4.92 from 436 votes

Oatmeal Cookies

By Sam MerrittPublished Dec 20, 2023

1,024 Comments

Servings: 24 cookies

1 hr

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My oatmeal cookies recipe yields soft, chewy, bakery-style cookies. This old-fashioned classic is an all-time favorite, and I think you’ll love the incredible flavors, perfectly balanced texture and sweetness, and ease of this recipe! Includes a how-to video!

Close-up of two big soft oatmeal cookies on marble, with more cookies in background

Truly the Best Oatmeal Cookies

Despite their humble appearance, my oatmeal cookies are always the very first cookies to disappear from their cookie tins each Christmas.

While they may not look as exciting as chocolate chip cookies, snickerdoodles, or flashy iced sugar cookies, they have a classic hearty texture and incredible depth of flavor that’s rich with brown sugar, vanilla, and butter. They’re also easy to prepare, are made with basic, easy to find ingredients, and are perfect for beginner and advanced bakers alike.

Incredible flavor. A blend of brown and white sugar, a healthy splash of real vanilla, a subtle sprinkling of cinnamon, this recipe checks all the boxes for a satisfying cookie.
The *perfect* texture. Hearty and satisfying, the oats make for a sturdy cookie with perfectly balanced sweetness.
Easy to make! This recipe is perfect for bakers of any level of expertise.
Over 250 five-star reviews ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️! Since I first published this recipe in 2017, it’s garnered hundreds of rave reviews and has become a new staple in households across the world. So don’t just take my word for it, check out the comments!

I know there are literally hundreds of thousands of other oatmeal cookies out there, but give this one a try and I strongly suspect it will become your new go-to, too.

What You Need

Oatmeal cookies are made with pantry staples, which is one of the many reasons they’ve been so popular over the years! Let’s go over a few key ingredients.

Ingredients for making oatmeal cookie recipe

Oats. I recommend and prefer old-fashioned oats in my oatmeal cookies, but discuss alternatives in the FAQ section below.
Sugar. My oatmeal cookies use a blend of white granulated and light brown. The brown sugar adds moisture and flavor, helping to make these cookies nice and soft.
Softened butter. Perfectly softened butter should be slightly cooler than room temperature; 65°F is ideal, if you want to get technical (it does not need to be exact!).
Vanilla extract. I use a healthy pour of vanilla in my recipe, which gives the cookies incredible depth of flavor. Now is a great time to whip out your homemade vanilla, if you have any!
Flour. Use all-purpose flour. Bleached or unbleached will work, I personally use unbleached. Do not use self-rising flour which contains baking powder, which this recipe does not use, and salt, which we have already accounted for.
Corn starch. As I mentioned, this is one of my favorite ingredients to use in my cookies (it makes an appearance in my peanut butter blossoms, too). It makes them nice and soft and chewy without making them cakey. You could alternatively substitute arrowroot starch.
Baking soda. This leavening agent gives the cookies the perfect chewy texture and just the right amount of spread. It also helps cause some of that golden caramelization that gives the cookies their beautiful coloring (and rich flavor). No baking powder is needed in this recipe
Ground cinnamon. You can leave this out if you have allergies, but the flavor of these oatmeal cookies is so perfectly enhanced by a dash of cinnamon.

SAM’S TIP: If you don’t have cornstarch and can’t find arrowroot, you can substitute the cornstarch with an equal amount of flour. The oatmeal cookies will be a tad flatter and they won’t be quite as soft and chewy, but they’ll still be very good!

This is just an overview of the ingredients I use in my oatmeal cookie recipe and why I do so. For the full recipe with measurements, please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

Tips for Perfect Cookies, Every Time

I love these oatmeal cookies (and really all cookie recipes) because I think they’re the perfect recipe for beginner bakers and seasoned pros alike. I wanted to share a few tips that helped me level up my own cookie game, hopefully they help you, too!

Oatmeal cookie dough in a glass bowl, pink towel in foreground, ingredients in background

Cream the butter and sugar well. Creaming, or thoroughly beating together the butter and sugars, is necessary in this recipe because it helps incorporate air into the batter and helps the cookies achieve the proper texture. This means going beyond simply stirring together the butter and sugar until just combined; you want the mixture to appear light and fluffy, and an electric or stand mixer is best for easily achieving this.
Weigh your ingredients! A kitchen scale (⬅️ that one is my favorite!) is a game changer when it comes to baking anything, from cakes to macarons and oatmeal cookies. It will also save you on dishes, no more measuring cups to wash. Here is my guide on using a kitchen scale to get you started. If you don’t have a scale, don’t worry, you can still make great cookies, just make sure you are measuring your flour properly (don’t scoop it into your measuring cup!).
Roll your cookies. Most drop cookies (like these) can simply be, well, dropped on the baking pan and baked. No problem! But if you want your cookies to look more uniform and round, roll the dough between your palms to make a round ball before baking.
Know your oven temperature. Many ovens run hotter or cooler than they let on (I once had an oven that was 25 degrees hotter than it told me it was!). I highly recommend keeping an oven thermometer in the center of your oven to monitor the temperature. Also make sure you bake in the center rack, unless otherwise noted.
Underbake slightly. Remove the oatmeal cookies from the oven before they’re baked all the way through! The edges should look set/slightly golden but the centers will appear slightly underdone (but not raw!). Let your cookies cool completely on the baking sheet, where they’ll finish cooking to perfection. This will give you cookies that stay soft and chewy for days.

Overhead view of oatmeal cookies cooling on a cooking rack

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I add raisins/chocolate chips/nuts or other add-ins?

Yes you can! Any of these may be added to the dough without having to make any other alterations to the recipe. I recommend adding about 1 ½ cups of your favorite add-ins, stir them in with a wooden spoon or spatula after adding your oats.
I also do have a standalone oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe and an oatmeal raisin cookie recipe, both of which are different from this recipe.

Can I use quick oats?

I used to recommend against using quick oats (also sometimes called “instant oats”), but after a series of recent tests I’ve concluded that it’s fine to use quick oats instead. Note that your oatmeal cookies will be less chewy, less hearty, and may be a tad more dry.
Substitute an equal amount.

How do I keep oatmeal cookies chewy?

This recipe is specifically designed to yield soft, chewy cookies. You can help ensure your cookies stay soft by following my instructions for not over-baking the cookies. When storing, keep them in an airtight container at room temperature, they’re best when enjoyed within 5 days of baking.

I hope you love this oatmeal cookie recipe every bit as my family does!

Enjoy!

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This oatmeal cookie recipe was originally published April of 2017. Photos have been updated, additional tips have been added, and a video has been added. Recipe remains the same.