Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Name: Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 24 min
Total time: 49 min
Yield: 24 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 cup (2 sticks) (226 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled for 10 minutes until warm, not hot; 1 cup (215 g) light brown sugar, firmly packed; ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar; 1 large (50 g) large egg, at room temperature; 1 large yolk (18 g) large egg yolk, at room temperature; 2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract; 1½ cups (190 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled; 1 teaspoon (5 g) baking soda; 1 teaspoon (6 g) fine sea salt; ½ teaspoon (1½ g) ground cinnamon; 2¼ cups (205 g) old-fashioned rolled oats; 1½ cups (255 g) semisweet chocolate chips; flaky sea salt, for sprinkling on top, to taste (optional)

From the MyKitchenBank Kitchen

Thick, bendy-centered oatmeal cookies with crisp golden edges, deep brown sugar flavor and plenty of melty chocolate. Melted butter and an extra egg yolk keep them chewy, and a short chill stops them from spreading too thin.

Prep: 25 min
Cook: 24 min
Wait: 1 hr 5 min
Total: 1 hr 54 min
Makes: 24 cookies (about 3 inches / 7.5 cm wide)

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Ingredients

24 servings

1 cup (2 sticks) (226 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled for 10 minutes until warm, not hot
1 cup (215 g) light brown sugar, firmly packed
½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
1 large (50 g) large egg, at room temperature
1 large yolk (18 g) large egg yolk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
1½ cups (190 g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1 teaspoon (5 g) baking soda
1 teaspoon (6 g) fine sea salt
½ teaspoon (1.5 g) ground cinnamon
2¼ cups (205 g) old-fashioned rolled oats
1½ cups (255 g) semisweet chocolate chips
flaky sea salt, for sprinkling on top, to taste (optional)

Equipment (10)

2 large rimmed baking sheets, about 13×18 inches (33×46 cm)
Parchment paper or silicone baking mats
Small saucepan (1–2 quart / 1–2 L)
Large mixing bowl (4 quart / 4 L)
Medium bowl for dry ingredients
Whisk
Flexible spatula
Cookie scoop (about 2 tablespoons) or tablespoon measure
Wire cooling rack
Spatula or thin turner for moving cookies

Steps

Before you start

Read the timing: the dough must chill for 30 minutes, so plan for about 2 hours from start to finish.
Take the egg and egg yolk out of the fridge 30 minutes ahead so they blend smoothly into the butter without firming it up.
Use old-fashioned (rolled) oats, not quick oats or steel-cut oats. Quick oats make a pasty cookie and steel-cut oats stay hard.
Spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off, or weigh it. Scooping straight from the bag packs in too much and makes dry cookies.

1
Melt and cool butter
- Place the butter in a small saucepan over low heat and stir occasionally until completely melted, about 3 minutes.
- Pour it into a large mixing bowl and let it cool for 10 minutes, until warm to the touch but no longer hot.
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Ready when: Butter is fully liquid with no solid pieces and feels warm, not hot, on the back of your finger
Tip: Hot butter makes greasy, flat cookies. If in doubt, wait a few extra minutes.
2
Whisk wet ingredients
- Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar to the cooled butter and whisk for 1 minute until no dry sugar clumps remain.
- Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla, then whisk vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes until the mixture is thick, glossy and lighter in color.
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Ready when: Mixture looks smooth, glossy and slightly thickened, like wet caramel, with no streaks of egg
Tip: The extra yolk adds richness and chew, so don't skip it.
3
Mix dry ingredients
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, fine sea salt and cinnamon for 30 seconds so the baking soda and salt are evenly spread.
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Ready when: No streaks of cinnamon or lumps of baking soda remain
4
Fold dough together
- Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and fold with a flexible spatula just until a few streaks of flour remain, about 20 strokes.
- Add the oats and chocolate chips and fold until evenly distributed and no dry flour is visible.
- The dough will be soft and slightly sticky.
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Ready when: Dough is uniform, thick and holds together when pressed, with oats and chips spread throughout
Tip: Stop mixing as soon as the flour disappears. Overmixing develops gluten and makes tough cookies.
5
Chill the dough
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- The oats will absorb moisture and the butter will firm up, so the dough scoops cleanly and the cookies spread less.
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Ready when: Dough is firm enough to roll into a ball without sticking to your hands
Tip: You can chill the dough up to 48 hours. Let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before scooping if it is very hard.
6
Preheat and line pansOven 350°F / 175°C
- During the last 15 minutes of chilling, position one oven rack in the center and preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
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Ready when: Oven has reached 350°F (175°C) according to the oven display or an oven thermometer
Tip: An inexpensive oven thermometer helps, because ovens running hot will over-brown the edges before the centers set.
7
Scoop the dough
- Scoop heaping 2-tablespoon portions of dough (about 50 g each) and roll lightly into balls.
- Place 12 balls on one prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches (5 cm) apart.
- Keep the remaining dough balls on a plate in the fridge for the second batch.
- If using, sprinkle each ball with a tiny pinch of flaky sea salt.
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Ready when: You have 24 evenly sized dough balls, 12 on the pan and 12 chilling
Tip: Don't flatten the balls. Tall dough spreads slowly, which gives a chewier center.
8
Bake first batchOven 350°F / 175°C
- Bake the first sheet on the center rack at 350°F (175°C) for 11 to 13 minutes.
- The cookies are ready when the edges are golden brown and set, while the centers still look slightly puffy and a bit underdone.
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Ready when: Edges are golden brown and firm; centers look soft, puffy and slightly shiny
Tip: Rotate the pan halfway through baking if your oven has hot spots. Pulling them while the centers look underdone is the key to chewiness.
9
Rest on the pan
- Remove the pan from the oven and let the cookies sit on it for 5 minutes.
- They will finish setting from the residual heat.
- If any look uneven, gently nudge the edges with a round cutter or spatula to shape them.
- Then move them with a thin spatula to a wire rack.
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Ready when: Cookies lift off the pan without bending or falling apart
Tip: Moving them too early will tear the soft centers.
10
Bake second batchOven 350°F / 175°C
- Let the second baking sheet cool completely before using it, or use a second pan cooled under cold running water and dried, because dough placed on a hot pan spreads too much.
- Arrange the remaining 12 chilled dough balls on the lined pan, sprinkle with flaky salt if using, and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 11 to 13 minutes, until the edges are golden and the centers look puffy and slightly soft.
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Ready when: Edges are golden brown and set; centers are puffy and slightly underdone
Tip: If your oven fits both racks, you can bake both pans at once, swapping their positions halfway through.
11
Cool completely
- Rest the second batch on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to the wire rack.
- Let all of the cookies cool for at least 15 minutes.
- They finish setting and become properly chewy as they cool, and the chocolate will be soft but no longer runny.
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Ready when: Cookies are firm enough to hold in your hand and the centers are soft and chewy

Good to know

Tips

Underbake slightly: pull the cookies when the centers still look soft and puffy. They keep cooking on the hot pan and will set into chewy centers.
Weigh ingredients with a kitchen scale if you can. It is the most reliable way to get the same chewy texture every time.
For pretty cookies, press a few extra chocolate chips onto the tops of the dough balls right before baking.
If cookies spread too much, the butter was too warm or the pan was hot. Chill the dough for another 15 minutes and always use a cool pan.

Make ahead

Dough can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 48 hours; bring it to cool room temperature for 15 minutes before scooping. Scooped dough balls can also be frozen on a tray, then stored in a freezer bag for up to 3 months and baked straight from frozen at 350°F (175°C) for 13 to 15 minutes.

Storage & reheating

Room temperature: store in an airtight container for up to 4 days, with a slice of bread added to help keep them soft. Fridge: not recommended, as it dries them out. Freezer: freeze baked cookies in a single layer, then transfer to a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes, or warm at 300°F (150°C) for 5 minutes to refresh.

Substitutions

semisweet chocolate chips → chopped dark chocolate (60–70%), raisins or dried cherries. Use the same weight (255 g). Chopped chocolate gives larger melty pools; use raisins or cherries for a more classic oatmeal-raisin style.
light brown sugar → dark brown sugar. Gives a deeper molasses flavor and slightly chewier cookie.
all-purpose flour → 1-to-1 gluten-free baking flour blend. Use the same weight (190 g) and certified gluten-free oats; the dough may be a little softer, so chill for 45 minutes.
unsalted butter → salted butter. Use salted butter and reduce the fine sea salt to ½ teaspoon (3 g).