The best oatmeal cookie recipe! It yields soft and chewy oatmeal cookies that are perfectly spiced with cinnamon. Add raisins or chocolate chips!
This oatmeal cookie recipe makes perfect soft and chewy oatmeal cookies! They’re warmly spiced with cinnamon and filled with rich flavor from butter, brown sugar, and vanilla. And though I often make this recipe with raisins, it works well with a variety of mix-ins. Fold in walnuts, dried cranberries, or chocolate chips!
Another reason to love this oatmeal cookie recipe? You don’t need a mixer to make it. The dough is easy to mix up with a spatula and basic pantry ingredients whenever a cookie craving strikes.
This recipe was originally published in Sarah Copeland’s cookbook Every Day Is Saturday, and I first shared it in 2019. I’ve made it countless times since. Our readers have too—it now has over 500 5-star reviews! Try it the next time you’re craving soft and chewy oatmeal cookies. I think you’ll love it!
Oatmeal Cookie Recipe Ingredients
This recipe has simple ingredients. You likely have them in your pantry already! Here’s what you’ll need:
- All-purpose flour and whole rolled oats – They make up the base of the dough. Spoon and level your flour to avoid packing too much into your measuring cup.
- Baking powder and baking soda – They help the cookies rise.
- Brown sugar – It adds the perfect caramelized sweetness. Light brown sugar and dark brown sugar both work well.
- Sea salt – It balances the sweet sugar and raisins.
- Cinnamon and vanilla extract – For warm, spiced depth of flavor.
- Melted butter – For moisture, richness, and buttery flavor. To make these cookies dairy-free, use melted coconut oil instead.
- 1 large egg + an extra egg yolk – The extra egg yolk makes these cookies especially moist and chewy.
- Raisins or chocolate chips – For pops of sweetness.
- And walnuts – For crunch!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Can I use quick oats in oatmeal cookies?
Yes, you can use quick oats in this oatmeal cookie recipe. After testing it both ways, I recommend old fashioned oats for the best chewy texture, but in a pinch, quick oats work too!
How to Make Oatmeal Cookies
Making this oatmeal cookie recipe couldn’t be easier. Here’s what you need to do:
First, make the dough. Whisk together the wet ingredients in one mixing bowl and the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in another.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Then, fold in the walnuts, oats, and raisins. The mixture will be thick!
Next, let the dough rest for 20 minutes. This gives the wet ingredients a chance to hydrate the flour and oats, making it easier to work with the dough. The cookies come out chewier, too!
Then, shape and bake the cookies. Roll the dough into balls and place them on parchment-lined baking sheets. Press down lightly on the tops to flatten them slightly. Bake at 350°F for 10 to 11 minutes, or until golden brown.
Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to wire racks to cool completely. Enjoy!
Oatmeal Cookie Recipe Tips
- Use brown sugar. I’ve tested this recipe with a mix of granulated sugar and brown sugar. I didn’t find that the white sugar improved it. Use 100% brown sugar for the best oatmeal cookies. They have a richer molasses flavor.
- Let the dough rest for 20 minutes before baking. Those 20 minutes will make your dough easier to roll into balls, so the cookies will keep their shape and develop a yummy chewy texture in the oven.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely for the best texture and flavor. It may be agony, but letting these oatmeal cookies cool completely only makes them better. They’ll be chewier and fully infused with brown sugar flavor. Sarah likes these best a few hours to 1 day after baking. (Though I can attest that they’re still good if you can’t wait that long.)
Oatmeal Cookies Variations
- Use raisins to make oatmeal raisin cookies. Or swap the raisins for dried cherries or cranberries.
- Add chocolate chips to make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. White chocolate chips are a fun option too.
- Use pecans instead of walnuts.
- Add a dash of cardamom or ginger to the dough.
- Add butterscotch chips to give the cookies an extra-buttery taste.
How do you like to make oatmeal cookies? Let me know in the comments!
How to Store Oatmeal Cookies
To keep these oatmeal cookies soft and chewy, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. They also freeze well for up to 3 months.
Make-Ahead Oatmeal Cookies
If you’re someone who likes to keep cookie dough on hand in the fridge or freezer, this oatmeal cookie recipe is for you. You can store the cookie dough in the fridge for 7 to 10 days or freeze it for up to a month.
To store the dough, roll it into balls and freeze them briefly. Then, transfer the cookie dough balls to airtight containers or Ziploc bags and refrigerate or freeze. You can also roll the dough into a log, using an 8×12-inch piece of parchment paper as a guide. Wrap the log tightly in parchment to refrigerate or freeze, and slice the cookies into rounds before baking.
Bake your cookie dough straight from the fridge. If it’s frozen, allow it to rest for 15 minutes at room temperature before putting it in the oven.
More Favorite Cookie Recipes
If you love these easy oatmeal cookies, try one of these yummy cookie recipes next:
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Easy Sugar Cookies
- Best Peanut Butter Cookies
- No Bake Cookies
- Chewy Molasses Cookies
- Homemade Brownies (not a cookie, but still delicious…)
- Or any of these 17 Easy Cookie Recipes!
Perfect Oatmeal Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie Scoop (I use this one)
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled*
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted**
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1½ cups whole rolled oats
- ¾ cup raisins or chocolate chips
- ½ cup chopped walnuts, optional
Instructions
- Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, whole egg, egg yolk, and vanilla, whisking vigorously.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir in the oats, raisins, and walnuts, if using, folding into a tight batter. Set the dough aside for 20 minutes while the oven preheats. (Note: If your dough seems too wet to become scoop-able, chill it in the fridge for this 20 minutes and it'll firm up. If your dough is too crumbly, stir in 2 to 3 tablespoons water.)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the dough, heaping your scoops slightly to get 20 to 22 balls of dough. Roll lightly in barely damp hands to make them round. Spread out onto the prepared baking sheets and press down lightly on the tops of the dough balls.
- Bake until puffed, golden, and a touch underbaked-looking, 10 to 11 minutes. Let cool on the pans for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Delicious! Although mine did spread a lot for some reason.. I may have put a little too much coconut oil or not enough flour or oats.. I will adjust next time and see if they keep their shape better. But yummy, flavorful, chewy cookies are a win in my book!
So glad you enjoyed them, Michelle!
Fantastic recipe. Perfect the first time. Not dry at all. Has anyone experimented with molasses in this? Perhaps to replace br sugar with a bit more flour?
Absolutely love this recipe. Followed all directions with the exception of the eggs, I used 2 whole eggs. Turned out perfectly!
These are delicious! I used coconut oil and swapped out the raisins for dark chocolate chips. My family loved them !!
Wonderful recipe! So appreciate the time and effort that went into your oatmeal cookie recipe.. I’ve made a lot of oatmeal cookies in my time, but these are the best. Thank you!
I was out of vanilla so I substituted 1 teaspoon of almond extract. I didn’t have any raisins so I used craisins instead. I’ used coconut oil. The results are fantastic thank you for this recipe!
You are my first go to for recipes and this one is **chefs kiss**. I multiplied it by 4 and also made 2 pans of bars to freeze. Appreciate your hard work and thankful you share!!
Delicious! I don’t understand the negative reviews as these are high, soft, and chewy with a nice brown sugar flavor. I followed your recipe and tips. The only change I made was to plump up the raisins by putting them in a cup of water and microwaving them for a minute before patting them dry and adding them to the batter. I always do this because raisins are usually too dry. It made 36 cookies with my scoop and I didn’t use my hands to form them into balls.
Great recipe! Used the melted butter, added raisins, walnuts, and choc chips. Cookies came out kind of cakey but had nice shape and height and tasted great! Had to refrigerate dough between batches because rolling into balls with hands melted the batter. (I’m in the Sonoran desert) I will be making these again and again!
I wish I had checked the reviews first before wasting my ingredients. I make cookies regularly, and had to triple check that I got this recipe right. I did, and this recipe as much as I wanted to like it, was awful. As others have stated, so dry, I used the recommended amount of butter and even added water to the second batch. They really came out terrible.
Totally loved this receipe. My whole family too. We are doing this again for our planned picnick.
Thank you for sharing.
I made these using melted butter and followed your instructions exactly. I let the dough rest in the fridge for 5 hours. It’s a cold day.
But they turned out completely flat and, I think because of that, too chewy. I used a small cookie scoop.
Any idea why this happened?
It’s my first time making oatmeal cookies. I’ve made chocolate chip cookies before—basically the same recipe as yours with the appropriate changes—and they turned out just fine.
I also find it a bit confusing to use cups instead of grams.
Even though I looked up the equivalent amounts in grams for sugar, oats, etc. in 1 cup or ½ cup, when I actually filled the measuring cups, the weights didn’t match exactly—so I ended up going by weight. I really think every recipe should go by weight instead of cups and spoons—it’s just so much more accurate and consistent.
What’s the point of using one egg and an egg yolk instead of 2 eggs? Does it really make a difference? have you tried?
Thank you for the recipe — I liked that you didn’t go overboard with the butter or sugar like so many people do on the internet.
Hi Gabriela! Thanks for your feedback. I definitely hear you when it comes to weight measurements. Do you know how many grams you used for a cup of flour? Conversions on the internet can really vary, and I’m wondering if you might have used a lighter cup than we typically do, which could result in a flatter cookie.
We often add an extra egg yolk to cookie recipes to make them chewier. I haven’t tried this one with 2 eggs, but it might work! Egg whites can make baked goods puffier vs chewy, which is why we often go with the yolk for cookies.
Way too dry, even after adding water
So sorry to hear that, Tom! Just so I can help troubleshoot, did you change anything about the recipe?
Love these! I used the coconut oil and love the flavor. I cut the sugar to 1/2 cup instead of 3/4 cup. They are still plenty sweet. I have read on other recipes they type of oats you use makes a difference and I suspect if you added the oats to the flour mix before you have creamed the flour with the egg sugar oil combo you will have dry as a bone batter. These are wonderful!
These turned out great. We used butter and added the walnuts. Thanks!
So glad you loved them, Gabriela!
Super dry, don’t make them. I lost my recipe, so tried this one. The cookies are too dry to eat.
Mine came out perfect, nice and chewy, one of the best recipes i’ve had in a few months.
I made this recipe with gluten free flower, the cookies were amazing! Didn’t last more than 2 days before the tin of cookies was empty😁❤️ Thank you for sharing!
Nathalie
Really struggled with this recipe. I used 1/2 cup coconut oil, as stated. I was unable to make dough balls because every time I picked up some dough it was dripping oil. Ironically, the dough also stuck impossibly to my skin. The finished cookies were flat and puddled together, so perhaps 1/2 cup is too much for coconut oil.
They tasted pretty good, but not worth the mess.
Won’t be making again.
I’m sorry to hear you were disappointed with the recipe, Pamela! We haven’t had that experience with the coconut oil. Did you make any other changes?
Perfectly delicious cookies, easy to make and definitely going to make these again. Thank you. Since I made them a bit thicker I left them in for an extra 2 mins.
Made these today. The cinnamon and the walnuts are great additions. Soft and perfectly balanced.
Can’ t wait to make these. Have not used coconut oil before, do you measure 1/2 cup Solid and then melt or melt enough to make 1/2 cup, or does it make a difference?
Also what size cookie scoop do you use to yield 20 cookies?