Oatmeal Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chewy, soft oatmeal cookies with semisweet chips and walnuts. An easy one-bowl cookie dough recipe that can be made ahead and frozen!
Servings 30 medium cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 egg at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons whole milk at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or ¾ teaspoon vanilla paste
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 cups rolled oats
- ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
- ¾ cup chopped walnuts about 3 ounces
- Extra chocolate chips and walnuts for topping optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Butter cookie sheets or line them with parchment paper.
- Beat ¾ cup unsalted butter in a large mixing bowl until smooth, about 20 seconds.
- Gradually add 1 cup light brown sugar and ½ cup white sugar and beat for 2 minutes, until creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add 1 egg and beat at medium speed for 3 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl a few times.
- Add 2 tablespoons whole milk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon. Mix until incorporated.
- Add sifted 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda and ¼ teaspoon salt to the butter mixture. Mix at low speed just until well blended and no dry spots remain. Don't overbeat at this point.
- Mix in 3 cups rolled oats in two parts so they're easier to incorporate.
- Add ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips and ¾ cup chopped walnuts and mix well. I use a rubber spatula for this part. Make sure no flour remains in the bottom of the bowl.
- At this point, the cookie dough can be refrigerated for up to a day. See note below.
- Scoop out portions onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving space between them, an inch or two depending on the size of the cookie. I flatten them slightly with my fingertips so they bake faster with soft centers. This is important if making larger cookies so there's less chance of the center taking too long to bake while the edges brown too quickly. If you're not sure if you want to flatten them or not, do a test bake with two dough balls, leaving one whole and flattening the other, and see which one you like best.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, depending on the size, until golden brown and still soft in the center. I use a 1.5-inch cookie scoop and bake them for exactly 10 minutes.
- Smack the pan on the counter immediately after you take it out of the oven. It will deflate the cookies a little and help with the texture.
- Sprinkle them immediately with extra chocolate chips and finely chopped walnuts if desired.
- Let them cool on a wire rack (cooling rack) before carefully lifting them from the paper and cooling them completely.
- As soon as they cool down completely, transfer cookies to jars or an airtight container.
Notes
Baking time: consider that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as possible, but it might take you more or less time. You can use a thermometer to check that your oven is at the right temperature. I recommend keeping track of how your oven works and what tiny details you might need to adjust.
Refrigerating the dough: I don't chill it, bake the cookies directly, and the texture is fantastic. But the type of oats you use might differ from mine as they can vary depending on what part of the world you live in and what brand you buy. You should not have issues using quick-cooking oats because it hydrates quickly. With rolled oats, I recommend you test-bake a few cookies first and see how they come out.
Should you slightly flatten the tops before baking? If you're making them right away, it's not necessary. However, if you're refrigerating the dough for several hours or days and you like soft, chewy cookies, I recommend you flatten them slightly. The dough will be firmer and drier, as the oats will have absorbed more liquid, so they might not expand well and take too long to fully bake.
Batching and freezing: Make a large batch (double this recipe) and freeze them. It will save you time and always have freshly baked oatmeal cookies.
Storing: cookie jars or tins are ideal for keeping cookies and my first choice, but plastic bags or airtight containers can also work.
