These soft, chewy, incredibly easy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are made in one bowl using simple ingredients: old-fashioned oats, melted butter, brown sugar, and cozy cinnamon and nutmeg for spice. Use chocolate chips or chopped chocolate and don’t forget a sprinkle of sea salt on top! No mixer and no chilling needed for this simple oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Why you’ll love these cookies
Ok, those of you who follow me on Instagram know that I’ve been holding out on you, and for that I apologize. I absolutely meant to share this unbelievably easy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe with you over the summer, then in the fall, then over the holidays, and…life just happened, as it does. But no longer – today is the day!
For years, my recipe for the easiest chocolate chip cookies has been one of the most popular recipes on this website, and so many of you make it over and over again just like I do. It’s not hard to see why – a one bowl, no mixer, no chill recipe for 24 cookies in 30 minutes? You just can’t beat it.
So it was only a matter of time before I created an oatmeal chocolate chip version of the recipe. I’m actually glad I waited to share it because I’ve been refining it over the past few months and now — now, it’s perfect. These cookies are soft and chewy from the oats and brown sugar, with pockets of chocolate throughout and a cozy blend of cinnamon and nutmeg for the best spiced oatmeal cookie flavor.
Recipe Ingredients
We’re keeping it simple with the ingredients here because when you want cookies at 9 p.m. on a Tuesday, you’re not messing around with browning butter and sifting flour and doing all the things. No siree.
So here they are:
- Unsalted butter – melted, in the same bowl you’re going to mix everything in
- Brown sugar – light or dark will work!
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg (you can omit or add more cinnamon if you prefer)
- Baking soda
- Salt
- All-purpose flour (a gluten-free all-purpose blend would work too!)
- Old-fashioned rolled oats or quick oats (but NOT steel cut oats!)
- Chocolate chips or, my preference, chopped chocolate so it melts into glorious chocolate pools in the oven
- Sea salt on top if you’re feeling fancy
How to make easy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
Like my other “easiest” recipe series, these chocolate chip oatmeal cookies are made in one bowl and no mixer is needed. Here are the step by step instructions — spoiler alert, it’s a short list:
- Melt the butter in a large bowl (or melt separately and pour into a large bowl), then whisk with the brown sugar, egg, vanilla, and spices until well-combined and smooth.
- Stir in the flour and oats until a dough is formed. It’s a soft dough – don’t be concerned!
- Fold in the chocolate chips or chopped chocolate.
- Scoop onto a parchment-lined baking sheet (I recommend this cookie scoop!). Add extra chocolate chips or chunks on top of each dough ball to make them look like my photos.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes!
- Sprinkle sea salt on top after baking if you’d like for that perfect salty-sweet cookie.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
My most important tip for success in this oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe (and in all cookie recipes) is to weigh your flour. I cannot stress enough how important it is to accurately measure your flour for consistent, excellent results, and weight is the most accurate way.
I know it’s annoying – I resisted this method of measuring for a long time too, thinking it was too fancy or too complicated for my purposes. But I’ve discovered that, counterintuitively, baking by weight is SO much easier than using measuring cups. All you have to do is zero out (or tare) the scale each time you measure an ingredient into the bowl. You don’t have to get measuring cups or additional bowls dirty, and your ingredient measurements will be super accurate every time.
A cup of flour weighs 125 grams, and when you measure it using a scale, it will always be 125 grams. When you measure using cups, different brands will be slightly different sizes and you might accidentally pack the flour in too much, making your cup 140 or 150 grams which could lead to dry cookies. And what a sad day that would be.
So. Use a scale. They aren’t expensive! Here’s the one I use and love, but there are far cheaper ones out there that work just as well.
Storing & Freezing Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days at room temperature. Not that they’ll last that long, if my house is any indication.
Baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookies can be frozen, tightly wrapped in plastic and stored in a freezer bag, for up to 3 months. Simply thaw at room temperature for an hour or heat in the microwave for 30 seconds to serve.
The oatmeal cookie dough can also be frozen and baked later: scoop dough onto a flat surface like a plate or baking sheet, and place in the freezer for an hour. Then store frozen cookie dough balls in a freezer-safe bag to be baked whenever cookie cravings strike! Bake from frozen for 12 minutes at 350 degrees F, or 14 minutes if you like them crispy on the edges.
I like to keep cookie dough on hand in the freezer for cookie emergencies. It’s a real thing.
Additions & Substitutions
Add-ins: feel free to use raisins if you prefer (but…really, we don’t prefer) or any other combination of chocolate, fruit, or nuts in place of the chocolate chips.
Spices: you can omit the nutmeg entirely or add more cinnamon in its place – or leave them both out if you want pure oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I like the complexity and coziness of the spices, though.
Gluten-free: You can substitute an equal amount of gluten-free all-purpose flour if you’d like! Make sure to use certified gluten-free oats, as well.
Vegan: a bit more complex but use vegan butter, and use a flax egg (1 tbsp flax + 2.5 tbsp water, mixed and let sit for 5 minutes to form a gel) in place of the chicken egg. Make sure to use a vegan chocolate too if you need.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I double the recipe?
Yes, but I recommend making two separate batches, rather than doubling the ingredients in one bowl. The reason is that if you double the ingredients in one bowl, you’re doubling the volume but not the surface area, which means more heat will be retained by the batter and you’ll have flat, spread-out cookies. For this reason, I recommend making two separate batches, but if you must double everything in one bowl, I would recommend chilling the dough for at least an hour before scooping.
How do I make these oatmeal cookies gluten-free?
Make sure to use certified gluten-free oats and substitute in an equal volume of a gluten-free all-purpose flour blend, such as Bob’s Red Mill One-to-One (the blue bag).
More Cookie Recipes
- The Easiest Chocolate Chip Cookies
- The Easiest Peanut Butter Cookies
- Flourless Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Salted Brownie Cookies
If you make these simple oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, I’d love if you could leave a star rating and review below! It helps other readers like yourself and gets this recipe seen by more people. Also feel free to tag me on Instagram @katiebirdbakes – I love to see your bakes!
The Easiest Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- 2 cookie sheets lined with parchment paper
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup (150g) brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/4 cups (155g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (86g) old-fashioned (rolled) oats
- 1/2 cup (85g) chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (plus more for tops if desired)
- Coarse or flaky sea salt (optional, for sprinkling on top)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl whisk together melted butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, spices, baking soda and salt.
- Stir in flour and oats until a dough is formed. Fold in chocolate chips.
- Drop by tablespoons (a #40 cookie scoop is perfect for this) onto parchment lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart, then roll into balls in your hands if you want them perfectly round. Add extra chocolate chips to the tops of each dough ball if desired.
- Bake for 10 minutes! Sprinkle sea salt on top after baking if desired.
- Let cookies cool on sheet for at least 5 minutes, then cool completely on a rack. Store, tightly covered, at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
Like this recipe? Please rate it and leave a comment or tag me on Instagram @katiebirdbakes, and sign up for my email list to receive my recipes straight to your inbox every time I post!
Could you use 1/1 gf flour
yes, just use an equal weight (155g)
I made it with vegan butter and flax egg due to allergies and it was so freakin good! Unfortunately, I used my regular ice cream scoop and ended up with a dozen cookies instead of 20. Baked them for 12 min. The size is just right for me, but smaller would be better for the kiddos. This will be my go to when kid asks for chocolate chip cookies!
so glad those subs worked for you! thank you!
Not finicky, and my cookies weren’t tough or hard! Ingredients are all easily available. My kids wanted to bake something and this was a perfect cookie recipe for the purpose! My 2 year old was in love with them!
thank you!!
So nice when I don’t need 3-4 dozen of cookies around the house. Empty nesters deserve chocolate chip cookies too!!
I completely agree! thank you!
I had to make them egg and dairy free because of kid allergies, so subbed with a flax egg and vegan butter (good earth) and quick oats because that’s what I had. I measured by weight. The cookies were delicious and had good texture. Appreciate the simple ingredients and method. Well done Katie! And thank you!
thanks for letting me know those subs work! so glad you enjoyed!!
This recipe is so simple and only takes minimal ingredients. I was skeptical at first with the melted butter because any time I’ve used melted butter in a cookie recipe, they came out totally flat, so i only half melted mine and left half soft. These are absolutely fabulous. I mixed these up, baked them and cleaned my kitchen in 30 minutes or less. I’m saving this recipe right now! Definitely a good one! Thank you so much!
I love that so much — thank you!!
Soft, delicious, perfect amount of spice! My first time making oatmeal cookies, and they were absolutely delectable!
yay!! thank you Lexi, so glad you loved them!
Great ~perfect recipe especially when quick cookies are needed ~ delicious cookies in less than an hour, including cleanup! Made this 5x last 5 weeks. Melted butter, no chill cookie recipes ~ just what a busy mom /grand mom needs. I use half cup of quick oats ~ half cup old fashioned oats.
thank you Karen!
Hey I was wondering could I use fine sea salt instead of regular salt
yes you can!
I made these cookies for a snack tray I took to a meeting. I followed your directions except for the scoop size, mine was a bit larger than what you recommended, so I increased the time by 2 minutes. Absolutely perfect and a total hit. Thanks for such a good recipe.
thank you so much! love the bigger cookies
Thanks for the recipe! Question: can we use quick dry oats instead of the old fashioned rolled oats?
Sorry not super knowledgeable about the different types of oats!
Hi Barbara – yes, quick oats would work, just not steel cut oats!
Hi, just recently found your site. Tried your peanut butter cookies, and they were perfect. Ive tried a lot of other pnut butter cookies on different sites, but these were simple and delicious. Left a yummy taste in your mouth that made you want more. Very good !
Thanks . Keep up the good work. Im impressed with brown butter recipes. Please send more.
So glad you enjoyed! Thanks for the review!
We loved these cookies!
For next time: do you think I could spread the dough into an 8×8 pan and bake as brownies?
Thanks for your fabulous recipes!
Hi DV – yes, I think you could do that but haven’t tried it myself. I’d try baking for 25-30 minutes as a starting point – let me know how it turns out!
Yum. Added in walnuts, very happy with the decision. Super easy, turned out great!
Thanks so much!
Tasty! Easy recipe (no room temp butter, no refrigerating, no mixer). Heavy on the nutmeg but I like that, especially for colder weather baking. Maybe I’ll add walnuts next time 🤔
Tasty! Easy recipe (no room temp butter, no refrigerating). Heavy on the nutmeg but I like that, especially for colder weather baking. Maybe I’ll add walnuts next time 🤔
Glad you enjoyed it! Nuts would be delish!
Can I substitute the melted butter with oil?
I haven’t tried it but I think it would work!
Wow these cookies are delicious! Fast & simple to make and so good. (I added a handful of toasted pecans & dried cranberries.) Mine were perfectly done in 12 minutes. Thank you for such a great recipe!
Love those add-ins! So glad you enjoyed and thank you for the review 🙂
LOVED this recipe, the one bowl method made everything so much more easier! i was worried my partner wouldn’t enjoy the nutmeg in it, but he loved them. This was the first time baking cookies where you leave them as balls and pop them in the oven, i was SO worried they would spread into each other – but they didn’t, and they looked picture perfect! I can’t wait to make them again with dairy free butter so i can enjoy them
LOVED this recipe, the one bowl method made everything so much more easier! i was worried my partner wouldn’t enjoy the nutmeg in it, but he loved them. This was the first time baking cookies where you leave them as balls and pop them in the oven, i was SO worried they would spread into each other – but they didn’t, and they looked picture perfect! I can’t wait to make them again with dairy free butter so i can enjoy them
Wow, thanks for the amazing review Charon! Hope you get to enjoy them soon!
Another 5/5 easy cookie recipe to the fray, specially because normal oatmeal cookies are my favorites.
This one tho, it was different than the others. The taste was capable of remind me of some nights that i spent in a relative’s house when i was a child. On these nights, we usually had some amazing oatmeal cookies while playing some card games, and it was there that my love for oatmeal cookies bloomed.
There’s not many foods that can remind me of my childhood and i’ll admit that i was surprised that this one did it.
The child on me really thanks you for this recipe Katie, another killer one.
Now, i have to come back to my backlog and try out your peanut butter ones.
But i’m SUPER interested in a blondie. Never eaten one, so i really don’t know what i’ll do next, lol.
Cheers from Brazil!
Thank you so much Yuri!! You made my week with this comment 🙂
This is another great addition to your series of easy cookie recipes. It’s simple, the ingredients are usually already on hand, and when you just NEED to have a cookie, your wish is only a short time away. I am always a big fan of anything that can be made quickly and without having to drag out and clean up the mixer. (also a big fan of the no chill factor which just prolongs your wait for the cookie you are so anxiously awaiting to chow down on.) Thanks for another great recipe!
Thanks so much Phoebe! So glad you love this one as much as we do!
So yummy and so quick to make! The perfect late night craving cookie.
I love that description 🙂 thanks Erin!
Best oatmeal cookies
Thank you Andrea!!
Oh my god. I saw this recipe in my inbox and I happened to have all the ingredients on hand, so I made them in less than half an hour and they are PERFECT. I love the chew from the oats and I used chopped chocolate so I’d have chocolate puddles throughout the cookie 🙂 SO GOOD. thanks Katie!!
Thanks so much Lauren!!