Easy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
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These easy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies made with melted butter are chewy and super quick to make. They’re the classic homemade cookie everyone loves, made in one bowl with a spoon and just a few ingredients, and ready in about 35 minutes. Makes about 25 cookies.
Easy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Quick Look
Prep: 15 min | Chill: 10 min (Optional) | Bake: 10-11 min per tray | Makes: about 25
- What it is: chewy classic oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
- Why this one: Super quick, one bowl, no mixer, and about 10% to 30% less sugar than some popular recipes I compared, so you taste the butter, oats, chocolate and vanilla.
- Secret to success: let the melted butter cool before the egg goes in, and take the cookies out while the centers still look slightly underdone.
- Make ahead: the dough freezes well, so you can bake a few at a time.
My Go-To Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
These are the cookies I always get asked to bring along, and the kind you can eat a few of. Or more. 🙂
School lunches, afternoon tea parties and Christmas cookie swaps. They fit in everywhere. And for a cookie plate with a bit more variety, my dainty cottage cheese cookies go nicely alongside.
In our house, they’re also movie-night cookies. By the time everyone has agreed on a movie and gotten settled, which in a family of six takes about as long as baking cookies, they’re coming out of the oven.
I started making them when I first moved to France, back when you couldn’t even buy chocolate chips, so I chopped up chocolate bars instead.
I got used to French desserts being less sweet, like the French yogurt cake everyone there grows up on, so I cut back the sugar a little. Don’t worry, nobody has ever bitten into one and thought “diet cookie.” They taste like a classic oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, still properly sweet, just with more flavor. The usual reaction is “wow, this is a really good cookie.” 🙂
Why You Will Love this Recipe:
- No mixer. One bowl and a spoon, plus a small pot or the microwave for the butter.
- Chewy center, a little crunch on the outside. Brown sugar keeps the middle soft, and a couple spoons of white sugar crisp the edges.
- A family-size batch. About 25 cookies, roughly the size of the ones you buy at the supermarket. Lunchbox friendly, and nut-free as written (check your chocolate chip label). Baking for a big crowd? My chocolate chocolate chip cookie bars bake in one pan, and are super quick.
Equipment
Nothing fancy here.
- Small pot or microwave-safe bowl – for melting the butter
- Large heatproof mixing bowl – the warm butter goes straight in, so glass or metal is best
- Whisk or fork – I usually just use a fork
- Kitchen scale – So much easier to get the flour right. Too much flour makes for a dry cookie!
- Spatula – Handy to scrape down the sides, but you can also just use a spoon
- Cookie scoop (optional) – Keeps each cookie the same size, so they bake evenly
- 2 baking trays and baking paper (parchment paper) – the paper stops the cookies from sticking and makes clean up way easier 🙂
Ingredients
Full measurements in the recipe card below.
- Salted Butter – the salt balances the sweetness. If you only have unsalted, you can add 1/4 tsp to the flour.
- Water – Just a tablespoon makes a chewier cookie.
- Brown sugar – Light brown sugar packed into the cup. It’s what makes the cookie chewy and moist. Out of brown sugar? Try my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar.
- White sugar – Just 2 or 3 tablespoons to crisp up the edges. Use 3 if you like a sweeter cookie.
- Egg – One large egg holds all those oats together so the cookies don’t crumble.
- Vanilla – Real vanilla tastes best, but imitation works too. I use 1 1/2 tsp, sometimes 2.
- Plain flour, aka all purpose flour. Not self raising, which already has a raising agent mixed in, so the cookies puff up too much and lose their chew.
- Cinnamon – Optional. You won’t really taste it, but it brings out the chocolate flavor. Start with 1/8 tsp if you are not sure. I use 1/4 tsp.
- Baking soda (bicarb soda) – gives the cookie a bit of lift. Make sure it isn’t expired, or they’ll come out flat.
- Rolled oats aka old fashioned oats. Not quick or steel cut oats. Rolled oats are what give these cookies their “chew”.
- Chocolate chips – I used semi-sweet, but you can also use white or dark chocolate chips.
Substitutions and Variations
This recipe is pretty forgiving. Here’s what you can swap, and what changes.
- Chopped chocolate instead of chips. Chips hold their shape, so you get neat chocolate dots. With chopped chocolate, you get these nice puddles of chocolate and here in Australia, it’s cheaper to buy a chocolate bar and chop it yourself. My favorite is Cadbury Old Gold. I buy it in bulk when it goes on sale because I use it in pretty much all of my chocolate desserts. I think the equivalent might be Hershey’s special dark bar.
- French-style, less sweet. Use 60 g of chopped 60% to 70% dark chocolate. Lindt dark 70% is my go-to. Less chocolate, darker chocolate, and you really taste the butter and oats.
- Nuts. Add up to 1 cup chopped pecans, walnuts or hazelnuts. They add a bit of crunch, and you get a few more cookies, but leave them out for nut-free lunchboxes. Pecans are my favorite here 🙂
- Brown butter. Brown the butter instead of just melting it, then cool it completely. It adds a nutty, toffee flavor. I explain how in my oatmeal chocolate chip cookie for one.
- Flaky sea salt. Sprinkle a few flakes on top as soon as the cookies come out of the oven. It makes the cookies taste richer and a bit less sweet.
- Oats – No rolled oats? You can try my simple chocolate chip cookie recipe without oats or brown sugar.
How to Make Easy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Melt, stir, scoop and bake pretty much sums it up. Here’s the short version with photos. The full step-by-step is in the recipe card.
Melt and cool the butter. Melt it in a small pot or in the microwave, then pour it into your mixing bowl. By the time you’ve measured the flour, baking soda and cinnamon, it’s cool enough. If it’s still very hot, sit the bowl in a bit of cold water for a minute. Otherwise, hot butter may start to cook the egg.
Whisk in the sugars, water and vanilla. I usually just use a fork or spoon. If there are a few lumps, don’t stress too much.
Whisk in the egg for about 30 seconds.
Stir in the flour, baking soda and cinnamon with a spoon or fork.
Fold in the rolled oats and chocolate chips. Keep a few chips to press in the top if you like. It’s very reassuring to see that cookie with the chips on top, so you know you will get some 😉
Chill for 10 minutes (optional). If your kitchen is warm or the dough feels soft, put it in the fridge or freezer for 10 minutes. The oats soak up some of the butter and the dough firms up, so the cookies spread less. You can skip it, they’ll just spread a little more. I use the time to clean up and get the baking tray ready.
Scoop, press and top. Scoop a tablespoon (about 27 g) using a cookie scoop if possible, press each one down slightly, and add a few chocolate chips on top if you like.
Bake for about 10-11 minutes, until the edges are golden and the centers still look slightly underdone. If you’re thinking “maybe one more minute,” that’s when you take them out as they will keep cooking a tiny bit on the tray after you take them out. Note: Bake one tray at a time, or two at once in a fan-forced oven, swapping the trays halfway through. Two trays may need an extra minute.
Cool on the tray for 5 minutes, then move them to a wire rack. They firm up as they cool.
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Tips for the Best Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Keep a close eye on the first few cookies. I baked these at 175°C on fan-forced in my oven. In a conventional oven, use 190°C (375°F). Ovens vary, so start checking at 9 minutes.
- If your cookies spread too much: your dough is probably too warm. Pop it in the fridge or even your freezer for 10 minutes. You might also check your baking soda expiry date. Old baking soda can cause flat cookies.
- Australian readers: This recipe uses US tablespoons (15 ml). Australian tablespoons are 20 ml, so go by the grams in the recipe card, or use 3 teaspoons for every tablespoon.
Storage
- Room temperature: keep in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Make-ahead raw cookie dough: keeps in the fridge for a couple of days.
- Freeze baked cookies: for up to 2 months.
- Freeze the dough: Make slightly squished dough balls and freeze on a tray for a couple of hours. Then put them into a bag or container. You can bake them directly from the freezer, but then add a couple of minutes.
Easy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies FAQ
Mostly it comes down to using the right amount of brown sugar, which holds on to moisture, and not using too much flour, so weigh your ingredients if you can. Then make sure you take out the cookies while the centers still look a little underdone.
No, normally not. Only if your kitchen is warm or the dough feels soft. Then 10 minutes in the fridge or freezer is enough.
I haven’t tested quick oats in this recipe. Rolled oats are what makes these cookies chewy, so I’d stick with them.
Yes. Double, triple, it all works fine. It’s a flexible recipe 🙂
Melted vs Creamed Butter: How I Tested This Recipe
I made this oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe both ways, same ingredients, same oven, same tray, to see if melting the butter or creaming the butter with sugar made a difference.
The theory is that creaming the butter with the sugars puts tiny air pockets into the cookie and makes it lighter while melted butter makes it fudgier. King Arthur Baking explains the science behind melted butter in cookies if you’d like to read more.
Here’s what I found.
| Melted Butter | Creamed Butter | |
| Effort | Super easy, one bowl, no mixer | Need to wait for butter to soften, need a mixer, more mess |
| Spread | A tiny bit more | Slightly thicker, holds shape more |
| Out of Oven | Slightly glossy tops with a little crunch, chewy center | Soft and chewy |
| Next Day | Chewy | Chewy, and honestly I could not tell them apart |
I like the melted butter version best. This is the oatmeal chocolate chip cookie I’ve been baking for my family for years, and it’s the starting point for my oatmeal chocolate chip cookie for one and my oatmeal cookies made without brown sugar.
I also tested the cookies with 2 and 3 tablespoons of white sugar. The only difference was the sweetness, so I normally go with 2 and I find it’s still quite sweet.
I also compared the sugar in my dough with six of the most popular oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipes online. Because cookie sizes vary so much, I compared the sugar to the amount of oats and flour in each recipe. Mine came out about 10% to 30% lower. Once you count the chocolate chips, the difference is smaller, which is why I added the French-style dark chocolate option for anyone who wants them even less sweet.
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Creamed Butter and Sugar (Mixer Needed)
- Leave the butter out until it’s soft but still cool to the touch (30-60 minutes).
- Beat the butter, both sugars and the vanilla with a hand or stand mixer for 2 to 3 minutes, until light and creamy (no water needed for this version).
- Beat in the egg.
- Stir in the flour, baking soda and cinnamon until just combined, then fold in the oats and chocolate chips.
- Scoop and bake the same way. These spread a little less and come out slightly thicker.
More Dessert Recipes You’ll Love
Made this easy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie Recipe? Leave a rating and comment below so other readers can read your feedback. Every recipe on this blog is made and tested in my own kitchen. You can read more about how I develop and test recipes here. 🙂
Easy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- 1 small pot or microwave safe bowl to melt the butter in
- 1 large heat proof bowl to mix the dough in
- 1 cookie scooper to scoop out even dough balls
- 1 Whisk or fork to mix the batter
- 1 Kitchen Scale to weigh out the flour
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup salted butter melted
- 1 tbsp water
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 tablespoons white sugar (25 g, or 38 g for a sweeter cookie)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract up to 2 teaspoons
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 cup plain flour / all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda bicarb soda
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon optional (start with 1/8 teaspoon if you’re unsure)
- 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips plus about 2 tablespoons for the tops
Instructions
Short version
- Melt the butter, whisk in the sugars, water, vanilla and then the egg, stir in the flour, then the oats and chocolate, scoop, and bake for 10-11 minutes.
Full instructions
- Preheat oven to 175°C fan-forced (190°C conventional / 375°F) and line your trays with baking paper (parchment paper).
- Melt the butter in a small pot over low heat, or in the microwave. Pour it into a large heatproof mixing bowl and let it cool while you measure the dry ingredients. It should feel warm, not hot.
- Stir the flour, baking soda and cinnamon together in a small bowl.
- Add the brown sugar, white sugar, water and vanilla to the butter and whisk until combined. It may look slightly separated.
- Add the egg and whisk for about 30 seconds, until the mixture looks glossy and slightly thicker.
- Add the flour mixture and stir with a spoon until no dry flour remains.
- Fold in the oats and 3/4 cup of chocolate chips.
- If the dough feels warm or soft, chill it in the fridge or freezer for 10 minutes (optional, the cookies just spread a little more without it).
- Scoop about 27 g of dough per cookie (about a tablespoon) and place 12 or 13 on each tray, about 5 cm (2 inches) apart. Press each one down slightly and press a few extra chocolate chips on top.
- Bake for about 10-11 minutes, until the edges are golden and the centers still look slightly underdone. Check the first tray at 9 minutes. Note: Bake one tray at a time, or two at once in a fan-forced oven, swapping the trays halfway through. Two trays may need an extra minute.
- Cool on the tray for 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Oven: I baked these at 175°C fan-forced. If you have a conventional oven try 190°C or 375°F. Ovens do vary, so check the first tray at 9 minutes.
- Unsalted butter: add 1/4 teaspoon salt with the flour.
- Australian tablespoons: This recipe uses US tablespoons (15 ml). Australian tablespoons are 20 ml, so go by the grams, or use 3 teaspoons for every tablespoon.
- Chocolate: use up to 1 cup of chips or chopped chocolate for extra chocolatey cookies. Use 60 g of 60% to 70% dark chocolate for a less sweet, French-style cookie.
- Nuts: add up to 1 cup chopped pecans, walnuts or hazelnuts.
- Brown butter: You can brown the butter instead of just melting it and cool it completely before adding the sugar.
- Storage: In an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Freeze baked cookies for up to 2 months.
- Freezing dough: freeze scooped slightly squished dough balls on a tray, then place them in a bag. You can bake from frozen, but you will need to add a couple of minutes to the bake time.
