Chewy Oatmeal Cookies
These are the best oatmeal cookies, with rich buttery flavor, a hint of cinnamon, and lots of chewy oatmeal texture.
They’re not fancy. They’re not even very pretty. They’re just basic drop cookies filled with oats and a hint of cinnamon. Dessert possibly couldn’t get any less sophisticated.
BUT, sometimes simple is best. And these chewy oatmeal cookies really are the best. They’ve got a great chewy texture, delicious buttery-brown sugar flavor, and they’re so nostalgic. I dare you to stop at just one!
Table of Contents
- Ingredients you’ll need
- Have fun with mix-ins! (if you want)
- How to make these chewy oatmeal cookies
- Tips for baking the best cookies
- More classic cookie recipes
- Chewy Oatmeal Cookies recipe
Ingredients you’ll need
Let’s get baking, shall we? Here’s everything you need to make these delicious oatmeal cookies (full recipe below):
- Butter
- Light or dark brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Eggs
- All-purpose flour
- Old-fashioned rolled oats
- Baking soda
- Salt
Have fun with mix-ins! (if you want)
These oatmeal cookies are perfect on their own, but sometimes it’s fun to add something a little extra! Feel free to add 1 cup total of mix-ins such as:
- Chocolate chips
- Chopped nuts like walnuts or pecans
- Raisins, dried cherries or dried cranberries
- Mini M&Ms
How to make these chewy oatmeal cookies
Like most drop cookies, these simple oatmeal cookies are made using the creaming method:
- “Cream” butter and sugars. Beat with an electric mixer and paddle attachment (if you have one), until mixture is light and fluffy. Scrape down bowl at least once.
- Add eggs and vanilla. Mix after each addition.
- Add dry ingredients. Add all at once and mix until almost combined.
- Add oats and mix-ins. Mix until just incorporated.
- Scoop. Use a medium or large cookie scoop to portion dough and arrange a few inches apart on sheet pans lined with parchment paper.
- Bake. Bake in an oven preheat to 350°F for 8-10 minutes for smaller cookies, 10-12 minutes for larger cookies.
Tips for baking the best cookies
- Butter should be soft enough that a pressed finger will leave an indent, but not soft enough that your finger can press all the way through. If it’s shiny or melty at all, the butter is too warm and your cookies may spread.
- You can use either salted or unsalted butter in these cookies, but I love the additional flavor that comes from using salted butter.
- Be sure to measure flour correctly! All of my recipes are tested using the spoon and level method (more info through that link).
- These pre-cut parchment sheets are perfect for cookie baking.
- For show-stopping cookies like you see in this post, I like to make them big and use a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoon). More traditional sized cookies can be shaped with a medium cookie scoop (1½ tablespoon).
- If cookies come out slightly misshapen, use a spatula to press them back into a circle right after they come out of the oven. See more of my tips for how to bake pretty cookies.
- While completely optional, I love to sprinkle baked cookies with coarse or flaky salt for a bit of flair and additional sweet and salty flavor.
- Cookie dough freezes really well. I like to keep a stash in the freezer for fresh-baked cookies on demand.
- These cookies will keep at room temperature for about a week, but are best within a few days of baking.
More classic cookie recipes
- White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Monster Cookies
This recipe was originally developed in partnership with Go Bold with Butter in September of 2016. View the recipe on their website.
Chewy Oatmeal Cookies recipe
Chewy Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 grams) butter , at room temperature
- 1 cup (213 grams) packed light or dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups (200 grams) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 3 cups (297 grams) old-fashioned rolled oats , not quick cooking
- Optional add-ins: 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, chopped nuts, dried fruit, or M&Ms
- Coarse of flaky salt , for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line sheet pan with parchment paper.
- In bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, or in large bowl with hand-held mixer, beat butter, brown sugar and sugar until creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each. Add vanilla and mix until well combined.
- In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and oats. Add to butter mixture all at once and mix on low until combined.
- Use a medium (1½ tablespoon) or large cookie scoop (3 tablespoon) to portion dough and arrange a few inches apart on sheet pans lined with parchment paper.
- Bake until edges just begin to turn golden, about 8-10 minutes for smaller cookies, 10-12 minutes for larger cookies.
- Repeat with remaining cookie dough.
- Sprinkle baked cookies with coarse salt, if desired. Let cookies cool on the sheet pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy within a few days!
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Disclosure: This recipe was made with Real® Butter in partnership with the American Butter Institute. Thank you for supporting partnerships with brands and campaigns I believe in, which make it easier for me to bring you new and creative content. All opinions are always my own. To see all of the recipes I have created for Go Bold with Butter, click here.
What do you do with the products of your research? The not good enough cookies; the cakes that failed; the puddings the are lumpy? Do you sample or does someone else? Are the – rejects- eaten completely or given up to that great bakery in the sky? Would like to see posts of failed baked/cooked foods and where they reside now – on your hips or in the garbage pan. picture of the failed ones would be fun too.
Like your site very much. Thanks Judy
Oh the failures (most of them anyway) certainly are eaten and enjoyed. And if I did show you a photo of my hips you’d see that. 🙂 My family samples everything and the rest usually go to my husband’s coworkers, otherwise I’d eat everything. Occasionally food does end up in the trash, either if it’s a total failure or if I just need to get rid of it asap. I typically don’t share behind-the-scenes photos here, but that’s the stuff I love to share on instagram and snapchat (username: completedelish). Thanks for reading Judy!
Very good cookies! My apologies to your sponsors, but due to a lactose intolerance in the family, I made them with butter substitute. I ended up with 35 cookies, so mine must have been smaller than yours. Served as an easy dessert with fresh berries. Thanks for a good recipe!
To Vivian & others who want to/ need to substitute butter: consider coconut oil as a very healthy option – with no hydrogenated corn oils, chemicals, etc.. I use unsalted butter as a rule, & always keep some on hand, but if I want to have plenty of butter available for things other than cookies, like a sauce or to add to the veggies, sometimes I’ll use less butter & fill in with the coconut oil. Using all coconut oil works too, but they spread out more & I’d miss the buttery taste.
Love oatmeal cookies & looking forward to trying this recipe. My standard is from the Settlement Cookbook, but like to try others too. Will add walnuts, raisins & maybe dried cranberries.
Enjoy your site. Thanks for lots of interesting, trusted recipes & pics to peruse for inspiration, knowing you use real butter.
To Vivian & others who want to or need to substitute butter: consider coconut oil as a very healthy option – with no hydrogenated corn oils, chemicals, etc.. I use unsalted butter as a rule, & always keep some on hand, but if I want to have plenty of butter available for things other than cookies, like for a sauce or to add to the veggies, sometimes I’ll use less butter & fill in with the coconut oil. Using all coconut oil works too, but the cookies spread out more & I’d miss the buttery taste.
Love oatmeal cookies so looking forward to trying this recipe. My standard oatmeal cookie is from my old Settlement Cookbook, but I do like to try others too. Will add walnuts, raisins & maybe dried cranberries.
This is a really nice recipe. I used less sugar, but they are still too sweet. Next time I’ll use only the equivalent of 1/2 cup. I also added coconut and sesame (stuff from the cupboard for using up) and used regular margarine. They didn’t really spread out, they came out huge ? But tasty and chewy and that’s all that matters.
Just made a batch of these. Reduced the sugar a bit and balanced with extra flour. Added probably too many raisins–they barely held together, so they were crumbly to set on the pan, but soft and delicious! I added some allspice, too.
I clicked on the link to Go Bold With Butter and noticed that the recipe uses 1 cup of butter but your recipe here calls for 1/2 cup of butter. Which is correct? I’d love to try the recipe.
I used one cup of butter and they turned out perfectly. My mom recently passed away. Her name was Judi Tuerck. How odd that I picked this recipe and that you left a comment. Hugs
Made this recipe and added 1/3 Cup peanut butter, 1/3 cup pecans, 1/2 cup coconut, 1/3 cup peanut butter chips, 1/2 cup white chocolate chips! They came out perfect!!
My oats say old fashion but not rolled. Is thier a differents?
Just made these as a bedtime snack for my husband. Oatmeal raisin are his favorite and I loved this recipe because it was easy on the money measurements. Didn’t feel like pulling out every denomination of measuring cup I own. I went ahead and followed your 3 T. advice and they did not disappoint. Glad I made a second tray because I ended up having to eat a cookie from that tray as well; quality control of course! Delicious! I did add a half cup pecans and half cup raisins both of which were chopped in my food chopper.
These oatmeal cookies are AMAZING!! Seriously, the best oatmeal cookies I’ve ever made. Super easy and beyond good.
best oatmeal cookies yet! i added chocolate chips, walnuts and raisins
O Great details. Thank you.
Happy Holidays
Nancy Gaebel
Nancywinona3838@gmail.com.
Baked these tonight and they turned out great. I added 150g of raisins, and only substituted dairy butter for olive oil-based butter.
At 6.2k ft above sea level, the 1.5 Tbsp size took exactly 16 min. to yield light gold edges & honey-gold bottoms, 3 in. diameter, crisp base, soft all the way through, on the crumbly side of chewy, fig newton consistency. Yum!
5 stars for clear, accurate instructions with multiple measuring methods at the ready. I flattened scoops and measured to the gram, so I know what to tweak to taste.
If I were to want to make them even gooier / chewier – like if you held the cookie by the edge it might bend a little under its own weight – would you recommend reducing the floor, or adding a third egg? Or is that what molasses provides? Aiming for one that’ll bend sooner than break, if that makes sense 🤷♂️
So glad to find a recipe I really enjoy. Thanks!
Hi James! Thanks for all of the fabulous feedback. If you want a gooier cookie, I would simply try underbaking them first to see if you get the results you want. I also have better luck getting softer middles if I bake a larger 3Tbsp cookies. Reducing flour or adding more egg may change more than you’d like and make them spread more, etc. I can’t say for sure without testing it myself, but I’d love to hear the results if you do!
What happens if I use quick oats? That’s all I have on hand 😔
I haven’t tried quick oats so I can’t say exactly. Quick oats will likely work, but they probably will dissolve into the batter a bit so the texture will be different, and they may spread differently in the oven.
It’s become my favorite Oatmeal Cookie recipe. It really out beats the Original Quaker Oats recipe. I added chopped cranberries & coconut flakes, so yummy 😋
The most delicious batch of oatmeal cookies I’ve had. I threw in some almonds, raisins, and chocolate chips
Meh. Not that flavorful. Moist but not chewy, that caramel like, chewy texture is not this recipe. Won’t be a keeper. Will keep looking.
The first time I made this dish was extremely successful and I really love this dish. But this time I made this cake, I changed the recipe a bit so that my son invited his friends to play his flappy bird game because they love the taste of cake. Luckily the taste is still great.
Recipe was dry not buttery and chewy 🙁
Hi Sally! I’m sorry this recipe didn’t work for you. May I ask if you measured the flour properly? I’m willing to bet that may be the reason why. If you’d like to troubleshoot, I’d be happy to help! Email me anytime at completelydelicious@gmail.com.
Really tasty. Love the texture. Keeps well for at least a week.
This a wonderful recipe. It has become the family favorite for oatmeal cookies. It lends itself well to all kinds of additions – dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, coconut, apricots, apples) nuts, and most any kind of chip (chocolate, cinnamon, toffee). Thank you for another wonderful addition to our recipe box!
Just saying “a hint of cinnamon”, is all the hint we get, seeing as there’s none in the recipe, eh?
Dayton, I just double-checked and the recipe ingredients list 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon. Sorry you missed it! I’m sure these cookies were delish even without it though. 🙂
Perfection! Absolute perfection!
Pretty much perfect! Cooked evenly, tastes awesome. Not too sweet either. Thank you!
I made these today, and only had the quick-cooking oats on hand. They were perfect. I added raisins and pecans. They didn’t flatten but did spread just enough to make them slightly dense. This is now my go-to recipe for oatmeal cookies.
THANK YOU for this perfect recipe! I lost my old recipe and have been searching for a good simple oatmeal cookie that is soft and chewy, and not too sweet. I have made it 3 times already in the past week.
For my friends that do not consume eggs, I tried a vegan variation using Country Crock Plant Butter olive oil sticks instead of butter and for the eggs used Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer 2 TBSP + 3 TBSP water + 2TBSP avocado oil. Everyone loved both your original and the eggless variation. Thank you again. I look forward to trying more of your recipes.
The worst cookie I’ve ever made. They didn’t spread out at all and I ended up with raw inside and overcooked on the bottom.
Oh dang, sorry Sarah! Though I’m curious how you measured the flour? If I had to guess what went wrong, it would be that there was too much flour.
The best chewy, crispy cookie I have ever made. I made them HUGE and only got 12 cookies but they were amazing!!
These cookies came out great! I divided my dough into 3 sections, and added chocolate chips to one section dried cranberries to another and raisins to the last. Gave me a variety. DELICIOUS! will be making these again.
Love all of those mix-in options!! 🙂