Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

By Claire Saffitz

4.4

(43)

Active Time

12 minutes

Total Time

35 minutes

Want a cookie that’s ready when you are? The dough for these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies is optimized for being portioned and frozen so that you can grab one or two (or 10) dough balls at a time and bake them straight from the freezer. Imbued with maximum texture and flavor from oats, whole grain flour, and nuts and seeds, these are perfect cookies. Trust us.

A few baking tips to remember: Toasting the nuts, seeds, and coconut will bring out each ingredient’s flavor. For the chocolate, disks, chips, or chocolate chunks all work, but semisweet or bittersweet dark chocolate is what you’re after, not milk chocolate chips. And go for old-fashioned rolled oats, not quick-cooking oats, which can make the cookies dry and cakey instead of chewy.

A cookie scoop will make portioning these large cookies much easier, but a ¼ cup measure also works. Once baked, cool them on the cookie sheet (for however long you’re able to keep your composure), not a wire rack, to help maintain their crispy bottoms.

If you’re more into the classics, these oatmeal-raisin cookies are among our favorite cookie recipes. Super short on time? These no-bake cookies with peanut butter, cocoa, and oats can be made in 15 minutes flat. Looking for a classic chocolate chip cookie recipe? We’ve got you.

Makes about 22

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Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 350°. Toast ½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet until slightly darkened in color and fragrant, 6–8 minutes. Transfer to a plate and let cool.

Meanwhile, spread out ½ cup raw seeds (such as pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, flaxseed, and/or hemp) and ¼ cup unsweetened coconut flakes on same baking sheet and toast until seeds are slightly darkened in color and coconut is golden, about 5 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet.

Whisk 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour, ⅔ cup (83 g) whole grain flour (such as buckwheat, spelt, or rye), 1½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 tsp. Morton kosher salt, and 1¼ tsp. baking soda in a medium bowl to combine. Vigorously whisk 1½ cups (packed; 300 g) light brown sugar and 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, slightly cooled in a large bowl until very thick and smooth, about 30 seconds. Add 2 large eggs, room temperature and 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract; whisk vigorously until mixture is light and satiny, about 30 seconds. Add dry ingredients to mixing bowl with wet ingredients and whisk until completely incorporated and batter is smooth. Fold in toasted nuts, seeds, and coconut, plus 8 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped, or 1¼ cups semisweet chocolate chips or wafers (disks, pistoles, fèves) and 1 cup old-fashioned oats with a rubber spatula until thoroughly distributed.

Using a 2-oz. scoop or ¼ cup measuring cup, portion out dough, placing on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet as you go and spacing as close together as possible (it’s okay if they touch slightly). Cover tightly with plastic wrap and freeze until frozen solid, 2–3 hours. (If you can’t wait for cookie dough balls to freeze, chill in refrigerator just until firm instead, at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days. Cookies might bake a minute or two faster.)

If baking from frozen, reheat oven to 350°. Arrange up to 8 cookies on a large parchment-lined baking sheet, spacing at least 2" apart. (These cookies are large and will spread, so use another baking sheet if baking more than 8 cookies and place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven.) Bake, rotating baking sheet front to back (and top to bottom if using 2) halfway through, until deep golden brown and wrinkled around the edges (centers should still be pale and slightly shiny), 16–20 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet.

Do ahead: Dough can be made 2 months ahead; transfer frozen balls to an airtight container and keep frozen. Cookies can be baked 3 days ahead; store baked cookies airtight at room temperature. Editor’s note: This recipe was first printed in our September 2020 issue as “Anytime Chocolate Chip and Oat Cookies.” Head this way for our easiest cookie recipes →

How would you rate Anytime Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies?

Leave a Review

a really good baseline!Made this a few days ago with minor adjustments/errors. dark brown sugar, too many on tray so ended up like bark as opposed to cookies - but not at all disappointing.My one issue is the amounts of butter and sugar vs oats - and resultant sweetness/oiliness. So I may adjust those ratios a bit as a result.

John W

Vancouver, BC

8/10/2023

These cookies were delicious, amazing and so versatile! The only changes we made were to use 3/4 t. salt (instead of 1 1/2 t.), that was just perfect amount of salt for us; and we didn't toast the coconut, just added it in to the recipe. We refrigerated some of the dough and froze some, it baked up perfectly either way. We've made large cookies, or cut the 1/4 cup scoop size into four pieces once they were refrigerated or frozen for smaller cookies, everything worked beautifully and they are perfect every time! Great recipe! Thank you!

Sheri

Westland, MI

12/29/2022

Made dough into log, refrigerated and sliced. Added chocolate nips. Excellent.

Ann

Philadelphia

12/11/2022

Delicious! Froze half the batch in balls ready to throw in the oven - it worked only that mine didn't spread out large like the fresh batch did. I baked at 350 and about 18 mins...Still no complaints!

Anonymous

1/18/2022

The 30 sec recommended whisking time must be for a stand mixer - that should be specified. Started off whisking completely by hand and had to switch to a hand mixer, with 2 mins+ whisking per step. Perhaps my butter was too cool? I did about 2-3 tbsp per cookie rather than the giant 4 tbsp recommended: ended up with 30 dough balls. Subbed half dark brown sugar due to not having enough light brown - the cookies turned out darker than BA's pic, but not burnt. Used a mix of sesame seeds, hemp hearts, and pumpkin seeds - don't feel the sesame/hemp add much taste so I'd go for mostly pumpkin seeds next time. With how many things need chopping and toasting/cooling - best make the full-size big batch to make the time worth it.

sydney

Brooklyn, NY

8/23/2021

These cookies are sensational. I love everything about them. The crisp of the toasted seeds, the caramelised coconut, the chocolate chip surprise. Have made them twice since finding the recipe, I made some for my neighbours who were all asking after the recipe and loved them.

Alicia

London, UK

4/7/2021

Made another batch, this time I put the batter in the freezer first, and left them in the oven for less time than before. THEY WERE PERFECT! Gooey in the middle and moist but crumbly, perfect consistency. Would deffo make again like this and maybe swap out some of the ingredients to experiment too.

Tasha

London

3/13/2021

I'm not sure if I did something wrong but the texture is not how I imagined. Taste good but quite dry and crumbly, not chewy as I would have hoped. The chocolate chips are too sickly but that's my own fault as I just used regular ones, as I don't think we have such a thing as 'semi sweet' choc chips in the UK. I like the ingredients in this cookie a lot though, think I'll try again with some adjustments!

Tasha

London, UK

3/5/2021

the only cookies I will be making!! these are amazing. so yummy. I dont like putting them in the fridge too long I like them thinner and chewy.

Anna Ward

San Clemente, CA

2/7/2021

This is the 2nd weekend in a row I'm baking these. They're a hit w/ my bf who isn't big on sweets / pastries. My neighbors loved them and I can't stop reaching into the cookie jar. Just froze my next batch to have them at the ready whenever that craving kicks in

Anonymous

Los Angeles, CA

1/29/2021

So quick and easy. Used whatever I had on hand: buckwheat and oat flour and rather large rough cut chunks of 72% dark chocolate and pecan halves, pistachios, sunflower seeds, large coconut flakes. No chopping. And reduced the amount of sugar by about a 1/4 cup. Did not refrigerate for more than 10 minutes (in a rush to have this ready for a dessert treat. What finally came out of the oven was a delicious rather heathy and large, crispy cookie. This is going in my regular rotation!

Anonymous

California

12/8/2020

These are amazing! I made with spelt flour, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and walnuts. The first time I baked these, I didn't want to wait for the dough to freeze so I refrigerated a few of them for 30 mins then baked for 12 and they were perfect. Now I have a stash in the freezer and I always will! I love that you can bake just a few or enough for a group.

Anonymous

Utah

10/29/2020

Made these exactly as written here (following gram measurements) and they are delicious!! Used buckwheat flour and a combo of pumpkin, sesame and poppy seeds. They're a little oilier than I would like, so next time I might cut back a bit on the butter. I love the variety of textures here, and all of the flavours work beautifully together. Having bags of these in the freezer has changed my life! I never want to be without them. A great recipe. <3

Anonymous

Montréal

10/6/2020

Fantastic cookie. Making it again now. Not too sweet and a variety of textures. This is now one of my go tos.

laddis

Salt Lake City

10/4/2020

To the Dane who can't figure out cups, ounces and teaspoons...two things, 1) You're reading an American publication. Those are the units of measurement we use. I wouldn't start complaining about metric measurements if I was reading a recipe in Copenhagen Cooking Monthly. 2) To help you in the future with your conversion issues there's a brand new invention called Google where you can type "cups to grams" and a converter magically appears on your screen.

Anonymous

Texas

10/3/2020