Chewy Oatmeal Cookies

Name: Chewy Oatmeal Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 47 min
Yield: 18 cookies
Cuisine: Baking
Ingredients: ¾ cup (170 g) unsalted butter, softened; ¾ cup (160 g) light brown sugar, packed; ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar; 1 large egg; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour; 1½ cups (135 g) rolled oats; 1 tsp baking soda; 1 tsp ground cinnamon; ¾ cup (110 g) raisins or chocolate chips (optional)

Soft and chewy in the middle with lightly crisp edges.

⏳Prep15 min

🔥Bake12 min

❄️Chill20 min

🍽️Makes18 cookies

📊LevelEasy

Oats give these cookies a proper chew, and using more brown sugar than white keeps them soft. Add raisins, chocolate or leave them plain. Chilling the dough for even 20 minutes stops them spreading too thin.

🥣 Ingredients

unsalted butter, softened ¾ cup ·170 g
light brown sugar, packed ¾ cup ·160 g
granulated sugar ¼ cup ·50 g
large egg 1
vanilla extract 1 tsp
all-purpose flour 1 cup ·125 g
rolled oats 1½ cups ·135 g
baking soda 1 tsp
ground cinnamon 1 tsp
raisins or chocolate chips (optional) ¾ cup ·110 g

↔ Tap an ingredient to convert any amount between cups and grams.

👩‍🍳 Method

1
Beat the softened butter with both sugars until creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
2
Mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and a pinch of salt in another bowl, then stir into the wet mix.
3
Fold in the oats and the raisins or chocolate. Chill the dough for at least 20 minutes so the cookies hold their shape.
4
Heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F and line two trays with baking paper.
5
Scoop tablespoons of dough onto the trays, leaving room to spread. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are set but the centres still look soft.
6
Leave on the tray for 5 minutes to firm up, then move to a rack. They finish setting as they cool.

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💡 Baker's tips

Pull them while the middles still look underdone. They set on the hot tray and stay chewy.
More brown than white sugar is the trick to a soft, chewy cookie.

🔀 Make it your own

Half raisins, half dark chocolate is a great mix.
Add 60 g of chopped toasted walnuts or pecans.

📦 Storing & freezing

Airtight at room temperature for 4 days. Freeze scooped dough balls and bake from frozen, adding 2 minutes.

❓ Frequently asked

Rolled oats or quick oats?

Rolled (old-fashioned) oats give the best chew. Quick oats work but make a softer, more uniform cookie. Avoid steel-cut oats here.

Why did they spread flat?

Warm dough or too little flour. Chill the dough for at least 20 minutes and weigh the flour so you are not under-measuring.

Baking in a different unit? Use the cups ↔ grams converter or the recipe scaler to halve or double this recipe.