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.
can i use oat flour to replace the rolled oats ?
No, I wouldn’t use any more oat flour than what is indicated on the recipe
This is my most favorite recipe I’ve ever found on the internet. It’s so versatile I can add pretty much anything I want to it. Hemp seeds, flaxseed, any kind of nuts any kind of berries. And of course cinnamon and allspice. I am going to be saving this recipe and using it every single time. Thank you!
What a compliment! Thanks so much Jennifer! 🙂
Hello.. i made this recipe for the third time now this time doubling the measurements…to my dismay . it did not flattened as compared to the first two times i made this recipe..
But upon mixing i really noticed that the dough was too dry making the oats fall apart during scooping…i followed every measurement , but what have gone wrong? Thanks
I’m not sure, but for whatever reason, sometimes doubling a recipe just doesn’t come out the same! I’m sorry the doubled version didn’t work for you Florence!
Chewy indeed! The cinnamon also complimented the vanilla bean paste. Delicious!
Thanks Hannah!
Just made these and they were excellent, nice and chewy but not too sweet. I didn’t have cinnamon or cornflour but they still turned out great. I rolled the dough into balls before refrigerating and sprinkled with sea salt before cooking.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them and were able to work with what you had! Thanks for your comment! 🙂
I made these yesterday and they were excellent. I didn’t have any cinnamon or cornflour in hand as we are social distancing but they still turned out great. I rolled the dough balls in advance to save time and it seemed to work well!
My food processor is broken. Ic possible, how do I substitute out the oat flour part?
Do you have a blender? A blender will get you oat flour as well
Awesome oatmeal cookies! I did add nutmeg and cloves to give them more of a Christmasy flavor.
So happy to hear you enjoyed these!
I am not sure where these went wrong, but they were not chewy. After refrigeration they stayed in the ball shape and never flattened when baking. They were crunchy and not much flavor. I did use a little less white sugar. I am kind of suspecting it had something to do with the ‘oatmeal flour’. I guess it is a trial and error with these random recipe blogs.
If they never flattened, they likely had too much flour in them. And if they were crunchy, probably over baked. And if you reduce the sugar, that will definitely make them less flavorful and change the end result in other ways.
The taste of these cookies is fabulous. However, I’m having a hard time with them not flattening and they are waaaay under done with the time given. What am I doing wrong? I’m following directions completely and twice they’ve ended up exactly the same. And both times I’ve gotten 12 cookies at 1.7 oz each. I’ve got to be doing something wrong…right?
It could just be differences in oven, altitude, humidity, etc. or you may like your cookies more well done than I prefer 🙂 Doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong if you love the taste!