Chunky Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate

This Sunday is Father’s Day. Being away from home on days like this is really hard. I want to spend time with my dad on father’s day.

This post was originally posted in June 2013. It has been updated with helpful information and with no changes to the original recipe in June 2020.

I wish I was not this far away from home… So I thought to myself. What can I do to make my father feel like I am there with him and make him feel loved?

After thinking long and hard, I decided to make him some cookies. I have several cookie recipes on this blog, but I knew that this chunky oatmeal cookies recipe would be the best one because my father loves nuts.

As a matter of fact, if a cake or a cookie looks good, before eating it, he will first ask if it has nuts in it. If it does not, he will ask if we can make it with nuts.

As a responsible daughter, if I am baking for my dad, I know that a dessert without nuts is pretty much not a good idea.

That is exactly why; these Chunky Oatmeal Cookies are his favorite. This is the kind of cookie that you can taste and feel nuts with every bite.

As I am my father’s daughter, they are my favorite too. They are chocolaty, nutty, gooey, buttery, tangy, chunky, melty …etc. All the adjectives that come to mind when you think about a good cookie recipe.

How To Make Chunky Oatmeal Cookies

1. Preheat the oven: Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and pre-heat the oven to 375 F degrees. Line 2 baking sheets (if baking them all together) with parchment paper.
2. Prep dry ingredients: In a medium bowl mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, table salt, and cinnamon.
3. Prep the last minute additions: In a separate bowl, stir together oats, walnuts, cranberries, and chocolate.
4. Mix butter and sugar: In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugar about a minute on medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary. You can also use a handheld mixer for this.
5. Mix in the egg & vanilla extract: Add the egg and vanilla and continue to mix until fully incorporated for 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl to ensure that there are no lumps remaining.
6. Add in the flour mixture: Decrease the speed to low. Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined, 30 to 45 seconds. Do not overbeat.
7. Add in the additions: With the speed on low, gradually add the oat mixture and mix until just combined.
8. Scoop: Divide the dough into 16 portions and roll them into balls. Stagger 8 balls on each baking sheet by spacing them 11/2 inches apart from each other. Using your fingers, press gently on each dough ball to a 1-inch thickness.
9. Bake: Bake each sheet separately for 15 minutes, rotating halfway through the baking time.
10. Let them cool: Keep cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack (to stop the cooking). Continue the same process with the second batch.

A Few Tips for The Best Oatmeal Cookies:

• Do to over mix the flour mixture. I usually let the mixer do the initial mixing (15-20 seconds or so) and then mix the rest by hand to avoid the possibility of overmixing
• If you have time, I highly recommend scooping the cookies on a sheet pan covered with parchment paper and letting them sit in the fridge (covered with foil or stretch film) overnight.
• You can bake them all or bake some and freeze the rest in a freezer bag to bake later. When ready to bake frozen oatmeal cookies, there is no need to thaw. Simply take them out of the fridge right before you are ready to turn the oven on and add 2 minutes to the baking time.
• I used cranberries, but any dried fruit you have on hand would work in this recipe.
• Prefer a version of this made without butter? Check out this Oatmeal Cookies without butter recipe!

One last note; when you take them out of the oven, they look underbaked. This is normal. Just let them cool for 5 minutes and transfer them to a wire rack (in order to stop the baking process).

Other Cookie Recipes You Might Like:

• Almond Flour Cookies
• Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
• Coconut Sugar Cookies
• Flourless Almond Cookies

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Chunky Oatmeal and Chocolate Cookies

5 from 2 votes

By: Aysegul Sanford

Yields16 cookies

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time17 minutes mins

Total Time47 minutes mins

The name says it all: these chunky oatmeal cookies are deliciously big, fat and chewy! Loaded with chocolate chips and nuts, they are guaranteed to please any cookie lover in your family. Make a batch, bake some, and freeze the rest for later.

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1 1/4 cups (178 gr.) all-purpose flour
• ▢ 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ▢ 1 1/4 cups old fashioned oats
• ▢ 1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
• ▢ 1 cup cranberries, or raisins, chopped coarsely
• ▢ 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chocolate chip size chunks
• ▢ 12 tablespoons 1 1/2 sticks - 170 gr unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups (297 gr.) packed dark brown sugar
• ▢ 1 large egg, room temperature
• ▢ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions 

• Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and pre-heat the oven to 375 F degrees. Line 2 baking sheets (if baking them all together) with parchment paper.
• In a medium bowl mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, table salt and cinnamon.
• In a separate bowl, stir together oats, walnuts, cranberries and chocolate.
• In a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugar about a minute on medium speed, scraping down the bowl as necessary.
• Add the egg and vanilla and continue to mix until fully incorporated for 30 seconds.
• Scrape down the bowl to ensure that there are no lumps remaining.
• Decrease the speed to low. Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined, 30 to 45 seconds. Do not overbeat.
• With the speed on low, gradually add the oat mixture and mix until just combined.
• In order to ensure that the ingredients are evenly distributed, give the dough a final hand stir.
• Divide the dough into 16 portions and roll them into balls. Stagger 8 balls on each baking sheet by spacing them 11/2 inches apart from each other. Using your fingers, press gently on each dough ball to a 1-inch thickness.
• Bake each sheet separately for 15 minutes, rotating halfway through the baking time.
• Keep cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack (to stop the cooking)
• Continue the same process with the second batch.

Notes

• Do to over mix the flour mixture. I usually let the mixer do the initial mixing (15-20 seconds or so) and then mix the rest by hand to avoid the possibility of overmixing.
• If you have time, I highly recommend scooping the cookies on a sheet pan covered with parchment paper and letting them sit in the fridge (covered with foil or stretch film) overnight.
• You can bake them all or bake some and freeze the rest in a freezer bag to bake later. When ready to bake frozen oatmeal cookies, there is no need to thaw. Simply take them out of the fridge right before you are ready to turn the oven on and add 2 minutes to the baking time.

Nutrition

Calories: 310kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 33mg | Sodium: 139mg | Potassium: 145mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 285IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 49mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Desserts

Cuisine: American

Tried this recipe?Mention @foolproofliving or tag #foolproofeats!

 This recipe is adapted from America’s Test Kitchen.