This is a tweaked version of an oatmeal chocolate chip cookies recipe I got from my friend Jen King, who co-owns Liddabit Sweets, an artisanal confectionery in Brooklyn. They don’t do anything just plain ordinary at Liddabit (hand-dipped candy bars and caramels with beer and pretzels inside, hello), so needless to say, this is one good cookie. I prefer oatmeal cookies with plentiful chocolate chips, but feel free to substitute raisins if you’re that guy—no judgments. Well, a few judgments. I hope we can still be friends.–Molly Gilbert

Can you substitute raisins for chocolate chips?

Uh, that’s not exactly what we’d consider an equal swap, if you ask us. Of course you didn’t ask us. So if you’re that raisin gal (or guy), we salute you. As for us, we’re going to stick with chocolate. Whichever you choose, though, you can expect a spectacularly broad, thin cookie that’s crisp at the edges, chewy at the center, and uncommonly good through and through. Several oatmeal chocolate chip cookies cooling on a rack, one with a bite out of it.

Several oatmeal chocolate chip cookies cooling on a rack, one with a bite out of it.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

5 / 4 votes
Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are healthier than their classic cousin thanks to the presence of oats. Yet they’re still sufficiently indulgent to not make you question whether or not you’ll feel spectacularly satisfied, both with the cookies and yourself.
David Leite
CourseDessert
CuisineAmerican
Servings24 to 36 cookies
Calories155 kcal
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Total Time55 minutes

Ingredients 

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, (yes, that’s a lot, but it works if you like cinnamon)
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 1/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 9 tablespoons (4 1/2 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 heaping cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate, (bittersweet is swell, but any kind will do)

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 325°F (163°C) with racks in the upper and lower thirds. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and oats.
  • In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle or in a large bowl with a handheld electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and then beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, until smooth.
  • Add the flour mixture, grab a spoon, and gently stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate.
  • Scoop the dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto the baking sheets, leaving at least an inch of space between cookies since they tend to spread quite a lot. Flatten each cookie slightly with the palm of your hand. (You can freeze them on the baking sheet until solid, about 30 minutes. Transfer them to a resealable plastic bag, separating layers with parchment, and toss in the freezer. If baking cookies straight from the freezer, you may need to allow an extra few minutes in the oven.)
  • Bake the cookies until they're slightly puffed and golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. The cookies will eventually deflate after initially puffing, and that's okay—in fact, that's to be expected. They may also still look a little raw in the center when you take them out of the oven but they will cool to the perfect consistency. If you prefer your cookies more crunchy than chewy, leave them in the oven until golden brown all over.
  • Let the cookies cool slightly on the baking sheet and then transfer to wire racks. They're chewy when warm, crunchy when cool. The cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for about 1 week.

Adapted From

Sheet Pan Suppers

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Nutrition

Serving: 1 cookieCalories: 155 kcalCarbohydrates: 25 gProtein: 2 gFat: 5 gSaturated Fat: 3 gMonounsaturated Fat: 1 gTrans Fat: 1 gCholesterol: 27 mgSodium: 198 mgFiber: 1 gSugar: 13 g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe?Mention @leitesculinaria or tag #leitesculinaria!
Recipe © 2014 Molly Gilbert. Photo © 2014 Molly Gilbert. All rights reserved.

Recipe Testers’ Reviews

Chewy on the inside and golden and crisp on the outside, this is one good cookie. I rarely make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies since my kids aren’t fans of anything that contains something that might potentially be healthful (in this case, oats), but I LOVE oatmeal cookies, so this recipe was calling my name.

The dough came together right quick—like 15 minutes quick of hands-on time and an hour total time including baking. The recipe yield was right on the money with 25 cookies. I omitted the additional teaspoon ground cinnamon since 1 tablespoon seemed like plenty, and I was glad I did, as the end result had plenty of spice, and I think the additional teaspoon would’ve overpowered the balance of flavors. I’ll admit, I’m “that guy” and I don’t like chocolate in my oatmeal cookies, so I went with raisins. They added a nice chewiness to a cookie that already had plenty of texture.

I will definitely make these again to bring to the office. Either that or I’ll have to invest in looser pants.

This oatmeal chocolate chip cookies recipe was simple to make and yielded quite delicious cookies. This recipe is a keeper.

I made 2 batches, one with raisins and one with chocolate chips. I think the batch with raisins took the slight edge, but the chocolate-chip version was also good. I think combining them and using 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup raisins would make an excellent cookie as well. These baked quickly in my oven and were done within 12 to 13 minutes. A tablespoon ground cinnamon is a lot more than I usually add to my oatmeal cookies, but I tried it, and it was surprisingly good and not overwhelming as I thought it would be. My family enjoyed the results.

These are great oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. They smelled heavenly in the oven. As they came out, it smelled almost like there was some almond extract in them. (Don’t worry, people who dislike almond extract; the actual cookies didn’t taste like it. It was a fleeting moment for my nose.) The cinnamon is a nice touch here. It elevates the cookies, even though it seemed like a lot was going into the batter. I’d never tried cinnamon in chocolate chip cookies before, but the combination is fantastic.

The batter is thick and doesn’t spread much at all, so it’s possible to fit quite a few cookies on a single sheet. I would advise not going too much less than the 1-inch space between cookies, though. The recipe made 40 cookies. The cookies took 15 minutes to be done. I would not recommend omitting the cinnamon. It really made these cookies distinctive and special.

I was looking for a new cookie recipe to include in my holiday baking this year, and this oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe caught my eye because I had all of the ingredients already in my pantry. (Also, I liked the high ratio of oats to flour here: 2 1/4 cups oats to only 1 1/2 cups flour.)

I initially thought that the suggested 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon sounded like a lot, but it really ended up being the perfect amount. These cookies were perfectly chewy and very flavorful; I love white chocolate, so I actually used 1/2 cup white chocolate chips here and 1/2 cup of semisweet chips.

I would make these cookies again in a heartbeat.

I was a little nervous about trying this oatmeal chocolate chip cookies recipe because it called for a lot of baking soda. But I went for it, and boy, am I glad I did! These oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are really easy to put together.

First, let the butter come to room temperature (67°F), which will take an hour or so, depending on warmth of your home. The recipe says to bake the cookies until slightly puffed and golden brown, which took 15 minutes at 325°F in my convection oven. I rotated the baking sheets and changed oven rack positions after 9 minutes.

The cookies puffed but immediately deflated. I thought it was a mistake. But here is where the science of baking soda comes to play. Baking soda is a leavener and creates carbon dioxide gas, which makes the cookie rise. Baking soda also weakens the gluten. Because this recipe called for a lot of baking soda, the cookies rise so much that they quickly collapse on themselves. Usually baking soda will create a thin, crisp cookie, but because of the oatmeal and butter and brown sugar and eggs, these cookies stayed deliciously moist and crisp around the edges.

I took them to a party, and everyone loved them. The recipe made exactly 25 large, thin cookies. I used Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips, and the only thing I would do differently to make these even more delicious is to add some chopped toasted pecans. Definitely be sure to add a heaping cup chocolate chips—maybe even 1 1/2 cups.

I LOVED these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, as did many others! Really, really good!

The recipe was easy to put together and took about 15 minutes to gather and combine all the ingredients. I used the whole amount of cinnamon, and it wasn’t overpowering at all.

The recipe stated to position the racks in the upper and lower third of the oven. But it didn’t mention which rack to use or if it mattered. I grew up watching my mom put the first sheet on the bottom rack, then fill the second sheet. When that was ready to go into the oven, she would move the bottom sheet to the top rack and put the new one on the bottom. She would continue that way until all dough was used. I did it a little different and put both sheets in, one on top and one on bottom, baked for 6 minutes, then rotated the sheets so the back cookies were in front but remained on same rack. Those baked for 6 more minutes, then I swapped the sheets on the racks and baked for 3 to 4 more minutes.

The cookies were browned nicely, crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside for the first day. I stored them in an airtight container and they turned crisp the next day. Same great flavor, they just didn’t have the chewiness. No harm, though, as I love crisp cookies. I took the freshly baked cookies to a party and people absolutely loved them. The semisweet chocolate chips were a nice alternative to raisins.

Definitely keeping this rockin’ recipe!

Not knowing how these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies would turn out, I made half a batch rather than the entire recipe. If I had it to do again, I would make the full recipe. These are very enjoyable cookies and very easy to throw together.

I made a test cookie to see how the timing worked, as well as to see the size of the cookie. I tend to like smaller cookies than most recipes make. Such was the case here. A heaping tablespoon made too large a cookie for my liking. I actually used heaping teaspoons and ended up with four dozen 2 1/2-inch cookies. I froze 20 balls of cookie dough so that I can bake them when the urge hits. It should be noted that the dough spreads quite a bit and that the cookies are fairly thin.

This is a great base recipe for oatmeal cookies and easily adaptable to make it your own with different mix-ins. My mom likes the combination of butterscotch chips and raisins, so that’s what I did, and boy were they good! The extra brown sugar and extra butter really made these cookies rich and flavorful.

I like my cookies more on the chewy side, so I baked them for the low end of the suggested time—12 minutes—and this produced a chewy, soft cookie. Baking the cookies for 15 minutes made the cookie a bit more crunchy. I made a batch with a little less oats, like maybe 1/2 cup less than the recipe calls for, and this makes for a much flatter and chewier cookie, which was good for me, but for real oatmeal cookie lovers, the more oats the better! I probably ended up with about 50 cookies, but I made them much smaller, more like a heaping teaspoon, so about 25 if you make them larger is accurate.

These oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are perfect. The cinnamon definitely adds an extra dimension.

The baking time is spot-on. In order to get 25 cookies, each cookie weighed about 1.9 ounces. These are BIG cookies—before I flattened them, they were larger than golf balls. The dough spreads a bit, so the suggested spacing needs to be adhered to. The cookies turned out puffy, gooey, and chewy.




About David Leite

I count myself lucky to have received three James Beard Awards for my writing as well as for Leite’s Culinaria. My work has also appeared in The New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, Saveur, Bon Appétit, Gourmet, Food & Wine, Yankee, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and more.


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8 Comments

    1. Elizabeth, we haven’t tested this recipe with using instant oatmeal and it may alter the structure of the dough. I would suggest sticking with rolled oats for this recipe as instant oatmeal may not be a successful substitute.