Small Batch Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
The quintessential oatmeal cookie: this easy recipe for a small batch of oatmeal cookies uses one egg yolk and quick cooking oats. Made in less than 10 minutes, the result is a chewy oatmeal cookie packed with flavor from chocolate, oats, dried cranberries and a dash of cinnamon.
These oatmeal cookies are soft and chewy and pack a lot of yummy, hearty oats. In our home oatmeal craisin tops oatmeal raisin and I personally cannot imagine a good cookie without chocolate so that’s how we ended up with these. I think the best oatmeal cookies need a little something in the dough for flavor so I added a pinch of cinnamon. And now I’m sitting here (3 cookies down) thinking, well, these couldn’t get better.
Why use egg yolk to make oatmeal cookies
In almost all my cookies you’ll see a preference for egg yolks over whole eggs and for brown sugar over white. I started doing this long before buttermilk existed after a ton of research on how to get a really chewy texture. To achieve that texture I swap in yolks for eggs, omit granulated sugar, and am careful with how I measure the flour (never pack it!).
Ingredients & Substitutions
Quick Cooking Oats: It’s important to use the right type of oats for these, luckily these are the most common to have in you pantry. If you use old-fashioned rolls oats, the cookies will spread. Avoid steel-cut oats of any type.
All-Purpose Flour: I have tried substituting these with oat flour (store-bought not homemade) and had good results.
Brown Sugar: Light brown sugar is preferred but you can use dark brown if necessary, the cookies might not spread as much. Don’t reduce the amount of sugar as it contributes to structure as much as taste. Don’t substitute with granulated sugar as you’ll lose the perfect chewy texture.
Cinnamon: Something about oats always necessitates cinnamon to me and adding just a bit adds wonderful flavor and imo, gives the best oatmeal cookies. If you don’t like it, feel free to skip.
Baking soda & powder: the combination will give us the perfect spread.
Butter: You may use salted butter in these oatmeal cookies (just omit the salt in the dough) and for best results, take the butter out an hour before you want to bake the dough to get it soft. If you are in a pinch of time, stick it in the microwave for 10 seconds to soften it.
A note about butter: this small batch oatmeal cookie recipe calls for four tablespoons or half a stick of butter. If you rely on the slice a stick in half method, this is an easy way to under or overmeasure the butter. Check to see the two halves are even.
The Best Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie & and it’s Add-Ins: the options are endless
In terms of add-ins, you have SO many options. I polled my IG audience and found a preference for chocolate and dried cranberries (which is exactly how I like my cookies so I guess they are in good hands, lol) and that’s what you see here. But there were a lot of suggestions for white chocolate, raisins and even raisinettes. You can also add nuts (pecans would be wonderful here), other dried fruits (chop up large ones) and chocolate covered candies. The choice is yours!
Getting the perfect oatmeal cookies
- Don’t over measure the flour. Don’t pack it into the cup. Sprinkle it in and then scrape off any excess.
- Don’t undermix or overmix the dough: be generous with time mixing the ingredients before the flour goes in, be frugal once the flour is in.
- Don’t let this batter sit in the fridge for tomorrow, it will dry out. This dough is not designed to be a ‘chilled’ dough. If you want to make it ahead of time you can freeze it, see instructions below.
- Don’t over bake these. They only need a light golden touch on the bottom. They’ll come out soft and if you wait a minute or two for them to firm up on the pan, outside of the oven, they’ll be perfect.
Tips For A Successful Batch Of Oatmeal Cookies
- Do: use room temperature ingredients
- Do: beat longer than you want to
- Do: use quick-cooking oats, not rolled and not steel-cut (not even quick cooking steel cut!)
- Do bake for just 10 minutes, don’t let the tops brown
FAQ for small batch oatmeal cookies
How do I get big pools of chocolate in my oatmeal cookies?
Chop up a good quality chocolate bar into a mix of big chunks and small shards.
Can I double this small batch cookie recipe?
Yes! In the photos I baked a double batch and they came out perfect. A triple or quadruple would be fine too.
How should I store small batch oatmeal cookie dough?
Once they are baked and cooled, store them in an airtight container to maintain freshness & the chewy texture.
Can I freeze the oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough to bake later?
You can freeze portions of the dough to bake as needed. Once you have portioned the dough into scoops, set the tray (or plate) in the freezer to flash freeze them, about 10 minutes. Then transfer the scoops into a ziplock bag and freeze. Add another 1-3 minutes of baking time if baking the dough from frozen.
Small Batch Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- ¼ cup 56g butter, softened
- ⅓ cup 66g light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- 1 egg yolk from one large egg
- ⅔ cup 65g quick cooking oats
- ⅓ cup 45g all purpose flour, sprinkled in and leveled if using cup measurement
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon if desired
- ½ cup add-ins 75g chopped dark chocolate, dried cranberries, raisins, nuts, etc.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, vanilla, salt, powder and baking soda until very light and creamy, 3-5 minutes.
- Add the egg and beat for another two minutes.
- Add the flour and oats and beat to just combine.
- Fold in the add-ins and use a cookie scoop to portion 1 ½ tablespoons cookie dough onto the sheet.
- Bake for 10 minutes, until just golden on the edges.
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Seriously, you are my go to. Your recipes are always amazing. Thank you for perfecting & simplifying such decadent deserts.
Olive, it makes me happy to hear someone loves them all! =)
not sure if I’ve already commented before, but had to come back and sing the praises of these cookies again. I leave out the cinnamon and add chocolate (I like to mix chopped and chips) and my husband has told me I should stop making any cookie other than these! They are perfection.
I don’t usually leave reviews, but I must say that these turned out AMAZING. I used 10g less sugar and rolled oats (chilled batter for 2h) and it was just right. These were gone in seconds
Love these small batch cookies! Made mine with orange chocolate. They have a great texture thanks to the oats and are the perfect level of sweetness. Adding to the cookie baking rotation!
Just wanted to say I used gluten-free oats, and substituted King Arthur Gluten Free Flour for the flour in this recipe, and the cookies came out very well. I tripled the recipe and got 26 cookies, great for Christmas. They have a chewy texture and taste delicious.
Soooo excited about this small batch cookie. It is a perfect marriage of my two favorite cookies: chocolate chip and oatmeal. The directions are flawless.-follow them. Shout out to Joe Ruggiero for telling me about you!
These aren’t just good for a fast recipe or good for a small batch recipe. These are just delicious period, and the fact that they take 10 minutes is just a fun bonus! My husband called them the best homemade cookie he’s ever had, and we’ve made a lot of cookies! Thanks for the great recipe.
Absolutely a five star recipe. Accidentally didn’t rate in my actual comment.
These are fantastic. I’ve made a double batch twice now and they are consistently chewy and delicious. In making a double batch I use 100 grams of brown sugar instead of 130 and find that they are wonderfully balanced that way. I also only use 1/8 tsp of cinnamon, which adds depth without making them taste like cinnamon which is ideal for me. Finally, as someone else mentioned, I used rolled oats that I briefly blitzed in my blender and while maybe not as perfect as quick oats, it works beautifully. Thank you for this wonderful recipe! I might try a double batch soon just using 1 whole egg, as its hard to deal with leftover whites. Although I’m afraid I’d be sacrificing the amazing chewy texture… anyways, make these cookies!! They’re amazing!
LOVED. Delicious, easy, and perfect portion! I’ve searched long and hard for a solid oatmeal cookie recipe — and this has been my favorite! Very chewy and filled with warm flavors. I got 6 large cookies from my batch!
If subbing in white chocolate, have you ever baked using a bar? Or stick to chips? Thank you!!
Either chopped or white chocolate chips would work. I’m so happy you loved them – thank you for the review!
These cookies are so good! It’s almost like a mix between an Anzac and choc chip cookie. I ended up doubling the recipe and used one full egg, only because my 2 yolks I wanted to use went bad. They still turned out amazing! I’ve scooped them all up and frozen a bunch of them for when I’m peckish.. like now! I can’t stop at 1!
These cookies are amazing! They’re so quick and easy to make and are pretty much foolproof. Everyone I’ve made them for loves them and they’re so versatile that I can mix up the flavours to whatever I want. My favourite is white chocolate and cranberry. The mixture also multiplies well and I made a huge batch after ending up with extra egg yolks from a cake.
Fantastic recipe!
I love these sooo much. The touch of cinnamon, the lush flavour from brown sugar, and the chewy crunch texture– totally divine! My favourite add-ins are cranberries and pecans. I froze a bunch of these and honestly, you know you have an incredible cookie when the ball of frozen dough is a preferable snack to ice cream 🙂
Just made these with salted caramel chocolate chips and some extra flaky sea salt. ? Huge hit with my house as well as the neighbors.
I LOVE an oatmeal cookie and this one did not disappoint! I love the simplicity of it and, of course, that it’s a sister cookie to my one true love, Sam’s one-yolk CCC. I baked half and left half for nibbling… still on the fence about which I enjoyed more! It makes for a delightful dough. And the oats help me rationalize it as a solid breakfast option.
I didn’t know I could love an oatmeal cookie SO MUCH. Even my friends who claim to dislike oatmeal cookies went back for seconds. Every time I make one of Sam’s recipes, it makes it even harder to pick a favorite- they are all so good!
Ok, I am going to say it. These are better than the Doubletree Recipe that came out last year! Those cookies had ranked as my favorite oatmeal chocolate chip cookie for a decade. These blow them out of the water. They were the perfect texture and the added dried fruit made them extra special. Make these easy cookies and the only thing you will regret is making only one small batch!
Beth! I’m thrilled you loved them so much! I’ve never tried the doubletree recipe, though I know people rave about it, so this is high praise!
Very good, but I’m going to have to double the recipe! It’s nice to have a small batch recipe, but I need more than a dozen cookies! These were gone in an instant!
You have done it once again. These cookies are nothing short of perfection. The recipe is simple and foolproof. I honestly mean it when I say your one egg recipes are game changing for those who love small batch cookies right out of the oven
These were amazing! I baked them with my grandma over facetime and we had a blast! It is all I can do to stop myself from instantly eating every single one of them. Great recipe and I’m already excited to make another batch.
These are delicious and wholesome! I ground up some rolled oats, dried cherries, and toasted almonds to complete the cookies and included the suggested cinnamon. They baked up beautifully, only spreading a little, with crisp edges and chewy centers. I’ll include some chocolate mix-ins next time I bake these!
Can you use rolled oats for these cookies?
A keeper for sure! Cookies came out perfectly chewy with crispy edges at exactly 10 minutes. I blitzed some rolled oats in my spice grinder as I didn’t have quick-cooking, and it seemed to work just fine. I used 50g of chopped 70% chocolate for my mix-in, which was just the right amount for how chocolate-y I like my cookies. Will definitely be making these again.
Oh that’s a great idea to blitz rolled oats if you don’t have quick-cooking! Thank you for the comment!
These are Seriously some delicious cookies. Dangerous to those mindful of their waist line, but even then they’re worth every calorie. They’re soft, they’re chewy, and those edges are absolutely per-fect! I am a huge fan of oatmeal cookies, I now have new expectations and will probably never buy another store bought oatmeal cookie again. These are sooo good and they only take minutes.
Christy, that is a huge compliment! I’m so glad you love them (and even happier that you won’t be buying store-bought again!)
These are amazing. I thought I loved the one yolk CCC and the egg white double chocolate. I do, I did, I always will. But these…my gosh. These are the dreamiest oatmeal cookies with chocolate puddles and dried cherries. These are phenomenal. I am actually glad my kids do not like oatmeal cookies because I do not have to share these treasures.
YAY Goldie! I know you’ve been waiting for this one so I’m so happy it did not disappoint.
These are by far the best oatmeal cookies I’ve ever had! I’ve always been a fan of the oatmeal/raisin/chocolate chip combo, but your idea of using dried cranberries, chopped dark chocolate, and cinnamon is definitely my new favorite!
I had some salted Kerrygold Irish butter leftover from making your one-yolk chocolate chunk cookies, and I decided to use that for this recipe and just omit the additional salt called for. Since you didn’t specify if you used American or European butter for these cookies, I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but they were great!
Keegan, I’m so glad you liked this combo!! I didn’t specify what kind of butter here because I don’t think it matters but it’s good to know that it worked for you with european-style butter.
Would quick cooking steel cut oats work? Or only regular quick cook oats?
Only regular quick cooking.
So excited to make these, you have the best recipes! Would regular rolled oats work for this?
Ah thank you so much!!! When I tried it with rolled oats and found they spread quite a bit. Texture is definitely better with quick cooking.
I didn’t think it was possible to find a cookie I liked more than the one-yolk chocolate chip cookies, but these are everything I needed and more. They are soft, chewy, slightly crispy around the edges, and as decadent as an oatmeal cookie could be. A new favorite? Definitely.
Kelly I can’t believe you already made them! So glad you loved them as much as I do 😀