Oatmeal Cookies

Some cookies need embellishments like colorful frosting, sprinkles, jams and fillings, and more, but these straightforward oatmeal cookies prove that sometimes simple is better. Soft, thick, and perfectly chewy, in my book, these cookies are the absolute ideal texture. Make them as is for the most classic oatmeal cookie, or use them as a jumping-off point to add in your favorite mix-ins—I see you oatmeal raisin and oatmeal chocolate chip. Keep reading on for everything you need to know to make these best-ever oatmeal cookies.

How To Make Oatmeal Cookies

INGREDIENTS

• All-Purpose Flour & Baking Soda: Flour and baking soda are a classic cookie combination for their ability to bake into well-spread, slightly chewy, golden brown cookies. Baking soda specifically will help the cookies get that golden glow.
• Ground Cinnamon: Cinnamon is such a warm, comforting spice that it just works perfectly in an oatmeal cookie. It brings a spicy warmth to the chewy oats that makes them so easy to eat en masse.
• Unsalted Butter: I always use unsalted butter in baking because it's much easier to control the moisture and sodium level of your cookies than its salted counterpart.
• Light Brown Sugar & Granulated Sugar: A combination of brown and white sugar is perfect in these cookies, as the molasses of the brown sugar helps create a chewy cookie, while the granulated sugar will help bring extra sweetness and rise to the cookies.
• Large Egg: Our egg will help act as a binder here to hold the cookies together as they bake, while also adding some moisture so that they don’t turn out too dense.
• Pure Vanilla Extract: A little bit of sweet, floral vanilla goes a long way to making a super-comforting cookie.
• Old-Fashioned Oats: It wouldn’t be an oatmeal cookie without oats. Old-fashioned oats are my choice here due to their larger size and thickness. Any oats will work, though, so feel free to choose your favorites.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

We need to start the cookies off by preheating the oven to 350° and, in a large bowl, combining the dry ingredients. Beat together the unsalted butter and both sugars until light and creamy. Add in the egg, beating again to mix, then the vanilla, beating again, until the wet ingredients are combined.

While beating, slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet until the dry ingredients are almost fully combined, but a few dry streaks remain. This will help keep the cookies from being overworked. Add the oats and beat the dough until there are no more dry streaks, and all ingredients are well combined. Easy peasy!

Prepare 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and then begin scooping out cookie dough into balls of about 3 Tbsp. Evenly spread the dough balls out across both prepared baking sheets, spacing about 2" apart.

Place both baking sheets in the heated oven and bake for about 10 minutes until a golden brown color has been achieved and the edges are set. Remove the baking sheets from the oven, but keep the cookies on the sheets to cool for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

The full list of ingredients and instructions can be found in the recipe below.

Recipe Tips

• Choose your oats wisely: Old-fashioned oats add to the chewiness of these cookies because the oats are much bigger and thicker than quick oats. You can swap out the old-fashioned for quick oats if you need, but your cookies won’t be as chewy.
• Use a scoop to form your cookies: Use a large cookie scoop to create big, round cookies.
• Refrigerate your dough: If you think your dough is too warm, you can refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes or up to overnight. If your dough is refrigerated overnight, you’ll need to let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes to scoop the dough easily.

Oatmeal Cookie Variations

• Thin & Crispy Oatmeal Cookies: Cookie lovers usually fall into one of two camps: soft and chewy, or thin and crispy. If you're a thin and crispy fan, then these oatmeal cookies will be your new go-to recipe. They're both crunchy on the edges, but just soft enough in the middle, making them the perfect cookie combo.
• Healthier Oatmeal Cookies: To make these cookies a touch healthier, we decreased the usual amounts of butter and sugar with some help from applesauce, which provides sweetness and moisture to the dough without additional fat.
• No-Bake Oatmeal Cookies: No oven? No need. No need to worry if you over- or under-bake them, or if they’ll come out too cakey or too crispy. These cookies turn out perfect every time because they are, say it with me, no-bake!

Storage

These cookies will stay good at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days. The dough can also be frozen in individual portions for up to 3 months. Bake the dough from frozen and add a couple of extra minutes to the bake time. You can also freeze the baked cookies in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Let them sit at room temperature to thaw or microwave them for a few seconds for a warm cookie!