Just Right Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies {Recipe}

A new cookie has taken the lead as my favorite cookie – oatmeal chocolate chip. The old favorite was chocolate chip. I know, it’s not much of a difference. And yet, that simple addition of oats gives the texture and flavor something special that I just love.

Of course, this meant I needed to come up with a recipe so I could make the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies just the way I like – a little chewy. I started with this recipe for butterscotch oatmeal cookies that I made a couple years ago with good success, but I made a couple changes, also looking at my dough ball recipe for some ideas. I liked the flavor and chewiness of those butterscotch cookies, but I wanted to reduce the sugar and make them less flat, plus I wanted to make far fewer cookies. I played with the recipe over several batches, about 8 or 9 over the last couple years. I started by halving the butterscotch cookie recipe, adding flour, and reducing the sugar amounts. The first couple tries were decent but not great. I thought simply adding flour would make the cookies less flat, but it didn’t work as I expected. I tried some batches with far less sugar, far less flour, different amounts of butter, using baking powder instead of baking soda, and many other variations. Each try was just okay but not just right. I tracked my adjustments and made notes along the way. Most recently, I tried doing some google research.

I did some online searching for how to make cookies chewy, and it turns out sugar is one thing that that helps make them chewy (so much for reducing it lol). Apparently using melted butter and baking soda instead of baking powder helps, too. So, I tried a couple more times, tweaking things all along the way. The final result is what I’d consider a “just right” oatmeal chocolate chip cookie – a little chewy, a little soft, and a little crispy all in one delicious package.

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Try this “Just Right” Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe – a little chewy, a little soft, and a little crispy all in one delicious package. Great for holiday baking with the family this holiday season. Vegan options #recipe #healthy #healthyrecipes #cleaneating #recipe #realfood #vegan #vegetarian

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Just Right Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies {Recipe}

  • Author: Diana of thechiclife.com
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 10 mins
  • Total Time: 25 mins
  • Category: Dessert
  • Cuisine: American

Description

The ingredients are simple and the results are delicious. They whip up pretty quickly, too! I started with this cookie recipe and experimented, analyzed, and re-experimented, and re-analyzed over several batches until I was happy with the results. According to some google research, melted butter, sugar, and baking soda help give the cookie a chewy texture, so keep that in mind if you modify the recipe at home, especially if you like chewy cookies, too. Be sure you use kosher salt or reduce the amount if you use table salt instead. And mini chocolate chips distribute better than large ones, so I was able to reduce that amount versus the 3/4 cup of the regular size chocolate chips I’d recommend. Hope you like these cookies as much as I do!
*Vegetarian, vegan options listed below*


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 1/4 cup quick-cooking oats (old-fashioned would probably work just fine, too)
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (reduce amount if you use table salt, maybe 1/41/2 depending on how you like your cookie flavor)
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled slightly (vegan – sub Earth Balance or similar product)
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg (vegan – sub a flaxseed egg)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (or use 3/4 cup regular sized chocolate chips)

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare three baking sheets with parchment paper. Note: I could bake all the cookies in one batch with 2 shelves and 3 baking sheets.
  2. In a large bowl, add oats, flour, salt, and baking soda. Whisk to evenly combine.
  3. In a medium bowl mix butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Make sure butter mixture isn’t too hot so it doesn’t cook the egg when add it, and add the egg and vanilla. Whisk to evenly combine.
  4. Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and gently mix with a large spatula. Fold in chocolate chips.
  5. Using a medium sized sorbet scoop (2 tablespoon), scoop dough and evenly distribute on baking sheets, leaving about 3 inches of space in between each ball of dough.
  6. Bake 10-12 minutes, until edges are slightly brown. Remove from oven and let cool on baking sheets to room temperature. Enjoy!

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Happy baking! Thanks for reading!

Which do you prefer: regular chocolate chip or oatmeal chocolate chip?

30 thoughts on “Just Right Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies {Recipe}”

  1. Yum cookies!! I only wish that they would magically appear in my kitchen 😉 . Maybe I’ll be motivated later this week.
    Thanks for the advice on the mini chocolate chips. I think I may just use chunks and shavings of my favorite chocolate bar so that I have all sorts of pieces.

    Reply
  2. So chewy and the perfect amount of oats. I veganized it with 3 T applesauce as an egg replacer and added 1/4 cup flour as my first batch came out almost like Florentines. Great flavor overall!

    Reply
    • Hi Cate, I forgot to count them when I made them the first time. I believe I filled two baking sheets. The one in the photo above was the smaller sheet, and it held 8. So, if I had to estimate, I’d guess the total count was between 16-20. The cookies are pretty big (I believe approximately 3″ in diameter). If you wanted more, you could use a smaller (teaspoon-sized) scoop and yield a higher count. Or, you could double the recipe. Hope that helps! 🙂

      Reply
      • Hi Diana,
        My chocolate chips melted when I mixed them 😐. Now I have a chocolate coloured batter. Will these still bake well? Or what else can I do with this batter? I guess the butter was too warm.

        Reply
        • Hi Manjair, It does sound like the butter may have been too warm. 🙁 But, I would still try baking them to see what happens? Maybe you’ll have chocolate-y oatmeal cookies instead and you’ll have invented a new recipe! 🙂

        • Hello
          Thank you for your response. I did bake them, and the taste was ok, but they spread too much. I have baked for the first time. Maybe I just don’t know much. Also, they turned out to be on the crunchier side. I wanted some chewy ones. Did I overbake them?

        • Hi Manjari, They may have spread more because the batter was more liquidy since the chocolate chips were melted. I’ve experimented a lot with baking to develop recipes for this blog, and it’s crazy how small changes can make a big difference. It can be very frustrating!

          If you’re up for it, maybe try these again? Let the butter cool to room temperature before continuing with the recipe to be extra safe. If you want to experiment, one thing I’ve done in the past is to spread the cookies over 2 different baking sheets. Take 1 of the sheets out sooner than the other, even if it’s only by a minute or 2. If you want them more chewy, you could err on the side of taking them out sooner. So maybe take one tray out at 10 minutes and the other at 11? It’s a bit of a game trying to get them to just the right bake time. It can actually be fun to experiment till you get it just right. Hope this helps! 🙂

        • Thank you very much! I will definitely experiment. But should I add some more oats or flour to the batter I already have? Maybe it will improve the cookie quality.
          Thanks again for your support. I was almost like okay, no more baking for me! 😂

        • Hi Manjari, I’d probably try the recipe again with the same portions since the first batch may have been a little extra liquidy from the melted chocolate. Try the two trays at different bake times and see how that goes. And then do some tweaking from there. Don’t give up on your baking! It’s a lot of trial and error. I’ve made things that weren’t even edible before. lol. If you haven’t seen my dough ball recipes, I posted a fail photo there. I was trying to make a cookie that stayed in a ball shape and early batch came out even flatter than normal! lol! Here’s the post: https://thechiclife.com/2010/11/chocolate-chip-dough-balls-success.html Keep baking and remember to have fun! 🙂

  3. These cookies are absolutely perfect! I was looking specifically for a recipe that wouldn’t necessitate me dragging out my mixer and creaming butter/sugar (because I’m lazy today). I browned the butter instead of just melting, used 1/4 cup granulated and 3/4 cup brown sugars, and added about 1 cup cinnamon chips to mine… but I almost wish I’d left out the cinnamon chips because the dough was DYNAMITE without them. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! 🙂

    Reply
  4. I used Earth Balance stick and Egg Replacer in the cookies. The Enjoy Life chocolate chips would not stay in the dough and the cookies did not flatten out. Any suggestions for those 2 trouble spots?

    Reply
    • Hi Renee, I’ve found the dough gets pretty slippery when it’s vegan. I guess it’s something about the texture of the butter substitute and flaxseed eggs. For the chocolate chips, I try to make sure there’s a good number of them in the dough as I scoop out a ball. I also press the chocolate chips into the dough. Sometimes I’ll even press a couple on top, which also looks kind of cool to me. For the flattening, you may need to flatten them out to the level you like before you bake them. Hope this helps! Let me know how the cookies turn out if you try the recipe again. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Hi, these are tasty. They are far too sweet for our taste. I was looking for recipes with less sugar and I thought that’s what you were making. Why do you use more sugar than classic recipes? It’s a third again more sugar. Thanks,
    Cindy

    Reply
  6. Great recipe. I added raisens instead of chocolate chips. Really delicious!
    Only thing is, they tasted a little sweet. Trying to find an oatmeal raisin cookie for a toddler.

    Reply
    • I tested this with 3/4 cup total sugar and the texture was still nice. Planning to try 1/2 cup total sometime (1/4 of each or 1/2 white sugar plus molasses). 🙂

      Reply
  7. Could I substitute some of the oil with applesauce, without the texture changing too much? If so, how much should I substitute. These look amazing!

    Reply
    • Hi Akhila, In my tests in the past in general (I haven’t tried it yet with this recipe), fruit subs tend to make cookies more cake-like. Less chewy and more bread-y. But, it’s definitely worth trying! Maybe try subbing 1/4 or 1/2 of the oil for applesauce? I’d love to hear how this turns out if you try it. 🙂 Cheers!

      Reply
  8. Made these with gkuten free oats, gluten free flour, Earth Balance and vegan chocolate chips and they turned out amazing!

    Reply

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