This easy oatmeal cookie recipe turns out perfectly every time! No raisins or chocolate, just simple butter and oatmeal cookies that you can add (or not) what you like to!
Easy Oatmeal Cookies
Long live all the staple recipes that you can make again and again! This recipe has been around the blog (and my home) for years because it’s a classic oatmeal cookie that’s delicious just as it is. I love a simple, plain cookie because it’s a great go-to for celebrations or just a regular Tuesday alike.
No matter if you add chocolate chips or raisins or nuts or anything else you like, this is a great and solid oatmeal cookie recipe that turns out every single time. They’re some of my husband’s absolute favorites because they’re simple and sweet, without being too much. Plus, the texture is everything and more you could want in a cookie -- soft and chewy with just a bit of crisp on the outside. Pure perfection!
Tips and Tricks for Making This Easy Oatmeal Cookie Recipe:
- These cookies are just begging for you to add your own touches. Add between 1 and 1 ½ cups (total) of just about anything you’d like. Try adding chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, nuts, cinnamon, cinnamon chips, chopped candy bars, M&M’s, or raisins. You could also put a layer of icing, ice cream, or peanut butter in between two baked and cooled cookies to make a sandwich cookie. The possibilities are endless!
- Old fashioned oats are great in this recipe because they help to make them chewy and give them that classic oatmeal texture. You can use quick cooking or instant oats (they are the same thing as old fashioned, just cut into smaller pieces), though it'll change the texture a bit. I recommend the old fashioned oats.
- If you like a simple spiced oatmeal cookie, try adding 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and a ¼ teaspoon of cloves and nutmeg. So good while keeping them simple.
- I always bake these on parchment paper or baking mats. Do you have baking mats yet? Such a great investment.
Can you freeze oatmeal cookies? Can you freeze cookie dough?
Yes to both! To freeze baked cookies, allow the cookies to cool completely, store them in an airtight container, and keep them in the freezer for up to 2 months. Pull them out about an hour before serving to let them thaw to room temperature.
To freeze the dough, form the dough into balls, and freeze them for a few hours on a cookie tray. After they’ve frozen through, add them to an airtight container or sealable bags, and stick them back in the freezer. When you’re ready to bake them, preheat your oven, place the frozen dough balls on a baking sheet, and add 2 to 4 minutes of baking time to the suggested bake time. No need to thaw!
How do you keep oatmeal cookies soft?
You can keep the cookies soft after baking them by storing them in a container or sealable bag with a piece of bread. The bread will lend its moisture to the cookies, keeping them soft for longer. Using white bread is preferable, so it doesn’t give off any flavor to the cookies.
What kind of oats do you use for oatmeal cookies?
I recommend using old-fashioned oats in this recipe because they help to make the cookies chewy and give them that classic oatmeal texture. You *can* use quick oats, but it’ll just have a bit of a different texture.
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The Best Simple Oatmeal Cookie Recipe
- Total Time: 24 minutes
- Yield: 36 cookies 1x
Description
This easy oatmeal cookie recipe turns out perfectly every time! No raisins or chocolate, just simple butter and oatmeal cookies that you can add (or not) what you like to!
Ingredients
- ¾ cup butter (1 ½ sticks), at room temperature
- 1 and ½ cups brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 and ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 ¼ cups old fashioned oats
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Add the butter and the brown sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer and beat on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, around 5 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla and beat for another minute.
- Add the flour, sprinkle in the baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until combined. Add the oats and combine.
- Fold in the dried cherries, chocolate, chopped pecans, or other mix-ins if desired.
- The mixture will be a little tacky, but you should be able to roll it into a ball in your hands without making a total mess. If it is too sticky, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time until the mixture can be handled.
- Roll the dough into 1 to 1.5 inch balls (about 1 large tablespoon of dough), using your hands and place the balls on the prepared cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes until the edges begin to brown and the centers are set.
- Transfer to a wire rack and let them cool completely.
Notes
- These cookies are just begging for you to add your own touches. Add between 1 and 1 ½ cups (total) of just about anything you’d like. Try adding chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, nuts, cinnamon, cinnamon chips, chopped candy bars, M&M’s, or raisins. You could also put a layer of icing, ice cream, or peanut butter in between two baked and cooled cookies to make a sandwich cookie. The possibilities are endless!
- This recipe was tested with salted butter but can be made with unsalted as well.
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 14 min
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: easy oatmeal cookie recipe, best oatmeal cookie recipe, how to make oatmeal cookies
You may also enjoy these oatmeal cookie recipes:
- Amazing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Bars
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Bars
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
- Soft Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Spring M&M Oatmeal Cookies
- Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oatmeal Cookies with Cinnamon Chips
- Old Fashioned Iced Oatmeal Cookies
This post was originally published in April 2013 and has been updated, rephotographed, and improved with reader feedback.
Carol Filby
I've read all the comments below, but still hope you can respond to my previous inquiry before I make these cookies next week!
Carol Filby
I am trying to find the most simple oatmeal cookie recipe as I'm not the most talented baker, but I do pretty good with cookies usually, lol!
Carol Filby
I was given 2 lg. bags of dried plums (prunes). They are quite tasty just to eat plain. I've searched many oatmeal cookie recipes and believe this one is good for the plums to be chopped and added. What do you think?
Melissa
I think they would be so good with dried plums in them! I'd probably add a little cinnamon too!
Caroline
This was a great recipe, my entire family was stunned with how great it tasted! Although, I left them in the oven for an extra minute or two to make them perfect! I seriously recommend this recipe for every other oat lover like me!
melamy@me.com
How are you suppose to even read the recipe? Your website is a MESS. The recipe is squashed way over on the side. What a waste.
Melissa
Hey, I work super super hard to have a really user-friendly and fast website and keep a less aggressive ad strategy to match that. I'm wondering what you were looking at my site on, it sounds like an error on my end. If I had some more information I could troubleshoot!
Caroline
The creator happened to write this website perfectly to correct expectations. I have recently taken cooking classes and we have gone over the design in which to write a clear recipe. Melissa, you did nothing wrong and you're skill in writing and making cooking/baking websites is amazing! Thank you for sharing your delicious recipe with us! 5 Stars! <3
★★★★★
Melissa
Thank you! I've taken classed on how to write recipes too and it's been so helpful. I'm so glad you find my work useful!
Stephanie Puentes
Best cookies ever 😍😍😍 and a little bit of peanut butter and there amazing that way too
Margaret
supper easy and delicious!!
I made these for a friend who had a baby this morning and had only 1.5 hours and they were made and cooled enough to transport in that time!
★★★★★
Dominic
Made these today - delicious! I added some chopped white chocolate bits and some dark choc chips. Soooo good. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
★★★★★
Melissa
That sounds wonderful!!
Alexis
Just made these for the second time this week, love the recipe!! I have been adding butterscotch chips to my cookies, and currently attempting to air fry some leftover dough. My only issue is that I seem to take so long to put recipes together, this took me about an hour to get into the oven. No matter. Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
Melissa
Have you have found salted caramel chips? They are SO good in this recipe too!
Tara
Yummy!! Just made these tonight with my 11 year old doing most of the work. Cooked them for 10 minutes and they were perfect (I like my cookies on the softer side)! I love all the tips Melissa gives before the actual recipe to help with the recipe! Thanks!
★★★★★
vivian maher
The receipe says to place the dough balls on the cookie sheet without flattening them? So I did, but they stayed in a ball! Also, the baking time is incorrect…. I baked an extra 5 minutes.
★★
Melissa
Sounds like you measured too heavily on your flour which would mean the cookies wouldn't flatten and take longer to bake.
Rachel
Delicious! I used almond emulsion instead of vanilla just for kicks and they turned out AMAZING. I also didn't have brown sugar handy so I subbed white with a couple tablespoons molasses mixed in. Mine stayed pretty rounded, might have been on the dry side (I used quick oats), and they took a little longer, more like 16 minutes for the middles to fully cook through. Otherwise very quick and easy, perfect for making cookies on a whim! 🙂
★★★★★
Melissa
Ohhh I JUST found the emulsions and I'm in LOVE thank you for sharing the vanilla one. I've been loving the butter vanilla one in cookies!
Joe
Type of flour???
Melissa
all-purpose! I'll be sure to update that in the recipe. Thank you for pointing it out.
Rosalinda
Salted or unsalted butte?
Melissa
You can use either, the recipe was tested with salted but unsalted is traditional in baking, so use what you have!
Tia Francis
Made these with my 3 year old... delicious and super easy!!! I will totally make these again!!!
★★★★★
Melissa
These are one of the most underrated cookies on my site, I'm SO happy made them and love them like I do!
Jen
The directions say to mix white sugar but none is listed the ingredients list . Please verify how much white sugar. Thx
Melissa
I'm not seeing where it says white sugar... this is Direction #2: Add the butter and the brown sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer and beat on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, around 5 minutes. So no, no white sugar in this recipe, just brown.
Dan Nicholson
All we have is the quick oats here, so instead of going out to the store I used that. They turned out great. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
★★★★★
Melissa
Woohoo! I love that you used what you had and it worked, so helpful for others. Thank you for coming back to let us know!
Sam
Hi I just made these and I was short on time so I melted the butter halfway and was expecting flatter cookies...but they actually stayed in the ball shape instead. Do you know where I went wrong? They taste good enough, slightly drier on outside.
Melissa
Normally if the cookie is dry it's because the dry ingredients got measured a little generously (aka you had too much flour or oats), so just be aware of that in the future. It can happen when you dip the cup into the bag to measure (spooning into the cup and leveling is traditional). Hope that helps and I hope they are good with milk!