Soft, chewy, and full of flavor—these Oatmeal Cookies are delicious on their own, or you can mix in raisins, nuts, and/or chocolate chips for extra goodness!
author’s note
Soft, Buttery, Chewy, And Full Of Flavor!
As much as I love chocolate, sometimes nothing beats the simplicity of an old-fashioned oatmeal cookie.
Soft, buttery, chewy, and full of flavor—this is the recipe I’ve been perfecting for months, and I’m so excited to finally share it with you!
If you’re craving chocolate chips, raisins, or nuts, you can easily add them to this base recipe. Or, check out these Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies or Oatmeal Pecan Cookies.
For a twist on the classic, try using dried cranberries instead of raisins—you won’t regret it!
Ingredients In Oatmeal Cookies
A classic Oatmeal Cookie recipe uses sugar, butter, flour, eggs, and old-fashioned oats. To make them taste their best, I also add a few special ingredients:
- Cornstarch: This keeps the cookies nice and soft.
- Oat flour: This gives the cookies a more intense oat-y flavor.
- Dark brown sugar: It gives these cookies a chewy texture and a richer molasses flavor. No worries—light brown sugar works too!
Tips For Making Perfect Oatmeal Cookies:
- Accurate measuring: Too much flour can make dense cookies. Scoop flour gently into the cup and use a knife to level it off.
- Under-bake slightly: It keeps the cookies soft and chewy. Baking too long makes them dry and less tasty.
- Use old-fashioned oats not quick oats!
- Refrigerate the dough: It improves texture and helps the flavors come together.
Storage
Freezing Oatmeal Cookies
- Freeze rolled dough balls on a sheet pan for 1 hour, then transfer to a bag for up to 3 months.
- Bake from frozen, adding 1-3 minutes to the bake time, or thaw in the fridge first.
More Amazing Cookie Recipes:
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BEST Snickerdoodle Recipe
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Oatmeal Cookies
Soft, chewy, and packed with flavor, these Oatmeal Cookies are perfect as is or loaded with raisins, nuts, or chocolate chips—your call!
Equipment
- Blender or food processor
- Sheet pan (15" x 10")
- Parchment paper or silicone baking mat
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter 1/2 cup, at room temperature, not melted
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar firmly packed, or light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup oat flour see note 1
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt I use fine sea salt
- 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon optional, see note 1
- 1-1/2 cups old-fashioned oats see note 2, not quick oats
- 1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- Flaky sea salt for topping cookies, optional
Instructions
- Remove butter from fridge 30 minutes in advance so it reaches room temperature.
- Using a hand mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and creamy, at least 3 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until smooth.
- To make oat flour, blend up regular oats in a blender or food processor until they resemble flour. Measure to get a leveled 1/4 cup. Add to the same bowl on top of the wet ingredients: oat flour, baking soda, salt, cornstarch, cinnamon, and old-fashioned oats. Beat until ingredients are well combined.
- Add the flour (measure by spooning the flour in the measuring cups and leveling). Mix until just combined. Cover dough tightly and chill for 1 hour. These cookies will spread without being chilled.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Scoop out dough balls (if you have a food scale, do cookie balls about 1.7 ounces in size; this will yield 15 cookies).
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a baking liner. Place dough balls (no more than 9 cookies at a time) on the sheet pan. Return the tray of cookies to the fridge for 10 minutes.
- Bake 7–9 minutes or until lightly browned at the edges (even if the center looks a little under-done—they cook a bit more after being pulled out of the oven). These cookies set up and become extremely delicious and chewy if they’re slightly underbaked. Err on the side of slightly underbaking these cookies for soft, chewy, and tender cookies! Add a sprinkle of sea salt if desired to the cookies. Cookies are best enjoyed within 2–3 days
Recipe Notes
Note 1: I love the hint of cinnamon in these cookies, but you can leave it out if you prefer. For more of a spiced cookie, add 1/8 teaspoon of ground nutmeg and ground cloves in addition to the cinnamon.
Note 2: It’s easy to make your own oat flour. Just add old-fashioned oats to a blender and process until it’s the texture of flour. Stir it around to be sure all the oats are ground.
Storage: Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week or freeze in a sealed bag. Freeze dough balls separately and bake from frozen, adding a few extra minutes.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 196kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 29mg | Sodium: 45mg | Potassium: 66mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 215IU | Vitamin C: 0.003mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Is it ok to chill the cookie dough for about 3 hours vs. the 1 hour in the recipe?
Yes just tightly cover so the dough doesn’t dry out! You may need to let it sit at room temperature for a bit too
Delicious! I substituted almond flour for white flour to make the GF. Added nuts and raisins and extra cinnamon too.
Delish! I’m so happy to hear this! Thanks Terry! 🙂
I think something was off in my measurements….their was WAYYYYY too much butter to oats in this recipe. I had to covert a 16oz block of butter to Tbs which came out to 32. This meant i would have to quadruple the recipe to follow the 8 Tbs butter per recipe direction. This was not the case! I’m crossing my fingers my addition of oats will help but I know if I put the mix in on as is, it would have been a buttery ( and delicious) mess!!!
I’m not sure how you came up with adding 32 tablespoons; the recipe says to add 8 tablespoons. I can’t imagine it working with 32 either, sorry!
Very delicious! I added some more spices e.g. ginger and cloves, and omitted the all-purpose flour, using solely oat flour! They are, again, very delicious and I will be making more in the future. Thank you for sharing!
So happy you enjoyed these cookies! Thank you for the comment and review 🙂
These are the best cookies I’ve ever had! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
That makes my day to hear that! Thank you Celine!
If I had more stars for you they would be infinite! My daughter has been a professional baker for 20 yrs. & when I made your cookie she said it felt like someone wrapped her in a warm blanket. The only thing I did different I added 2 eggs, a pinch of nutmeg with the cinnamon & I folded the dry ingredients including the different ingredients for types. So far I have made cranberry-pecan, raisin-pecan & plain-pecan. Next chocolate chips. O yea!
You made my day!! That is so fun to hear and glad she enjoyed the cookie! 🙂 Thank you so much for the comment Sheila!
This was the most A+MAZING Oatmeal Cookie I ever made! They were beyond soft & so moist. My family went crazy! One of my daughter is a professional baker & gave it the best review! I’m getting ready to make a triple batch for others. This time I’m making some raisin, cranberry & pecan.
Amazing cookies!
So happy you enjoyed! 🙂
fantastic recipe!!! I used oat flour in place of the rolled oats. Cut back a bit on sugar. Added a few semi sweet chocolate chips and turned out yummy!! Although my baking time was longer.
I’m so glad you enjoyed these Oatmeal Cookies! Thanks so much for your comment! 🙂