This Chewy Oatmeal Cookie Recipe delivers soft, chewy cookies every time. Enjoy them plain or load them with your favorite mix-ins.
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!
Chewy Oatmeal Cookie Recipe Ingredients
| Ingredient | Swap Or Tip |
|---|---|
| Old-fashioned oats | Use rolled or old-fashioned oats for the best chewy texture. Quick oats will make the cookies softer and less textured. Do not use steel-cut oats. |
| Oat flour | Make your own by blending old-fashioned oats until they resemble flour. |
| Dark brown sugar | Adds moisture, chewiness, and rich molasses flavor. Light brown sugar also works. |
| Unsalted butter | Let it soften at room temp, but do not melt it. Melted butter can cause the cookies to spread too much. |
| Cornstarch | Helps keep the centers soft and tender. |
| Cinnamon | Adds a subtle warmth but can be left out. |
chelsea’s recipe tips
Chewy Oatmeal Cookie Recipe Tips
- 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 dough: It improves texture and helps the flavors come together.
Storage
Freezing Chewy Oatmeal Cookie Recipe
- Freeze 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 mins to the bake time, or thaw in the fridge first.
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Chewy Oatmeal Cookie Recipe
Soft, delicious, and packed with flavor, this Chewy Oatmeal Cookie Recipe is 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
Final step! Please let us know how it was by leaving a review.
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.
When you mix the flour into the other ingredients, should the beater be used, or just mix in by hand.
You can use the beaters or mix by hand, just don’t overmix the batter 🙂
I was really hesitant making these because I always seem to mess up cookie recipes. I did have to extend my baking time by 3 minutes. But, once they were done, they came out perfect. These are hands down the best oatmeal cookies I’ve ever had.
So happy to hear that! Thanks so much for the comment and review Lindsey! 🙂
I absolutely love love love these cookies. Chewy and full of flavour. However, I reduced the amount of sugar to 1/3 cup each, but they still turned out too sweet for my taste. But that is just my semi-sweet tooth. 🙂 I took the liberty and amp the recipe up with raisins and fleur de sel (instead of normal sea salt). Just one question: Can I use more oat flour and less white flour to get even a more oaty flavour?
So happy to hear that!! Thanks for the comment and review 🙂 You can definitely try changing the amounts, but I am not sure what the results will be without personally testing. Wish I could be of more help!
I followed the recipe and added dried cherries the cinnamon and nutmeg. Chilled dough for a couple of hours. I preheated my oven to 350 degrees Made the balls small I guess because I got 15 cookies and still have 1/2 the dough left to bake tomorrow. I took them out of the oven after 8 minutes and I felt they looked raw and baked them another 3 minutes. They are nice textured , chewy as we like our cookies to be. But i like more spice and less sweetness. So I’m going to adjust the ingredients a tiny bit next time. I’m thinking maybe oven temperature could have been a bit higher as well since I had to bake them for 11 minutes but, maybe not. I still like the Quaker Oats Oatmeal recipe I’ll use the do not over bake tip for that recipe when I use it though because it was a good one! Thanks
Thanks for the feedback Shelley! Glad you enjoyed the recipe and good luck as you tweak it to be perfect for you 🙂
WOW… I mean… WOW!!!
I just tasted a warm cookie and it is absolutely divine!!
Unfortunately I did not have dark brown sugar but I’ll try that next time. I used chopped semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolates. Also a touch of Vietnamese cinnamon along with regular gave it a little kick. The sea salt on top was a great addition. Such a balanced flavor in this cookie and wonderful texture too!
This is now my go-to recipe!! Thank you!!
So happy to hear these were a hit! Thanks so much for the comment and the cinnamon sounds delicious 🙂
Hi…. is it normal for the dough to be really soft ? I just stuck it in the fridge to firm up….. but I was worried I didn’t put enough flour in.
Yeah they definitely didn’t turn out like I was expecting. They were really thin and I wasn’t able to lift them off the foil. Not sure what I did differently than everyone else. They taste good I won’t bake the remaining dough like it is. I think I’ll add more flour once my dough is room temp
I wouldn’t recommend baking them on foil, that would definitely have something to do with it. And maybe a bit more flour is needed 🙂 Are you at a high altitude?
Subbed coconut oil for butter (1:1, @ room temp) and 1/4 cup applesauce for the egg! Came out DELISH! Also added in some pumpkin pie spice for some fall flair. WILL MAKE AGAIN *<|:-)
So happy to hear these were a hit! Thanks for the comment Nicole 🙂
I didn’t see the recipe for adding in raisins.
It links to this recipe: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (add raisins in place of chips)
When I searched the internet for “Best Oatmeal Cookie Recipe”, I was hoping to find something tasty. But – wow! – I didn’t REALLY expect to find the best oatmeal cookie recipe!! This cookie is chewy and crispy at the same time. Almost reminds me of a lace cookie. I will absolutely be making these again – and again – and again!
Yay!! So happy to hear that Gabrielle!! Thanks so much for the comment and review 🙂
For the butter it says “NOT melted”. Have you tried making this with melted butter? Did it not work as well? Thank you!
Yes I have; definitely works better with unmelted butter.