! Thanks for sharing all your recipes with us!
Thank you, Mel.
The information re measuring flour is very helpful. I think weighing the flour is undoubtedly the way to go. It isn’t easy when two well-respected sources don’t agree
on the correct weight, but I’ll go with your 5 ounces.
Myself and family are huge lovers of chocolate chip cookies, but my grandson loves oatmeal cookies. He was very delighted to hear he was getting the best of both worlds. Thank you for sharing and brightening up a young mans day.
Thanks, Leslie!
Hi Mel,
I recently discovered your website, and I really enjoy receiving your recipes – what fun!
Hopefully, I’ll be making these chocolate chip cookies soon, and I notice that some people have commented on their spreading. You suggest adding a little more flour, but I think if you tell us how you measure your flour, it would be helpful. Do you use the dip and sweep method or spoon it in, I have taken many courses at King Arthur and they use the spooning in method. It does make a difference. Many thanks!
Hi Beverley! You are right! It does make a difference! I have a little how-to right here since I do swear by the fluff-dip-sweep method (or better yet, weighing with a scale): https://www.melskitchencafe.com/lets-talk-how-you-measure-flour-makes-a-difference/
These were amazing and so chewy delicious! Added some chopped walnuts, too. Yum! Thanks for sharing.
These are fabulous cookies. Sometimes I stick the oats in my blender for a second or two before I add them. Delicious!!
These cookies turned out fantastic! I tried to call my grandma for her recipe, but she’s not in with technology so I couldn’t get ahold of her. I followed the recipe exactly and they are great! I used my cookie scoop for uniform cookies. I think I will stack some in a wide mouth mason jar as an after-spring break treat for my daughter’s teacher. Thank you!
It is Sunday night and I sat out a poppyseed chicken casserole for dinner. I don’t want it. I grew up on popcorn and snacks for Sunday dinner, along with the Disney movie that came on as soon as we got home from church. All four of us kids still eat popcorn for dinner most Sunday nights. Tonight, I decided to supplement with some cowboy cookies. The only cookie my mom has EVER made. We all know the recipe by heart. (My brother sells them at his restaurant franchise.) I really, really need to get it written down for my kids and was thinking that as I was searching cookies in CopyMeThat. As always, I pull up your website and take a looksie. There are some very slight differences…like we only use 1/2 tsp baking powder and use 2 cups of flour and 2 cups of oatmeal, the rest is identical. Now I don’t have to write it down!!! My kids love your food as much, if not more than Grandma’s….but don’t tell Grandma. 😉
I made these last night for the first time, and I came back to the comments to see if anyone else had my problem–some of the cookies flattened out and the dough turned brown and almost caramelizing. I will try adding a bit more flour next time because oh my gosh they were good!
This is the recipe I grew up with and do not have this problem….however, my girlfriend was having this problem. After walking through how she bakes cookies step by step and using Google, we discovered it was her warped and worn out cookie sheets. She replaced them and has lived happily ever after. Another reason you can get flat cookies is if your butter is too warm. This can be solved by chilling your cookie dough prior to baking.
Made these yesterday as I found myself needing a sweet something throughout the day (and my dark chocolate stash was diminishing). Such a lovely cookie! I used the lesser amount of sugars and used all Whole Wheat flour – had to add a splash of milk to counterbalance the WW. Deliciously chewy and delightful! Definitely saving this recipe to make again!
These cookies are the best oatmeal chocolate chip cookies I have made! I followed your comments and used only 3/4 cup each of the sugars. Fabulous!
I’ve made these cookies quite a few times! Once I replaced it with gluten free oats, a gluten free choco chip and Bob’s mill 1/1 gluten free flour. Always a hit thanks for your great recipe!!
Wonderful cookies can’t wait to make these again. Less sugar is perfect for a not too sweet cookie.
This recipe is the best I have tried. I was at my boyfriend’s (in another state) and wanted to bake cookies. I don’t have my recipes so I tried this one. Just like mine (which is over 100 years old)
I subbed Earth Balance for the butter and used chia “eggs” and these cookies turned out so amazing! I absolutely love the texture of these. I used the smaller amount of sugar, as noted in your recipe. So happy they turned out with my substitutions!
I made these following the recipe carefully. The only thing I didn’t do was roll the dough into balls as I put it on the cookie sheet. I pushed wads of the dough off a teaspoon onto the tray. They flattened out really badly. They didn’t look anything like your nice picture. They looked like puddles of yummy cookie with chocolate chips raising up like little mountains. What did I do wrong?
Sounds like they might need a bit more flour – that could be due to the difference in how we each measure flour (how much flour is packed into the cup). Do you live at high elevation? That can also make a difference (as well as if your oven temperature is off – which is common, ovens that bake too cool can cause cookies to flatten).