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I love Chewy Oatmeal Cookies!! I feel like oatmeal is the forgotten cookie, but they’re SO good. I always forget how much I love them until I make them again. These are chewy and soft oatmeal cookies with the perfect texture – they’re so good plain or you can add anything you want – I’m giving lots of ideas!
The BEST Oatmeal Cookies
Oatmeal Cookies are the underdog of cookies but they really are my favorite cookies. This recipe is my absolute go-to because it yields a soft cookie with a chewy texture. They’re great plain or you can add anything you like – chocolate chips or nuts, raisins or candy. They’re perfectly golden brown and super flavorful – this will be your favorite oatmeal cookie recipe – and maybe your favorite cookie of all time!
Ingredients Needed
- Butter: use real butter, okay? I use unsalted butter in this recipe, and you need to start with it softened. Learn how to soften butter quickly here. Butter substitutes and low-fat butter won’t work in these cookies. The only exception to that rule is if you use Earth’s Balance Vegan Butter Sticks (those are a 1:1 sub for butter).
- Brown Sugar: instead of mixing sugars in my cookies, these are a brown sugar oatmeal cookie. I love the flavor that brown sugar gives to recipes, plus it adds to the oatmeal flavor of the cookie and keeps them soft for days.
- Flour: as written, the recipe uses all-purpose flour. See below for substitutions.
- Quick Cooking Oats: I find that old fashioned oats are okay in these cookies but I prefer quick cooking oats because they make chewy oatmeal cookies without being too much. You can make your own quick cooking oats from rolled oats by pulsing them a few times in a blender or food processor.
Click to see the recipe card below for full ingredients & instructions!
Tips for How to make Oatmeal Cookies
- You can make these cookies with a hand or stand mixer.
- Use QUICK COOKING OATS – not old-fashioned! Some recipes online use rolled oats but this recipe uses “instant” or quick oats.
- Be sure to cream your room temperature butter and sugar before adding any other ingredients. It should be nice and fluffy!
- Whisk together your dry ingredients before adding to the wet ingredients.
- Don’t forget to chill the cookie dough. This ensures a puffy soft and chewy cookie! PLUS it allows the cookie dough to rest and the flavors to develop.
- I prefer baking cookies on silicone baking mats (Silpats) but you can also use parchment paper.
- Make these cookies any size (photos shown are 2 tablespoon size) or shape: you can make them small bite sized using a 1 tablespoon scoop, or make them into a cookie cake or bar cookie.
- How do you know when your cookies are done? They’ll be golden around the edges and have just lost that glossy sheen on top. Don’t over bake these – they’re better a little under done.
Variations and Mix In Options
I’m showing you four different versions of cookies today, but the options for making different flavors is endless!
- Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies are a huge hit. Simply adding chocolate chips to your batter make one of my favorite oatmeal chocolate chip cookies!!
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are a classic. I don’t like raisins, so these aren’t my first choice, but a lot of people love them!
- M&M Oatmeal Cookies – I love adding M&Ms to cookies. I’ve done it to peanut butter, chocolate chip, and sugar cookies – any cookie can benefit from M&Ms!
- If you want to make oatmeal cookies with peanut butter, try my recipe for peanut butter oatmeal cookies too!
- Add chopped peanut butter cups or Reese’s Pieces, swap pumpkin pie spice for the cinnamon – so many options!
- Oatmeal Scotchies are also a favorite – they add butterscotch chips.
- Nuts: Pecans or walnuts would be best.
- Fruit: Add cranberries (I love white chocolate cranberry cookies) or even dried cherries.
Storing & Freezing
Store these in an airtight container for up to 4 days or place in the freezer. You can freeze them up to 3 months!
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did my oatmeal cookies spread so much?
If you don’t chill the dough they might flatten too much. I prefer a fluffy cookie that’s nice and soft – so chill cookie dough balls at least 30 minutes.
Why are my oatmeal cookies so dry?
Did you accidentally use old fashioned oats? Those will soak up much more moisture and make the cookies dry. So will not using real butter (not margarine or butter substitutes).
Why are my oatmeal cookies puffy?
We’ve chilled our dough to make soft cookies. Sometimes, when the cookie dough is really cold, they have a hard time getting started flattening. If you’ve chilled them longer than specified (or if you notice this happening during baking) you might want to give them a little press with a spatula or your palm to get them going.
Oatmeal Cookies Recipe
4.92 from 79 votes
Oatmeal Cookies are one of the best cookies! These are soft and chewy cookies and this is the ultimate cookie recipe with choices for substitutions and baking sizes!
Prep Time 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time 12 minutes minutes
Chill Time 1 hour hour
Total Time 1 hour hour 32 minutes minutes
Yield 24 cookies
Serving Size 1 cookie
Diet: Diabetic, Gluten Free
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Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (186g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter softened
- 1 ½ cups (300g) packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 ¼ cups quick cooking oats
- 1 ½ cups mix-ins (see below) optional
Instructions
Note: this dough needs to be chilled. Plan ahead!
In a medium bowl, whisk cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and flour. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. (You can also use a large bowl and a hand mixer.) Cream until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla, beat until smooth.
Gradually mix in dry ingredients until smooth, being careful not to over mix. Add oats and mix, then stir in desired mix-ins.
Scoop 2 tablespoon sized balls of dough and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or wax paper. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silpat baking mat and place the cookie dough balls 2” apart.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the bottom is slightly golden. Cool on cookie sheets for 10 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely.
Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 4 days. They can also be frozen in an airtight container or ziploc bag for up to 2 months.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Mix in options:
Use 1 1/2 cups of M&Ms, chocolate chips, chopped nuts, raisins, or other candy.
Baking options:
- 1 tablespoon cookies (8-10 minutes)
- Two (9-inch) cookie cakes (18-25 minutes)
- 9×13-inch pan (20-28 minutes)
Dietary Substitutions:
- Substitute equal amount Earths Balance Vegan Butter Sticks for the butter called for.
- Substitute equal amounts of bread flour or GF 1:1 AP flour
- Substitute half whole wheat flour and use AP flour for the remaining amount
- Substitute 1 1/4 cups Swerve Sweetener Brown Sugar for the brown sugar to make them sugar-free.
Other Tips
- This recipe can be easily doubled or halved.
- Be sure to cream your butter and sugar before adding any other ingredients.
- Whisk together your dry ingredients before adding to the wet ingredients.
- You can make these cookies with a hand or stand mixer.
- Be sure to use baking soda in the cookies (not baking powder).
- Don’t forget to chill the cookie dough. This ensures a puffy soft and chewy cookie!
- I prefer baking cookies on silicone baking mats (Silpats) but you can also use parchment paper.
- How do you know when your cookies are done? They’ll be golden around the edges and have just lost that glossy sheen on top.
Recipe Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 196kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 34mg | Sodium: 153mg | Potassium: 74mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 256IU | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Dorothy Kern
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Other Oatmeal Cookie Recipes
- Oatmeal Scotchies
- Rolo Stuffed Oatmeal Cookies
- Oatmeal Cookie Pie
- Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Peanut Butter Bars
Dietary Substitutions
I have tested these oatmeal cookies with a few different ingredients in case you’re on a special diet or can’t find certain ingredients.
- Make these cookies Gluten-Free by using Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Gluten Free Baking Flour (light blue bag). (Substitute it equally for the AP Flour.) Be sure that you use Quaker Gluten Free Oats too – regular oats are naturally gluten-free but sneaky bits of gluten can sneak into the batch, so Quaker has a completely GF line.
- Make these with whole wheat flour by substituting 1/2 cup whole wheat flour with 1/2 cup all purpose flour. (Using all whole wheat flour requires other changes to the dough.)
- You can substitute bread flour equally for the all purpose if you don’t have AP flour.
- You can make these sugar free by using 1 1/4 cups of Swerve Brown Sugar. It’s the only completely 0 carb brown sugar on the market and really does taste good in recipes!!
- Make them dairy-free by using Earths Balance Vegan Butter Sticks in place of butter (and omit any dairy add-ins, obviously).
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