Thin and Crispy Oatmeal Cookies
These thin and crispy oatmeal cookies are absolute perfection! Crispy, buttery, and completely addictive – I dare you to eat just one!
I am a soft and chewy cookie fan all the way, but there is something about these thin and crispy oatmeal cookies that is absolutely irresistible.
They are so classic and so delicious!
Key to a Crispy Cookie
The cookie dough for these oatmeal cookies is very straightforward. Nothing fancy about it!
The reason the cookies end up being thin and crispy instead of soft and chewy are due to a couple of reasons:
- higher butter to flour (and eggs) ratio
- more granulated sugar, less brown sugar
- old-fashioned rolled oats, not quick oats
- slightly longer baking time (don’t underbake!)
The dough can be mixed in a stand mixer or in a bowl with a handheld electric mixer.
The key is to not over mix the dough once the dry ingredients are added.
Old-fashioned Oats vs Quick Oats
The recipe for these thin and crispy oatmeal cookies calls for old-fashioned rolled oats.
Subbing in quick oats will change the texture and outcome of the cookies. They’ll likely be thicker and puffier instead of thin and crispy. (It also doesn’t work to sub in steel cut oats.)
It’s important to use old-fashioned rolled oats for the best outcome!
A Tried-and-True Favorite
It goes without saying that these delightful oatmeal cookies are delicious dipped in a glass of cold milk. YUM!
This recipe has over 1,000 5-star reviews for a reason! So many of you have fallen in love with them, too.
Grace says: This is my all time favorite recipe I’ve used for years, after trying this you won’t be able to go back to any other oatmeal cookie recipe and all other oatmeal cookies will taste inferior. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
MM says: Amazing cookies! I’m afraid to make them again because I ate 18 cookies in 4 days. They’d be good with chocolate chips in them too. Maybe I’ll try it when I get better at sharing… ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sara says: OK. I didn’t think these would be as good as they are. I’ve had oodles and oodles of oatmeal cookies and these are now our favorite. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Linda says: These are wonderful..Buttery, chewy and crisp. I’m eating them with a glass of cold milk. I baked them 16 min. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
FAQs for Thin and Crispy Oatmeal Cookies
Yes, the dough freezes great!
I use salted butter.
I usually store them in a covered container but if you want them to stay extra crispy, you can try storing them uncovered.
In this recipe, you definitely want to use old-fashioned rolled oats. If not, the cookies won’t spread the same and the texture could be completely off.
Thin and Crispy Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (142 g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 14 tablespoons (198 g) butter (I use salted), softened but still slightly cool
- 1 cup (212 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (53 g) packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups (250 g) old-fashioned rolled oats
Instructions
- Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line large, rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl (of a stand mixer or with a handheld electric mixer), beat the butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar together until just combined, about 20 seconds. Increase the mixer speed to medium and continue to beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute longer. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Add the egg and vanilla and beat on medium-low until well mixed, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again. Add the flour mixture and mix until barely incorporated, 10-20 seconds. It's ok if there are a few dry spots.
- Gradually add the oats and mix until well-combined, about 30 seconds to 1 minutes. If needed, give the dough a final stir with a wooden spoon to ensure that no flour pockets remain and that the ingredients are evenly distributed.
- Scoop out about 2 tablespoon-sized mounds of dough and roll them to form balls. Place the cookies about 2 1/2-inches apart on the baking sheet(s) – about 8 cookies per sheet. They will spread quite a bit. Lightly press each cookie to about 3/4-inch thickness (I found after baking one sheet of these that I didn’t need to press them at all so use your best cookie judgment).
- Bake 1 sheet of cookies at a time until the cookies are golden brown, edges are crisp, and centers are still very slightly soft, 13 to 16 minutes. Cooling the cookies completely on the baking sheet will yield crispier, more perfect cookies.
Notes
Recipe Source: adapted ever so slightly from The Cook’s Country Cookbook from America’s Test Kitchen (used salted butter instead of unsalted)
Recipe originally published June 2013; updated November 2022 with new photos, recipe notes, etc.
Cookies are my favorite go to whether baking for a picnic, to take in to work, to give to someone, or simply for a snack, and this recipe is THE most popular cookies I’ve made.
I sometimes add raisins, nuts or coconut flakes (or all 3 ). Turns out well every time.
Thanks for a great recipe!
Hummm….same recipe as America’s Test Kitchen. Been making them for several years.
she gives credit at the end of the recipe
Can I use self rising flour? I’m out of all purpose
Hi Becky, unfortunately self-rising flour may alter the outcome of these cookies and I haven’t tried it myself so I don’t know what to suggest if using it. Sorry!
Cookies came out great. Made as directed first time. Want to replace butter with olive oil next time to cut back in cholesterol for husband. Ever tried this and if so what amount would you suggest? Thank you very much!
My mom requested oatmeal raisin cookies but she likes them thin. I made this recipe but subbed Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer for an egg allergy and dairy free Mykonos butter for a dairy allergy. Added about 1/2 cup of raisins and a little cinnamon. They were perfect! And I don’t even like oatmeal cookies! My mom loved them, couldn’t even taste the difference with the dairy and egg free version. Thin, crunchy but not too crunchy, great flavor!
These are wonderful..Buttery, chewy and crisp. I’m eating them with a glass of cold milk. I baked them 16 min. Next time will add chocolate chips…This is a keeper. LBarnes
I was never a fan of oatmeal cookies because they’re always too soft. I came across your recipe a few weeks ago and decided I would try it.
Thank you for changing my mind about oatmeal cookies. Not only are they scrumptious, they’re delicious and my family are crazy about them.
Be blessed!
The best oatmeal cookies I’ve ever had!!! This has become my go to recipe in cookies. Thanks Mel for posting this amazing recipe.
I don’t normally give any feedback, but these cookies are absolutely Heavenly Delicious! My grandma would make cookies like these, but unfortunately I never took the recipe from her. Thank you for this exceptional recipe, which is definitely a keeper!!!
I made them. I’m a die hard crispy cookie fan!
BEST RECIPE! I’m sharing it with my family. Occasionally I add goodies like craisin, a little coconut
I grind fresh cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise, cloves and added cashews. Your recipe “as-is” quite perfection but I love variations too. THIS IS A KEEPER!
I love these cookies, for an easy change i reduced flour by 1/4 cup and added 1/4 cup dehydrated peanut butter. Super yum!
Well Mel, These remind me of a great base for Ranger Cookies! They are really good! I had to use quick rolled oats so I simply added an extra half cup of them to bulk out the cookies, rolled em’ , baked for 16 minutes and they turned out looking just Like your photos! I’d give them a solid 10 but your rating system won’t allow it.
Excellent recipe, a Rx for a crispy cookie man. My wife, a softer cookie woman absolutely lived them too!
Can I add raisins and if so, how much?
I think so! Others have added raisins with good results.
I add raisins to mine- a rounded 1/2 cup works well.
I have searched for years for a recipe that satisfies my families fickle cookie requirements and this is perfect! I am purging all my old oatmeal cookie recipes and laminating this one 🙂
These are the best oatmeal cookies I’ve ever made…buttery, not too thin, crispy around the edges but chewy in the middle…
This recipe made absolutely the very best Oatmeal Thin Crispy cookies and the recipe was spot on with the ingredient ratios.
Now I am wondering if the basic dough recipe can be used to make perfect Thin Crispy Chocolate Chip cookies as well. I would love feed back regarding this idea.
Hi Susan, I haven’t tried adapting this recipe to a think and crispy chocolate chip cookie. I’m guessing it might work but I’m not sure how much flour to replace the oats with. Sorry I’m not more help!
Well? Did you make the Choc Chip thin and crispy? it sounds heavenly 🙂
I got up at 6 am this morning and made a batch of these for my brother-in-law; he’s a fussy crunchy-cookie lover and said he wanted some oatmeal cookies. They were a hit.
He just texted me “Best oatmeal cookies ever. Right crunch, right texture, all good! Perfect!” I think that says it all.
To the recipe, I added a little cinnamon and pecans, but I don’t think either is necessary. To ensure they came out crunchy, I did 4 things: I baked them a few minutes longer, watching carefully not to burn; 2) I used only half of the yolk and added a smidge more egg white in its place; 3) I flattened all the cookie balls before baking as you suggested; 4) I baked only 6 cookies to the sheet. They were a cookie to be proud of.
What are the calories or nutritional facts for this recipe?
I don’t calculate that information. Sorry!
Just eat the cookies fat boy
These were easy and awesome. I changed the recipe in a couple of ways:
switched the proportion of brown sugar to white because I like cookies a bit more molasses-y; added 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips; added 1 cup chopped walnuts. It worked fine, so I’m sure you can toss in whatever additions you like.
These are the ugliest cookies I’ve ever made… But, delicious, thin, and crispy I Don’t understand how I can use a disher with the same exact amount and shape of dough in every cookie… Yet everyone looks like am6 abstract painting from a different artist. I’ll still make them again, though. They’re a good breakfast cookie.
I am a crunchy cookie lover all the way. Sometimes I even over bake one pan of cookies just for me. If they’re doughy in the middle, it’s not for me. I found this recipe by typing in crunchy oatmeal cookies (or something like that). These cookies are AMAZINGLY YUMMY. I shared them with my daughter-in-law and grandkids and they loved them too!
I stupidly used quick cooked oats the results were terrible nothing like your pictures
Do not use quick cook oats!!
This recipe calls for 1/4 tbsp butter. Then in parentheses, it says 1 3/4 sticks.. what is the right amount?
Hi Toni – the recipe says 14 tablespoons butter which equals 1 3/4 sticks of butter (or 7 ounces)
I love a thin and crispy cookie. I was in the mood for some oatmeal cookies. I happened buy the Old Fashioned oatmeal the other day. I made my first batch today and they came out perfect! Thin, crispy and delicious. I already passed the recipe on.
Everything you want in an oatmeal cookie…crispy outside, chewy inside. I added raisins and walnuts… absolute deliciousness!
Love these cookies. Can I add pecans?
Yes, I believe others have with great results!
These are best crispy oatmeal cookies I’ve had and the next day after being in an air tight container they were still crispy! I added cinnamon and orange peel for my tastes. These are awesome crispy cookies!
Have made these cookies and your cooking time is not correct. Checked my oven twice to be sure. 8 minutes is more than sufficient – 13 minutes gave me a batch of burnt cookies. Otherwise the recipe is good. Just rectify the cooking time.
I was really excited to try this recipe but unfortunately the cookies did not spread out at all for me. I’m not entirely sure what went wrong. The dough itself was delicious and the cookies will definitely get eaten but I would call mine more oat cookie balls instead of actual cookies.
Any thoughts on why they might not have spread out? I did not alter anything in this recipe.
Hi Leah, it sounds like the dough was over floured – you and I might measure flour differently so if more flour was packed in the measuring cup, it’ll cause the cookies not to spread as well. I fluff the flour really well and then scoop in my measuring cup and level off.
Absolutely delicious cookies with a crispy edge and slightly chewy center. I add a little cinnamon and 1/2 cup raisins for sheer perfection. These cookies are the ones I make when I owe my husband a treat ;).
These are wonderfully crispy. My family’s new favorite cookie. (We couldn’t resist adding chocolate chips Yum- they would be out of this world with pecans).
Hello Mel! Absolutely had to share.. the cookies came out lovely and crispy. They were especially crispy the next day.. just awesome. I skipped the baking soda because I have the “double acting” baking powder and I find my brand of baking soda leaves a weird smell/taste. It was absolutely fine without as well.
I also used quick cooking oats and that turned out fine.
Best of all, I’ve been dying to make a granola/oat bar recipe. And I find these are perfect for them too.
No change in recipe (except as I mentioned, no baking soda and quick cooking oats instead of old fashioned).
I spread half the cookie dough on my sheet pan. Spread it with my fingers which wet with water to prevent it getting very messy. Then sprinkled some dark chocolate and almonds. Then spread the remaining half of cookie dough on top.
Baked for around 25 min at the 350F oven. I cut them after cooling for 10 min in their tray. Then served them 10-15 min after. They weren’t dry or break apart which is a frequent problem I face when attempting granola bars.
Everyone loved them. Thank you!
Made these with orange extract, cardamom and Saigon cinnamon, beyond addictive and sounds so exotic. AMAZING
Great recipe! I used quick oats and added cinnamon to mine and they came out great!
What kind of butter? Salted or Unsalted ?
I use salted butter
These cookies are out of this world! Crisp and so buttery. The recipe is a keeper and a giver.
It was a success! Thank you for sharing your recipe! Although i sub almond flour to apf since i am Diabetic… by any chance i can freeze the remaining of the dough?
Yes, the dough freezes great!
It was a success! Thank you for sharing! Although i aub almond flour to apf since i am Diabetic… by any chance i can freeze the remaining of the dough?
Paul, bro, great point. In fact, I just went through my house and threw away every recipe book that didn’t include weights. I started with Joy of Cooking, which clearly doesn’t take cooking seriously because I couldn’t find a SINGLE WEIGHT for butter or about anything else in the entire book! Julia Child was DUPED into using a classless fake-news cookbook that only contained measurements by cups and tablespoons.
I was really hoping to keep my favorite America’s Test Kitchen cookbook, but it is now sitting on the pile of Harry Potter books that I am going to burn with some friends later. Our house will not stand for witchcraft or “stupid” measurements.
Obviously, I’m joking. I don’t take any comment on a recipe seriously if the commenter thinks that measuring butter in tablespoons or sticks is “stupid.” I think there are enough things to protest in this lil’ world of ours without making this one of them. But that’s just my two cents (or 4.3 pesos or 2.12 yen or .017 Euros for those who demand conversions for everything).
Delicious cookies! I followed the recipe exactly and they were crisp without being dry with the full flavor of oatmeal without distractions of add ins or spices. I dont understand how people can review a recipe when the recipe is totally altered!
My next recipe to try is your gingerbread cookie butter oatmeal cookies. Sounds terrific! My mother lives in a retirement village and she loves sharing homemade cookies with her friends–these will be a big hit! Thanks for the recipe!
Awesome Cookies!
But, being a mischief himself, who can never follow a recipe straight without adding a ‘touch’, I did this, because I love oatmeal, peanut butter, and chocolate chip cookies too. So
1) replaced the 1/4 cup brown sugar with maple syrup.
2) replaced 1-3/4 cup butter with 1-1/4 cup butter + 1/2 cup peanut butter.
3) added 2 cups chocolate chips
Think you’ll like them.
Jeff
Jeff you devil!
What a delicious cookie! Thin, crispy, buttery and chewy! Easy recipe to throw together. Will be making these again soon!
These came out amazing. Best cookies ever. I added raisins. My husband is still talking about them. I’m going to try white chocolate coconut next time.
We don’t Fahrenheit here, so I just converted it to Celsius. The bottom of the cookies were burnt in a little over 5 minutes.
I’m in Germany – the ovens here are much smaller than in the US – not sure where you are but try to lower the temp and/or put the cookies on a higher rack or you can put foil on the bottom rack to block some of the heat from the bottom. I had problems with things burning on the top and bottom because of the size of the oven and I just covered the bottom rack with foil and I decrease the temp and cook a bit longer – I even have to cover what I’m baking sometimes with foil too. Good luck!
I made these and turned out extremely delicious. Except when I did it I browned the butter and it was sooooooo good! highly recommend!
Would it be okay to add nuts or chocolate chips to this recipe, please?
You can definitely try!
Girl, this maybe the best cookie in the pile of millions of recipes, but you worked harder on the blog part than the recipe! It might be a great blog, I dont know, I came here for a recipe and found this: “14 tablespoons butter (1 3/4 sticks), softened” … Are you serious? This is not a measurement, especially outside the States where butter does not come in Stateside standard sizes. And who is going to soften butter, then measure 14 tbsp? The converted measurement is 7 ounces or approximately 200 ml.
I haven’t made them yet, I had to go through this nonsense first.
Thank you.
are you serious, don’t be a troll. she’s from the US and is welcome to use US measurements – take a nice pill.
I actually agree with the “troll” – that’s a stupid amount to measure by volume. For me, I can’t really taking any baking recipe seriously if it doesn’t at least include weights.
not nonsense, who doesn’t like butter, use however much you like!
Heloo! I tried ur recipe. It turn out very delicious but mine becomes soft cookie. I baked exact time as you said and store in the container. Next morning all the cookie are soft. Can you tell me what I did wrong and how can I fix it?
Thank you 🙂
Do you live in a humid climate? That can contribute to cookies softening.
Laurie! What’s up boo?
I’ve been following Mel’s blog since she was on Blogspot like a million years ago when Blogspot was still a thing, and I’ve found that the only thing that’s ever made one of her recipes toxic was the comments. I started socially distancing myself from the comments section before “social distancing” was common parlance. Yet, here we are. I think it’s because I just came downstairs to find my 3-year-old singing the lyrics to Cardi B’s WAP and I rage-typed an email to her babysitter. We have a strict “No Cardi until Kindy(garten)” rule in our house. I still have some pent up feelings. Here’s a few of them:
1) If you want “just the recipe” and no blog, you should pay for Mel’s Elite Access Link (or “MEAL” for short). J/k, this doesn’t actually exist. Because the entire blog is free. All of it. And, thanks be to Bill Gates, it’s actually pretty easy to scroll right on down to recipes! Technology, am I right!
2) The fact that you put the conversion in your email shows just how pedantic and unnecessary your comment was. See, you were able to Google the conversion and find it right away. Thanks be to Google, it’s actually pretty easy to do conversions! For instance, I just consumed my fourth liter of wine while typing this, which Google tells me is about 1 gallon. Don’t judge.
3) Gurl, Mel is American. She lives in a place called Idaho (think, Germany, but the Northern part and without the history and culture #nooffenseIdaho #okmaybesomeoffense). Well, her pigs are Australian but they haven’t gone all Wilbur yet and found a way to communicate metric measurement conversions to her (as far as I know – what are you hiding from us MEL???). In her country, providing butter measurements in tablespoons/sticks is like, standard. It is as ubiquitous as Floridian toddlers drinking 44 0z Mountain Dews.
Look, 2020 has been rough on all of us. I get it. But taking Mel to task for using a standard US butter measurement? C’mon, there has to be some lines. Mel, I’m sorry for clogging your blog with negativity – but I DID just eat an entire cheeseball from a recipe you posted so I guess the, ahem, “clogging” is kind of a tit-for-tat. Sorry, wine speaking…I’m going to leave the comment section and go back to looking for obscure clues Q may have left on Reddit.
Thank you for the belly laugh this morning. I hope you have your own blog.
You go girl!!!!
On most stick butter packs it measures the tablespoons for you. Cut what you need and then soften it. No reason to be rude. Know what your talking about before replying such rude comments. These cookies are great and the measurements were easy to follow.
If it was that hard for you to follow you should probably stay away from the oven, they get real hot.
I used 1 1/2 c butter (3sticks) coz at first I thought it requires 4 sticks. Then on my 2nd attempt, I used 2 sticks (1cup). To my surprise, I would prefer the mistake that I did coz it was better in terms of the cookies spreading out and being thinner. And crisper cookies
These are incredible and so easy to make!!
Can you convert the ingredients into uk measurements as your weights don’t make any sense to us in the uk.
Yes, these are great. However I did modify the recipe a bit because that is what I do. I reduced the amount of oatmeal from 2 1/2 cups to 2 cups, added 1 cup of chopped pecans, added 1/2 cup raisins, and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Also, I used dark brown sugar. They came out perfectly crispy. Thanks for the recipe.
Best oatmeal cookie ever ! Thin and crispy with 1/2 cup raisins added. My family loved it. My new go to recipe !