AuthorSarah RacineCategoryCookies, DessertDifficultyBeginnerYield- 24 cookies
Oatmeal cookies are often overlooked, but I beg you to reconsider! This perfectly textured and delightful oatmeal cookie is the perfect canvas for your favorite dried fruit or chocolatey addition. No stand mixer required; you can just mix by hand thanks to the melted butter! Be sure to use old fashioned rolled oats, and not instant or quick oats.
If some specific instructions in this recipe confuse you, please feel free to check out my Key Cookie Concepts page, which highlight the "why behind the what" for specific cookie techniques.
350F, or 325F convection, upper middle and lower middle racks
Line 3 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper, or grease trays.
In a 5-6 quart bowl, mix in this order.
-white sugar, brown sugar, butter- whisk until smooth, for 30 seconds
-Egg and extract, whisk until smooth, for 30 seconds .
-Take all dry ingredients (flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, salt) and whisk in a separate bowl for 30 seconds to combine. This might seem superfluous, but this process helps to properly suspend ingredients of different densities.
-Switch to silicone spatula or wooden spoon before mixing dry ingredients!
-Gently stir in dry ingredients until dough just comes together, 45 seconds , DO NOT OVERMIX! You want to develop as little gluten as possible to prevent a tough and dry texture.
Chill dough, covered, in refrigerator for at least 15 minutes, or up to 24 hours.
Chilling cookie dough helps improve the texture, taking it from cakey to chewy by enabling the gluten to relax and helping the moisture hydrate the dry flour more completely. Don't skip this step.
Weigh 2 ounce dough portions, or measure ~2 rounded TBSP per cookie.
Roll each portion into balls. *You can freeze dough portions at this point and bake from frozen at another time for a quick sweet treat!*
Before baking, roll dough portions in oat garnish to coat and evenly space on prepared baking sheet, 8 dough balls per sheet.
Place on trays with 1 inch buffer between each cookie, ideally panning them 2 x 4, for a total of 24 cookies.
Press down tops of cookies evenly with your hands. They should be about 3/4 of an inch thick. If you want thicker, less spread out cookies, simply chill tray with cookie dough balls in freezer for 5 minutes before baking.
Bake in the oven until edges are set and just beginning to brown, 15-19 minutes, rotating the trays both vertically and horizontally after 7 minutes.
This is a big range for baking, so just watch them closely toward the end to ensure they're the perfect bake for you.
16 minutes- ooey gooey
18 minutes- slight crisp edges, soft center
20 minutes- ultimate crispy edges, slight give in the middle
After baking is when you can further manipulate the texture of your cookies.
If you like them crisp on the bottom, let cool completely on tray.
If you like them softer, or you fear you’ve overbaked them, remove from hot tray as soon as they’ll hold their shape; 1-2 minutes after they’re out of the oven.
A good in-between is to let them cool 5-10 minutes, then move cookies to wire rack or dish to serve.
Once cool, store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Do you want to build your own flavor variation?
You can use up to 3 tsp. of any extract you desire in lieu of the vanilla extract. You can mix and match, such as one teaspoon each of 2 different flavors (vanilla & lemon, coffee & almond, etc.). I have also added up to 2 tsp. of citrus zest before, and it's a spectacular addition.
Feel free to modify your garnish oats as well by adding ground nuts, brown sugar to replace the white sugar, additional spices, or even a pinch of finishing salt!
Need Inspiration? These are a great place to start!
Classic Oatmeal Raisin
Add 1 tsp cinnamon to the dry ingredients and 1 tsp. cinnamon to the garnish oats. Use 1 1/4 cup raisins for the mix-in.
Cranberry Orange
For the extract measurement, use 2 tsp. vanilla extract and the juice and zest of one orange. Use 1 1/4 cup dried cranberries for the mix-in.
Cherry & Ginger
For the extract measurement, use 2 tsp vanilla extract and 1 tsp fresh grated ginger. Add 1/4 tsp. of ground ginger to the dry ingredients and 1/4 tsp ground ginger to the garnish oats. Use 1 1/4 cup dried cherries for the mix-in.
Ingredients
Directions
350F, or 325F convection, upper middle and lower middle racks
Line 3 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper, or grease trays.
In a 5-6 quart bowl, mix in this order.
-white sugar, brown sugar, butter- whisk until smooth, for 30 seconds
-Egg and extract, whisk until smooth, for 30 seconds .
-Take all dry ingredients (flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, salt) and whisk in a separate bowl for 30 seconds to combine. This might seem superfluous, but this process helps to properly suspend ingredients of different densities.
-Switch to silicone spatula or wooden spoon before mixing dry ingredients!
-Gently stir in dry ingredients until dough just comes together, 45 seconds , DO NOT OVERMIX! You want to develop as little gluten as possible to prevent a tough and dry texture.
Chill dough, covered, in refrigerator for at least 15 minutes, or up to 24 hours.
Chilling cookie dough helps improve the texture, taking it from cakey to chewy by enabling the gluten to relax and helping the moisture hydrate the dry flour more completely. Don't skip this step.
Weigh 2 ounce dough portions, or measure ~2 rounded TBSP per cookie.
Roll each portion into balls. *You can freeze dough portions at this point and bake from frozen at another time for a quick sweet treat!*
Before baking, roll dough portions in oat garnish to coat and evenly space on prepared baking sheet, 8 dough balls per sheet.
Place on trays with 1 inch buffer between each cookie, ideally panning them 2 x 4, for a total of 24 cookies.
Press down tops of cookies evenly with your hands. They should be about 3/4 of an inch thick. If you want thicker, less spread out cookies, simply chill tray with cookie dough balls in freezer for 5 minutes before baking.
Bake in the oven until edges are set and just beginning to brown, 15-19 minutes, rotating the trays both vertically and horizontally after 7 minutes.
This is a big range for baking, so just watch them closely toward the end to ensure they're the perfect bake for you.
16 minutes- ooey gooey
18 minutes- slight crisp edges, soft center
20 minutes- ultimate crispy edges, slight give in the middle
After baking is when you can further manipulate the texture of your cookies.
If you like them crisp on the bottom, let cool completely on tray.
If you like them softer, or you fear you’ve overbaked them, remove from hot tray as soon as they’ll hold their shape; 1-2 minutes after they’re out of the oven.
A good in-between is to let them cool 5-10 minutes, then move cookies to wire rack or dish to serve.
Once cool, store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Do you want to build your own flavor variation?
You can use up to 3 tsp. of any extract you desire in lieu of the vanilla extract. You can mix and match, such as one teaspoon each of 2 different flavors (vanilla & lemon, coffee & almond, etc.). I have also added up to 2 tsp. of citrus zest before, and it's a spectacular addition.
Feel free to modify your garnish oats as well by adding ground nuts, brown sugar to replace the white sugar, additional spices, or even a pinch of finishing salt!
Need Inspiration? These are a great place to start!
Classic Oatmeal Raisin
Add 1 tsp cinnamon to the dry ingredients and 1 tsp. cinnamon to the garnish oats. Use 1 1/4 cup raisins for the mix-in.
Cranberry Orange
For the extract measurement, use 2 tsp. vanilla extract and the juice and zest of one orange. Use 1 1/4 cup dried cranberries for the mix-in.
Cherry & Ginger
For the extract measurement, use 2 tsp vanilla extract and 1 tsp fresh grated ginger. Add 1/4 tsp. of ground ginger to the dry ingredients and 1/4 tsp ground ginger to the garnish oats. Use 1 1/4 cup dried cherries for the mix-in.
