Best Oatmeal Cookies
Posted Nov 03, 2019, Updated Dec 10, 2022
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The best Oatmeal Cookie Recipe – crispy edges with soft and chewy centers, these oatmeal cookies are easy to make with simple ingredients and no chilling! . Add your favorite mix-ins to make them your own.
You all know I love cookies. From chocolate chip cookies to peanut butter cookies to fun and festive cut-out sugar cookies, I have spent many, many years developing the best cookie recipes, and now I present to you, the best oatmeal cookies ever.
Sometimes you just need the comforting nostalgia of a chewy oatmeal cookie. With hints of cinnamon and vanilla, these oatmeal cookies will soon become your go-to recipe.
These Oatmeal Cookies have crispy edges and soft and chewy centers. They’re made with simple ingredients and don’t require any chilling. Add your favorite mix-ins to make them your own.
Oatmeal Cookie Recipe: Ingredients
Before we walk through how to make oatmeal cookies, let’s chat about the ingredients in this oatmeal cookie recipe.
- Butter. I use salted butter to make these oatmeal cookies. Unsalted butter also works well, you may just need to increase the amount of sea salt.
- Oatmeal: For the perfect, chewy texture use old-fashioned (or rolled) oats. You can use quick oats, just be aware it will change the texture of the cookies.
- Egg. Try to make sure the egg is room temperature! I have not made this recipe with an egg substitute, so if you do let me know in the comments below.
- Vanilla Extract. Please only use pure vanilla extract (not imitation) for the best taste!
- Brown Sugar. I recommend light brown sugar for this oatmeal cookie recipe! However if you like a little bolder, molasses taste then you can use dark brown sugar!
- Granulated Sugar. Organic cane sugar is my granulated sugar of choice, but regular granulated sugar works perfectly!
- Cinnamon. Choose your favorite ground cinnamon! The higher the quality, the better it will taste!
- Sea salt. I only ever bake with pure, fine sea salt. If you are using iodized salt I recommend decreasing the amount of salt by half.
- Mix-ins. Adding mix-ins is optional. My husband prefers these oatmeal cookies without anything added, however I’ll chat about possible add-ins later on!
How to make oatmeal cookies
Ok, now that we’ve discussed the ingredients, let’s dive into the process of making this oatmeal cookie recipe! Don’t forget to watch the video to see the process!
Cream together butter and sugars
Start making these oatmeal cookies by putting the softened butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until the evenly combined (about 60 seconds). You may need to pause, scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue beating.
You can also use a large mixing bowl and a hand mixer if you do not have a standing mixer!
Add egg & vanilla
Next, add egg and vanilla extract and beat for about 60 seconds until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Add dry ingredients (except oats)
You can either mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl before you begin the rest of the recipe – which I recommend to ensure even distribution – or just toss them into the mixer on top of the beaten wet ingredients.
Either way, beat them in until they are just combined and the dough is uniform throughout.
Add oatmeal
Next, add oatmeal and beat it’s evenly distributed in the oatmeal cookie dough.
Add mix-ins (if desired)
Once the oatmeal is beaten in, you can add up to 1 cup of your favorite mix-ins! Like I said before, my husband prefers these plain, and I never miss an opportunity to add chocolate chips. Here are some suggestions for delicious mix-ins:
- chocolate chips (obviously)
- white chocolate chips
- raisins
- dried fruit (cranberries, raspberries, blueberries, etc.)
- cinnamon chips (YUM)
- nuts (walnuts, pecans, sliced almonds, etc.)
Measure dough
Use a small cookie scoop (1.5 to 2 TBS) to measure out the oatmeal cookie dough. Roll each portion into a smooth ball and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Once the dough balls are on the parchment paper, gently and ever-so-slightly press the tops down. This will ensure even baking.
Bake or freeze dough!
Bake in the preheated oven! If you have a convection oven you can bake two trays at a time. If not, I recommend only baking one tray at a time.
How to freeze oatmeal cookie dough
Instead of baking, you can also freeze the oatmeal cookie dough balls to bake them later.
To freeze:
- Place oatmeal cookie dough balls on a non-stick cookie sheet and put them in the freezer for 1-2 hours or until firm.
- Transfer to an airtight, freezer-friendly container (I recommend either a glass storage container or a freezer-friendly ziplock bag).
- Freeze for up to 1 month.
- To bake: remove dough from the freezer and let it come to room temperature. Then bake according the the recipe instructions.
Cool & Enjoy!
Let the oatmeal cookies sit on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy them with a glass of milk or cup of coffee!
To store:
Store these oatmeal cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-5 days (if they last that long)!
FAQs about oatmeal cookies
Here are some frequently asked questions about oatmeal cookies! If you have other questions I did not address in this post, please leave a comment and I will answer them!
If you follow this oatmeal cookie recipe your end result should not be dry at all. They should be doughy and chewy oatmeal cookie perfection. If they do turn our dry, these are the most likely reasons:
Too much flour. Did you accidentally pack the flour tightly into the measuring cup? If so, you probably added too much flour. Scoop and level the flour to get just the right amount.
Over-mixing. If you over-mix the dough after the dry ingredients are added it could cause the cookies to become tough. Mix the dry ingredients in until they are just combined.
Over-baking. I implore you not to over-bake these oatmeal cookies. A slightly undercooked cookie is a happy cookie. Remember they continue baking slightly after they are removed from the oven as they cool on the baking pan.
A good blend of moisture (which comes from butter, brown sugar and eggs in this recipe), rolled oats and proper baking time/temperature will result in perfectly chewy oatmeal cookies.
Nope! Old fashioned (or rolled) oats are whole-grain oat kernels that have been rolled flat. Quick-cooking oats are also rolled, but the oat kernel is cut into smaller pieces so it can cook faster.
These oatmeal cookies are done when the edges and top are just barely set (about 8-10 minutes).
NOTE: All ovens bake differently
Make sure you know your oven. Invest in a cheap oven thermometer to check the temperature and ensure the internal temperature is actually the temperature to which the oven is set. If your oven is baking too hot or too cold, then the cookies will not turn out well.
For the perfect, chewy texture use old-fashioned (or rolled) oats.
Yes, you can, just be aware that it will change the texture of the oatmeal cookies to be less chewy!
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Best Soft & Chewy Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ cup salted butter softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cup old-fashioned oatmeal
- 1 cup mix-ins (optional) chocolate chips, raisins, cinnamon chips, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
- Place softened butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer and beat until combined.
- Add egg and vanilla and beat on medium speed until the mixture is light (about 30-60 seconds).
- Add dry ingredient mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.
- Add oatmeal and beat on low speed until combined.
- Add mix ins (if desired) and stir until evenly distributed in the dough.
- Use a 1 ½ to 2 TBS cookie scoop to measure out the dough.
- Roll the dough into a ball and place on the prepared cookie sheet. Repeat until all the dough is used.
- Gently and very slightly press down tops of cookies until they are flat.
- Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes until the top is just set.
- Let sit on the baking pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
Video
Notes
- Place oatmeal cookie dough balls on a non-stick cookie sheet and put them in the freezer for 1-2 hours or until firm.
- Transfer to an airtight, freezer-friendly container (I recommend either a glass storage container or a freezer-friendly ziplock bag).
- Freeze for up to 1 month.
- To bake: remove dough from the freezer and let it come to room temperature. Then bake according the the recipe instructions.
- Salted Butter. Unsalted butter also works well, you may just need to increase the amount of sea salt.
- Light Brown Sugar. If you like a bolder molasses taste then you can use dark brown sugar.
- Granulated Sugar. Organic cane sugar is my granulated sugar can be used in place of regular white sugar.
- Fine Sea salt. I only ever bake with pure, fine sea salt. If you are using iodized salt I recommend decreasing the amount of salt by half.
- Mix-ins. Adding mix-ins is optional. Here are some suggestions:
- Baking chips: chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips,
- cinnamon chips.
- Dried fruit: (cranberries, raspberries, blueberries, etc.)
- Nuts: (walnuts, pecans, sliced almonds, etc.)
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More delicious cookie recipes:
Did you love these oatmeal cookies?! Try some of our other favorite cookie recipes!
- We’re slightly famous for our best chocolate chip cookie recipe!
- I’m obsessed with these classic peanut butter cookies!
- These peanut butter oatmeal cookies are the best!
- Everyone needs a perfect cut-out sugar cookie recipe!
- This was my grandma’s snickerdoodle cookie recipe!
- These Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies are my favorite Christmas cookies!
- Our Double Chocolate Chip Cookies have three different forms of chocolate!
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Great cookies’ added butterscotch morsels and pecans to make quite an amazing cookie.
Thank you Wil! Love those mix-ins!
Amazing recipe! The cookies were truly delicious. A huge hit with my family!
I baked a single recipe of oatmeal cookies using this recipe. I must say, they are the best oatmeal cookies I’ve ever eaten. I have done several of your cookie recipes and this one is the simplest and the quickest. Sometimes an hour before dinner I would whip up a batch and time it so they are in the cool down cycle yet still warm. Mmmmm the best. Keep on printing these recipes…. please!!!
Thankx a bunch!
Ken
Thank you Ken! I’m so glad you love them as much as we do!
I made these cookies tonight. I added 1/2 cup of raisins, 1/2 cup of cranberries and 1/2 cup of walnuts. They were very good but were hard to remove from the cookie sheet. I used a light-colored cookie sheet on two of the trays, then decided to use a dark cookie sheet on the last 2 trays. In addition, I added parchment paper while baking the last 2 trays on the dark cookie sheets. They came out a bit thicker and didn’t break while trying to remove them from the cookie sheet. I’ll try again another day.
I suggest using parchment paper or silicone baking mats to line your cookie trays to prevent sticking.
I make these for coworkers all the time because they say they’re the best! Which they are, my family agrees. It’s a small batch but yields a lot of cookies since you dont make them as big.
Thank you Vitoria! These are a family-favorite recipe, so I love when other people enjoy it too!
Made your chocolate chip cookies a couple of weeks ago…..OMG…ate half dozen before the day was out! Took some in to work and they disappeared in a heartbeat (co-workers kept asking if any more!)
I did change it up a little by using almond extract along with the vanilla and added Girhadeli bittersweet chips in addition to the semi sweet as called for in the recipe. Yummy
Trying oatmeal cookies this weekend!
Thank you Pam! Please come back and tell me how you like these cookies!
Have you ever tried to substitute some of the sugar with apple sauce?
No, I don’t recommend making that substitution.
I subbed sugar with honey- taste was excellenct!
These are really good! I added some maple flavoring, pecans and semi-sweet chocolate chips. Wow! Delicious!
Thank you, Dee!
These cookies were delicious.my recipe made 38.only cooked for 8 min. at 375 convection oven. Chewy. I did not add anything but next time it will be raisins.unsalted butter was fine
This is the first time that I have tried the recipe. The cookies were chewy and delicious. My grandson (1year old) devoured them.
I’m so glad you both enjoy them, Grace!