Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
You can’t beat a classic like these soft and chewy chocolate chip oatmeal cookies! Made with butter, brown sugar, old-fashioned rolled oats, cinnamon and semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Cookies don’t get much more perfect than this— buttery flavor, soft and chewy texture, a hint of cinnamon, plenty of rolled oats, and loads of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
These are simply my famous best oatmeal cookie recipe with chocolate chips, and I know you’ll love them as much as my family does! I love to make a batch, bake a few off right away, and then store the rest in the freezer for easy baking whenever the cookie craving hits!
Table of Contents
- Ingredients you'll need
- Have fun with other mix-ins (if you want!)
- How to make these chocolate chip oatmeal cookies
- More cookie tips
- More oatmeal cookies you're sure to love
- Get the recipe
Ingredients you’ll need

Have fun with other mix-ins (if you want!)
These cookies don’t need anything extra to be special, but if you do want to add more fun add-ins, feel free! Substitute the semi-sweet chocolate chips with any of the following, or add up to 1 additional cup of:
- Chopped nuts such as walnuts and pecans
- Other chips such as milk chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips or peanut butter chips
- Dried fruits like dried cranberries or raisins

How to make these chocolate chip oatmeal cookies
This is a classic “drop cookie” recipe—it doesn’t get much easier than this! They’re made using the creaming method:
- “Cream” butter and sugars. Beating them together until smooth and creamy incorporates air into the mixture, which affects rise, texture and structure (so the cookies hold their shape and not spread too much). More info on the science behind this here.
- Add eggs and vanilla. Adding these individually ensures we don’t overwhelm the butter mixture with too much wet ingredients all at once, and everything mixes evenly.
- Add dry ingredients. Finally we add flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and rolled oats. Mix only until dough is uniform, don’t overmix!
- Bake. I like to bake larger cookies (portioned with #20 3 Tbsp cookie scoop). Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes (8-10 minutes for smaller 1.5 Tbsp cookies).

baking tip:How to bake pretty, picture-perfect cookies
While they will taste great no matter what, cookies sometimes need a little extra TLC to look as great as they taste:
- Only mix half of the chocolate chips or other mix-ins called for.
- Portion the dough with a cookie scoop, then roll into balls by hand.
- Give them plenty of space. I only bake 6-8 cookies at a time on my sheet pan, depending on size.
- Before baking, strategically place and press the remaining half of the chocolate chips/chunks into the tops of the dough balls.
- As soon as the cookies are pulled from the oven, and while they are still hot and pliable, use a spatula to push any uneven edges back into a perfect circle.
- Let them cool completely before packaging or storing.

More cookie tips
- 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. Butter should not be shiny or melty at all. Are your cookies spreading too much? This could be why!
- 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). Are your cookies dry and cakey? This could be why!
- This recipe was only tested with old-fashioned rolled oats, quick-cooking oats should not be used for this recipe.
- 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).
- Cookie dough freezes really well. I like to keep a stash of portioned cookie dough balls 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 oatmeal cookies you’re sure to love
- Monster Cookies
- Chocolate Toffee Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Cherries
- Kitchen Sink Cookies
- Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Get the recipe

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter , at room temperature (226 grams, 2 sticks)
- 1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar (213 grams)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (50 grams)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (200 grams)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼-½ teaspoon ground cinnamon (per your preference)
- 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats , not quick cooking (297 grams)
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (170 grams)
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. Stir in chocolate chips.
- 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.
- Let cookies cool on the sheet pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy within a few days!
This recipe was originally published April 2017
Oatmeal cookies make me so happy. Love this!
Oh, my gosh! This looks perfect! I have an oatmeal cookie recipe I’ve been using for years, fiddled this way and that, but I’ve never been completely happy with it. Oatmeal cookies can be tricky because the oats are dry and can suck all the moisture up, which makes it hard for me to get the butter and sugar quantities just right. But yours look like just the thing and I’m printing this recipe right now. This will be the next batch of cookies I make. Ooh, I’m excited! Thanks!
Those are some pretty perfect looking cookies, if I do say so myself!
What I wouldn’t do for a cookie and glass of wine right now!! These look divine, Annalise!
drooling! the photos are so lovely and delicious… obviously I need to make these!
These look and sound wonderful. Thank you for the lovely recipe!
These truly look amazingly delicious! I’ve been all about dark chocolate lately and have been replacing the milk one with it in every recipe involving chocolate I can get my hands on…so, yes, basically these cookie are definitely going to happen during the weekend!
xo, Elisa
Made these yesterday and they are SO good! I tried them while still warm and I didn’t think that much of them, but once they were completely cool they were like a totally different cookie. This recipe is definitely a keeper.
I followed the instructions but I think i must have accidentally added to much salt. But they came out pretty good regardless. thanks for good sunday night cookies!
Your blog is beauuuuutiful!! Congratulations!! I also love to bake!
These are the perfect comfort food.
These look great! I’m not a big fan of oatmeal raisin cookies so I always sub out the raisins with chocolate chips, but I have yet to find a recipe I really like–this recipe looks like it might just be the one I have been looking for 🙂
Yum, baking is a cure for illness for sure. Love the cookies, texturely they are awesome.
These look like the perfect cure for feeling sick… It just would have been nice if someone else had made them FOR you 😉 This is a wonderful recipe. Thanks for sharing, Annalise, and I hope you feel better!
Of course! The best cure for anything is surely warm cookies. These look delicious…the chunkier the cookie – the better!