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Soft, delicious & super easy brown butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

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Close up of the brown butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

brown butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

I don’t know about you but oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are my FAVORITE flavor of cookie. Regular chocolate chip cookies are great and all but the texture of an oatmeal cookie is truly undefeated for me. But we’re taking these cookies to the next level by adding in some delicious brown butter. If you haven’t heard of brown butter, it’s basically made from melting your butter on the stove for longer than you need to. Doing so allows some of the water to evaporate from the butter, which allows the milk solids in the butter to be toasted. So you get this nutty, toasty flavor just from regular old butter! They’re thick and chewy with crisp edges, filled with delicious brown butter flavor, and jam-packed with chocolate.

why you’ll love these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

  • They’re small batch. Like most of the other cookies you’ll find around here, these are small batch, yielding 8 large cookies.
  • They use brown butter. As most cookies should because the flavor is *delicious*
  • They’re super easy to make. These cookies come together in one bowl (+ one saucepan), don’t require a mixer, and require just 30 minutes of chill time.
A brown butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookie that has been broken in half.

expert baking tips

Weigh your ingredients:

My recipes are all written in grams because it is the most accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements and therefore can not guarantee your recipe will come out how mine did. Here is my favorite kitchen scale.

Mix the dough carefully:

When adding in the flour, only fold the mixture just until no flour streaks remain. Over mixing the dough leads to more gluten formation, which can make the cookies thicker and more tough in texture.

Under bake for perfect cookies:

Cookies continue baking after they have been taken out of the oven. Once the edges turn slightly golden brown, and the cookies look just a little wet on top still, they are ready to come out. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for an additional 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.

The secret to perfectly round cookies:

Wanna know the secret to perfectly round cookies? It’s cookie scooting! Right when the cookies come out of the oven, take a bowl, cup, or biscuit cutter that is just slightly larger than your cookies and place it over one of the cookies. Gently swirl the bowl around the cookie to make the cookie perfectly round (and slightly thicker). And that’s all there is to it!

A note on oven temperature:

Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature and might not always actually be at the temperature they claim to be at. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.

Side view of the brown butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

ingredients for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

  • All purpose flour: for structure and chewiness.
  • Rolled oats: I recommend rolled oats for the best texture.
  • Baking powder: for helping the cookies puff up.
  • Baking soda: for helping the cookies rise and giving them crisp edges.
  • Salt: to help balance and bring out the sweetness of the cookies
  • Unsalted butter: for tenderness and flavor. You can use salted butter in place of the unsalted, just be sure to omit the extra salt from the cookies.
  • Granulated sugar & light brown sugar: a combination of both gives us cookies with crispy edges and soft and chewy centers.
  • Egg: for binding and for moisture.
  • Vanilla: for flavor. I use and love this vanilla extract!
  • Chocolate: put your favorite chocolate here. I used Valrhona baking discs (these ones here) and can’t recommend them enough. Just look at those puddles! But they are definitely on the pricier side. If not using the discs, I recommend using a chocolate baking bar. You can also of course use chocolate chips here, just note that the cookies will most likely end up a little thicker. In terms of using milk, semi-sweet, or dark chocolate, use your favorite!

how to make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Here’s the basic rundown on making these cookies. You can find the complete recipe (which is printable!) at the end of this blog post.

Brown butter in a saucepan.
The sugars and brown butter mixed together.
  • Brown the butter.
  • Mix in both sugars.
The dough after all the wet ingredients have been added in.
The finished brown butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough, before baking.
  • Mix in the egg and vanilla.
  • Add in the dry ingredients and fold until combined. Chill the dough for 30 minutes, then bake, serve and enjoy!

brown butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies recipe q&a

What is brown butter?

Brown butter is super simple to make so don’t worry! It’s just regular butter that is cooked on the stove until some of the moisture evaporates, allowing the milk solids in the butter to be toasted. The result is this butter with an amber hue and little speckles that has a toasted and slightly nutty aroma.

can I double this recipe?

Definitely – please be sure to use grams for the best results.

can I make these cookies ahead of time?

Definitely – cookie dough really only gets better with time. You can keep the cookie dough tightly covered in the fridge for up to 2 days before baking. For longer term storage, you can also freeze the cookie dough balls. Just be sure to take the dough out of the fridge at least 30 minutes to 1 hour before you want to bake, so that it becomes soft enough to scoop again.

How to store oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They will keep for up to 5 days, but will taste the best 1-3 days after baking.

Close up of one of the brown butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

oatmeal cookies troubleshooting

Measuring error: Typically, the #1 culprit for this is always not measuring the flour properly. If you use cup measurements, you run the risk of adding too much flour to the dough which can make it super dry. If you’re using cup measurements, make sure that you fluff up your flour and then spoon it into your measuring cup, rather than scooping up the flour with the measuring cup. Measuring will also be sure that you end up with the right amount of brown butter and that you cooked it for the proper amount of time.

Overmixing: if you over-mix the dough, you will introduce more gluten into the cookies which will lead to tougher, thicker cookies. Make sure to only fold in the flour just until that last streak of flour disappears into the dough.

Oven temperature: Like I said before, it’s possible that your oven isn’t at the temperature that it claims to be at – which is, unfortunately, more common than it should be. If your oven is hotter than 350F without your knowledge, you’ll end up with thicker, more dry cookies.

Chilling the dough: The #1 reason for this would be that you didn’t chill the cookie dough. Although it can be frustrating to wait, the cookie dough does need to chill to give time for the butter to firm up and the ingredients to meld together so that they don’t completely spread out in the oven.

Browning the butter: Another reason I recommend measuring your ingredients. When you brown the butter, moisture cooks off of it. So, if it wasn’t cooked for long enough then there would be extra moisture in the dough, which would make the cookies spread out more.

Oven temperature: It could also be that your oven temperature is running lower than it claims to be. For that reason, I recommend always using an oven thermometer. The one I use was ~$6 and is linked under “baking tools” in my amazon storefront below!

tools and ingredients:

You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!

other recipes you might enjoy:

did you make this recipe?

I’d love to see and know your thoughts! please leave a comment and review below, and tag me on instagram @freshbeanbakery. #freshbeanbakery

Brown Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

5 from 18 votes
Soft, chewy, and full of flavor thanks to brown butter!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time25 minutes
Cook Time12 minutes
Chilling Time 30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 10 minutes
Servings8 cookies
Calories351 kcal

Ingredients 

  • 113 g unsalted butter (½ c.)
  • 100 g light brown sugar (½ c.)
  • 50 g granulated sugar (¼ c.)
  • 1 egg room temperature
  • ½ tsp. vanilla
  • 130 g all purpose flour (1 c. + 1 ⅓ tbsp.)
  • 60 g rolled oats (⅔ c.)
  • ½ tsp. baking soda
  • ½ tsp. baking powder
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • 130 g semi-sweet chocolate (discs, bar, chips) (¾ c.)

Instructions 

  • In a small saucepan set over medium heat, brown the butter. Stir the butter occasionally until it turns amber in color and develops little brown specks. At this point, weigh your brown butter to make sure you have at least 90g. If you have a little less, mix in some water until you reach 90g.
  • Transfer the brown butter to a medium sized mixing bowl and set it in the freezer for 5 minutes to chill. In the meantime, chop up your chocolate bar if using one.
  • Once the butter has cooled, whisk in both sugars.
  • Whisk in the egg and vanilla until well combined.
  • Add in the flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Use a rubber spatula to fold the mixture together until a few flour streaks remain.
  • Add in the chopped chocolate and fold just until no flour streaks remain.
  • Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and chill the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, and up to 48 hours.*
  • Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or with a silicone mat.
  • Scoop out heaping 3 tbsp. scoops of dough, setting them on the cookie sheet at least 2" apart to allow room for spreading.
  • Top each cookie with additional chocolate (optional – but recommended!)
  • Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the edges of the cookies turn golden brown.
  • Immediately after taking the cookies out of the oven, ake a bowl that is slightly larger than the cookies and swirl it around over them to make them a little more uniform and circular.
  • Allow the cookies to rest on the hot baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!

Notes

Affiliate links: Kitchen Scale (my favorite) | Kitchen scale (great starter option) | | Oven Thermometer | Cookie Scoops | Cookie Sheet Pan | Milk Pan
*If you are chilling the dough for over an hour, you will need to take it out to sit at room temperature until it’s soft enough to scoop before baking them (~20-30 minutes before baking, depending on how warm your home is.) Note that the longer the cookies rest, the thicker they will bake up.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookieCalories: 351kcalCarbohydrates: 47gProtein: 3gFat: 17gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 51mgSodium: 190mgPotassium: 119mgFiber: 1gSugar: 28gVitamin A: 383IUCalcium: 53mgIron: 1mg

Please note that the nutrition facts are only an estimate and may vary based on different brands of ingredients and any substitutions made.