This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, see our privacy policy.
A delicious take on old-fashioned grandma cookies. Shh... with chewy, toffee-studded interiors, crisp, buttery edges, and lots of melty chocolate chips in each bite, these Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies might just be a bit better than Grandma's!
Although this recipe for Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies has been in the making for quite a while, there's a fun, funny story that prompted me to perfect them.
Although we have a wonderful collection of chocolate chip cookies in our recipe archives, I wanted to create a great recipe for Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies. I've been working on this recipe idea on and off, since last fall but I wasn't happy with any of my cookie test cases. They were either too dry, too blah or they spread into blobs in the oven. After numerous attempts, I gave up.
But a few weeks ago I got a text from one of my granddaughters that inspired me to return to my quest. This is what it said:
"hey geeg (that's me)! any chance you could make some chocolate chip cookies for my friend's birthday on march 20th??! she loves you and wants to try ur yum cookies"
To be honest, I don't know her friend but that's okay. The part that made me laugh was the text that followed:
"and then i don’t have to buy her a present 😁"
In response to her request, I revisited my chocolate chip oatmeal cookie quest. There's been lots of cookie testing/tweaking and yummy chocolate aromas wafting from the Café kitchen over the last two weeks and I'm finally happy with the results. 🙌
My goal was an easy, one-bowl, old-fashioned-grandma oatmeal cookie recipe with chewy interiors and crisp edges. These are all that! Plus each bite is bursting with buttery toffee and melty chocolate chips! Perhaps even a bit better than Grandma's, hence the name!
So much to love!
I love that this dough does not need to be refrigerated before baking. Although it's not a big deal to refrigerate dough, sometimes you just want cookies when you want them. And refrigerating for even 30-60 minutes is not ideal!
Another bonus is that you can stir up the dough for these Chocolate Chip Oatmeal cookies in one large bowl - with no mixer necessary. I love the idea of making cookies or cakes without any special equipment - the way grandma made them!
Freeze the dough or the cookies
This recipe makes a large batch but the dough freezes well. I like to scoop up the dough and freeze the scoops on a pan or plate. Once the dough balls are frozen, I throw them in a ziplock bag. That means I can have freshly baked cookies on the spur of the moment with minimal fuss on my part.
You can also freeze the cookies once they're baked although that's a little dangerous. I always think they're "safe" in the freezer but, in reality, it takes less than a minute in the microwave (at 50% power) to transform a frozen cookie into an irresistibly delicious, warm-melty Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie.
Lots of taste testers
I've been passing out plates and boxes of these delicious Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies to family, friends, neighbors, etc. EVERYONE has loved them and has given them rave reviews.
Since these cookies make a wonderful gift, we've created a gift label to dress them up.
To receive the free printable labels just let us know that you'd like them in the comment section at the very bottom of this post. We'll email a PDF for the labels that you can print on your computer along with links for the boxes and ribbon shown in the pictures in this post.
Want to make someone's day? Make a batch of these delicious Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies. Then wait to see the happy faces.
Make plenty because even Grandma's smile will fade when the cookie jar is empty and all that's left on her plate is this:
Cafe Tips for making these Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
- Because this recipe doesn't require a mixer, the butter needs to be nice and soft. You can let the butter sit out at room temperature, but if the air is chilly in your house, it won’t get soft enough. Here are some easy ways to soften butter:
- You can soften the butter in the microwave on power level 10%. It works like magic! You’ll need to experiment a bit with your microwave though, as they’re all different. Start with 1 minute. Add 20 to 30-second increments until you learn how long your microwave will take to get the butter nice and soft, but not melted.
- Another technique I often use to soften butter is to put it in the microwave for a few hours with the light on. To keep the light on in the microwave I put a folded paper towel in the door.
- Boil a cup of water in the microwave for 3-4 minutes and get things nice and steamy. Leave the water cup in the microwave, add the butter and close the door. The warmth from the steamy water will help to quickly soften the butter.
- Cutting the butter into small pieces helps it soften quicker.
- Place the hard butter on a small plate. Fill a bowl with hot water. Wait 5 minutes then discard the water. Put the warm bowl over the butter.
- Put the butter in the oven with the light turned on. This will take a few hours.
- The fastest way to soften butter is to put cold butter in the microwave for 10 seconds. Turn it to the opposite side and microwave for another 10 seconds. It might be ready at this point, but if it’s not completely soft, add one or two more 5-second stints.
- Note that these cookies bake at 325˚F instead of the usual 350˚F. I found that the bottoms got too brown at 350.
- This recipe calls for toffee bits. You can find toffee bits at many larger grocery stores in the same section as the chocolate chips. I use Heath Toffee Bits. ( A note to those with nut allergies - most toffee bits (including Heath) have almonds.)
- If you like perfectly shaped cookies, use a metal spatula immediately after the cookies emerge from the oven to push any unruly edges into a circle.
- After you scoop up the dough you can tuck a few extra chocolate chips and/ or a tiny sprinkle of toffee bits onto the top of the dough balls for a pretty presentation.
- This recipe makes a large batch (2-3 dozen, depending on how large your scoops are). If you don't need that many cookies, you can scoop up the dough balls and freeze them for spur-of-the-moment cookie attacks. Just give them a few extra minutes in the oven if you start with frozen balls.
- Because this does make a lot of dough, the bigger the bowl, the easier it will be to stir together.
- I mix up this dough by hand but the oatmeal makes it a little stiffer than than normal cookie dough. Feel free to use a mixer if you prefer.
- I like to keep my dough covered with a damp cloth or several thicknesses of damp paper towels in between batches to keep the dough from drying out.
- Make these Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies any size you like. The yield, of course, will depend on the size you choose. I like to use a medium-size scoop (a #24 which holds 2.7 tablespoons or 40ml).
- If you're in the market for cookie sheets, I love these OXO Good Grip pans. I have had mine for several years - they're sturdy, a nice weight and they hold up well.
- I love these pre-cut sheets of parchment paper. They're the perfect size for a half-sheet pan and they make clean-up super easy. You never have cookies sticking to the pan!
Thought for the day:
Lift up your eyes on high
And see who has created these stars,
The One who leads forth their host by number,
He calls them all by name;
Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power,
Not one of them is missing.
Isaiah 40:26
What we're listening to for inspiration:
If you enjoy this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It’s so helpful to other readers to hear your results, adaptations and ideas for variations.
- 1 cup very soft butter see Café Tips above in the post
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt I use Morton's
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2¼ cups old-fashioned rolled oats try 2 ¼ cups
- 1½ cups semisweet chocolate chips 9 ounces
- 1 cup toffee bits
- flaky sea salt for garnish if desired
-
Preheat the oven to 325° F. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper for easy cleanup, if desired. Set aside.
-
Place the soft butter in a large bowl and stir until smooth and creamy Add the brown sugar and stir until any small lumps of butter and brown sugar are incorporated. Add the white sugar and stir again. The mixture will be a thick and sandy at this point.
-
Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Stir until creamy. Add the baking soda and salt and stir again.
-
Add the flour to the butter-sugar mixture and stir until incorporated. At first, it will seem like too much flour but just keep stirring (from the bottom up and scraping the sides of the bowl) and it will come together. Make sure all of the flour at the bottom of the bowl is incorporated.
-
Add 1 cup of the oatmeal and stir until well combined. Stir in the remaining oatmeal. Again, make sure all of the oats at the bottom of the bowl are incorporated into the dough.
-
Lastly, add the chips and toffee bits and stir until evenly distributed. It will be a stiff dough.
-
Scoop up the dough with a medium scooper (I use a #24 scoop which holds 2.7 tablespoons or 40ml) onto one of the prepared sheet pans, leaving 2 ½ -3 inches in between each scoop to allow for the cookies to spread.
-
Bake for 18-22 minutes or until light golden brown. Don’t overbake. Remove from the oven and sprinkle lightly with flaky sea salt. Allow the cookies to cool for 5 minutes on the pan then remove to a wire cooling back. Repeat with the remaining dough. (I like to keep the dough covered with a damp cloth or paper towel in between batches.)
See Café Tips above in the post for more detailed instructions and tips to ensure success.
If you prefer to use Metric measurements there is a button in each of our recipes, right above the word “Instructions”. Just click that button to toggle to grams, milliliters, etc. If you ever come across one of our recipes that doesn’t have the Metric conversion (some of the older recipes may not), feel free to leave a comment and I will add it.
Kathleen says
Please send the label for these delicious cookies.
Thank you
Lindsay @ The Café Sucre Farine says
Sending them your way, Kathleen!
Laurel says
If I wanted to cut the recipe in half would I just use one large egg?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Laurel, I would separate an egg and use the yolk and approximately half of the white.
Palette says
I made these and they really are the best oatmeal cookies I have ever had! I didn't think the toffee bits would make a difference and not a fan of them, so I was going to leave them out. I am soooo glad I didn't because they really make this cookie better! It actually deserved 10 stars!!
Lindsay @ The Café Sucre Farine says
Awesome! Thank you for the review, Palette!
Lily says
Thank you
Mary Weller says
Please send the pdf for the labels. Thank you!
Lindsay @ The Café Sucre Farine says
Sure, Mary!
Kathleen Haff says
Yes, Please!! I would like to receive your free printable labels for this recipe.
Thank you.
Lindsay @ The Café Sucre Farine says
Sending them your way, Kathleen!
Chris says
Please please send me labels for grandmas chocolate chip cookies🥰
Lindsay @ The Café Sucre Farine says
Sure, Chris!
Phyllis says
This looks very good! Please send me a link for the labels. Thank you.
Lindsay @ The Café Sucre Farine says
Sure, Phyllis!
Janet Wilson says
Your recipes look amazing, I can’t wait to try 5hem.
I would love to have the printed pdf for the chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Thanks so much.
Lindsay @ The Café Sucre Farine says
Thanks, Janet! Sending them your way.
Alicems44@gmail.com says
Another delicious and easy cookie! Thank you. Please send labels. They add so much to gifting!
Alice says
Another delicious and easy recipe! Please send labels. Thank uou.
Lindsay @ The Café Sucre Farine says
Sure, Alice!
Carol says
Please send labels for Better than Grandma’s chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. Thank you for all the great hints.
Lindsay @ The Café Sucre Farine says
Sure, Carol!
Sarah Hewis says
Please send the labels for these scrumptious looking chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. Thank you!
Lindsay @ The Café Sucre Farine says
Sending them your way, Sarah!
Nancy Sullivan says
Please send me the pdf of the round label . thank you. Nan
Lindsay @ The Café Sucre Farine says
Sure, Nan!
Sara says
Hi,
These cookies sound DELICIOUS ! I have however a very important question. What can I substitute for the eggs in the recipe? My grandson is VERY allergic to eggs. I dont want to use bananas because alot of the grandkids dont like bananas.
Cant use tehini either, one grandchild is allergic to that.
Thank you for any suggestions.
Lindsay @ The Café Sucre Farine says
Hi Sara, we haven't tested this recipe with an egg substitute. If you give it a try, let us know how it goes.
Cathineke says
These cookies look great! I'm going to make them for my grandchildren and friends!
Please send me the PDF label.
Thank you!
Cathineke.
Lindsay @ The Café Sucre Farine says
Sending them your way, Cathineke!
Debbie says
Tried these cookies, they are wonderful. Would love to give out as gifts to visiting friends and family.
Please send link for labels and boxes. Thanks so much.
Lindsay @ The Café Sucre Farine says
Thanks, Debbie! Sending them your way!
Cathy Poole says
These sound amazing. Can you share the label for The Better Than Grandma's Chocolate Chip cookies? I can't wait to make them and to gift them. Thank you, Cathy
Lindsay @ The Café Sucre Farine says
Sure, Cathy!
Cynthia Quon says
I love to bake cookies with my six year old granddaughter. She will love this recipe. Please send me the pdf label to me. I can't wait to try these cookies. Thank you!
Lindsay @ The Café Sucre Farine says
That's great, Cynthia! Sending the labels your way.