Oatmeal Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies
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These soft and chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are fully loaded with creamy chocolate chips and toasted walnuts in every bite. You can also find this recipe on page 35 of my cookbook.
TESTED & PERFECTED: START WITH MY BELOVED OATMEAL COOKIE BASE
In 2014, I shared the very first version of my chewy oatmeal raisin cookie. Out of all of the classic cookies in the world, and all of their fun versions and endless add-ins for any cookie base you can think of, oatmeal raisin cookies are the one I will reach for every single time.
Since then, I have adapted that oatmeal cookie base to be absolutely perfect. I’ve tweaked and tested the recipe to produce cookies that are jam packed with texture, full of warm spices, and ready for any add-ins you desire.
When done exactly right, my oatmeal cookies will leave you with that eyes-rolling-to-the-back-of-your-head, can’t help but “mmmm” feeling.
WHY I LOVE THIS OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE
A really fabulous oatmeal cookie really does rely on that solid oatmeal cookie base, and lucky for you, I have that base down pat.
Over the years of perfecting my oatmeal cookie, I’ve also worked to bring this recipe, which was originally shared in 2015, more flavor, better texture, and overall, make it a more enticing cookie.
In recent years, I’ve toasted the walnuts, which makes all the difference in the world. It may feel like a useless, wasted step, but I promise that the few extra minutes it takes to toast your walnuts will take these cookies from wow to woahhhh.
OATMEAL WALNUT COOKIES INGREDIENTS
You’ll see a very familiar list of ingredients for this walnut chocolate chip oatmeal cookies recipe. You probably have everything on hand except maybe the molasses. But don’t worry, all of my oatmeal cookie recipes use molasses, so you have more than a few more recipes you can make using the rest of the jar!
SHELLED WALNUTS: we’ll be toasting and chopping them for maximum flavor. You can buy pre-chopped walnuts if you prefer, but those tend to toast a little more quickly than I like and I wind up burning them more often than not.
ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR: be sure to measure properly so your cookies bake up perfectly.
BAKING SODA: an important ingredient in helping these cookies rise.
GROUND CINNAMON: don’t leave it out! Warm cinnamon is the perfect complement to the oats, chocolate, and toasted walnuts.
SALT & VANILLA EXTRACT: for balance of flavor.
LIGHT BROWN AND GRANULATED SUGAR: we use a combination of sugars in these cookies to bring sweetness, notes of caramel, and moisture.
EGG: to bind everything together.
MOLASSES: this is my absolute favorite ingredient to add to oatmeal cookies. It brings such a unique flavor to the cookies as well as helps to bind the cookie dough and bring moisture to the final baked cookie. Do not use black strap molasses in this recipe.
OLD FASHIONED OATS: do not use quick oats or steel cut oats for these cookies.
SEMI-SWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS: you can change up the chips to be whatever type of chocolate you want. Semi-sweet tend to be the sweetest that I like in these cookies, but milk or white chocolate would be fine if you prefer them.
How to make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts
Bringing this batter together is really simple. Toasting the nuts will take about 15-20 minutes, so you can do that well ahead of time if you’d like to save time from batter to oven.
STEP #1
Toast the nuts: in a medium size saucepan over medium heat, heat the shelled walnuts to toast them. Keep them moving with a spatula until they start to lightly brown and smell fragrant. Allow to cool until you can touch them (about 10 minutes), then coarsely chop all of the toasted nuts.
STEP #2
Remove ¼ cup of the toasted chopped walnuts to use in the recipe. I like to reserve the rest for pressing into the tops of the hot cookies when they come out of the oven.
STEP #3
Preheat the oven and prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
STEP #4
Next, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt ant set this mixture aside.
STEP #5
Next, cream together the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and beat on high until combined. Add the vanilla extract and molasses and beat on high again until completely combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
STEP #6
Reduce the mixer speed to low, then slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until combined. With the mixer still on low, add the oats, chocolate chips, and reserved ¼ cup of toasted walnuts.
STEP #7
Using a cookie scoop, drop scoops of dough onto the baking sheet, then bake.
HOW TO BAKE OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES WITH WALNUTS
I prefer to use one scoop of dough to make standard size cookies, but I also like to make extra large cookies by using two scoops of dough, which is my favorite way to make my oatmeal raisin cookies.
If you want to make larger cookies, combine two scoops of dough (carefully– this dough is sticky) and bake for 12-14 minutes instead of the 10-12 minutes for standard size.
DO NOT OVER BAKE THIS OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES RECIPE
In order to keep these cookies soft and chewy, you’ll need to be sure to bake them just for the time suggested. Err on the side of fewer minutes until you find out exactly how your oven will treat these oatmeal cookies.
After the 10-12 minutes, your cookies will look very underdone. You may see some bubbles on the tops of the cookies from the reaction with the leavener and the molasses. This is what you want!
The result, once cool, should be chewy oatmeal chocolate walnut cookies with just a hint of crispness on the outside.
HOW TO STORE THESE CHEWY OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Store leftover oatmeal cookies covered tightly at room temperature. They will soften as they sit, so use that as a guide for how long you’d like them to last (they never last long in our house!). Use 10 or so seconds in the microwave to bring them back to warm and gooey.
Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies with Oatmeal FAQs
Be sure to check out all of my other oatmeal cookies so you can get in on all the oatmeal cookie fun that I so adore in my own kitchen.
More Favorites from Fresh April Flours
Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Walnut Cookies
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup (30g) shelled walnuts
- ¾ cup + 1 and ½ Tablespoons (102g) all-purpose flour be sure to measure properly
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ½ cup (100g) firmly packed light brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons (30mL) unsulphured molasses
- 1 and ½ cups (120g) old fashioned oats do not use quick oats
- ½ cup (85g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a medium size saucepan over medium heat, heat the shelled walnuts to toast them. Keep them moving with a spatula until they start to lightly brown and smell fragrant. Allow to cool until you can touch them (about 10 minutes), then coarsely chop.⅓ cup (30g) shelled walnuts
- Remove ¼ cup (22g) of the toasted chopped walnuts to use in the recipe. I like to reserve the rest for pressing into the tops of the hot cookies1 when they come out of the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.
- In a medium size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.¾ cup + 1 and ½ Tablespoons (102g) all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon salt
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer, or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and beat on high until combined. Add the vanilla extract and molasses and beat on high again until completely combined, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, ½ cup (100g) firmly packed light brown sugar, 2 Tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar, 1 large egg, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 2 Tablespoons (30mL) unsulphured molasses
- Reduce the mixer speed to low, then slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until combined. With the mixer still on low, add the oats, chocolate chips, and reserved ¼ cup of toasted walnuts and continue mixing until everything is evenly dispersed. Allow dough to rest for 10 minutes.1 and ½ cups (120g) old fashioned oats, ½ cup (85g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Using a cookie scoop (I use this #50 cookie scoop for all of my standard size cookies), drop scoops of dough onto the baking sheet. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes2 or until edges are just set. Remove from oven and allow to rest on baking sheet for at least 10 minutes. Cookies will look underdone, and will "set" as they cool on baking sheets. Store cookies covered tightly at room temperature up to 5 days. Baked cookies freeze well, as does unbaked rolled dough (up to 2 months). Do not thaw and add an extra minute to baking time.
Video
Notes
- Hot cookies: I like to press a few chocolate chips and walnut pieces into the tops of the cookies right out of the oven to give them more texture and make them look pretty.
- Bake time: it is imperative you don’t overbake these cookies, which will dry them out. They will look very underdone and you may see some bubbles on the tops of the cookies from the reaction with the leavener and the molasses. This is what you want!
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
They came out ok. Although i was careful to measuring, the cookies taste very cinnamon-y. Not bad but not a recipe i would make again
Hmm… Then my guess is you added too much cinnamon, because there’s only 1 teaspoon in 16 cookies. Thanks for giving them a try.
Delicious! I wonder if I did something incorrectly as they came out very flat. Still, we all enjoyed them! We’ll make again
Hi, Stacy– if you weighed your ingredients as directed, you probably didn’t do anything wrong! They aren’t a super thick cookie, but I wouldn’t call them flat either. If you’re sure you weighed everything correctly, try chilling the dough for 30 minutes next time. Regardless, I’m glad you enjoyed them!
Thank you I will try again!
Just tried this recipe and they turned out perfect. I adjusted it slightly by skipping the cinnamon, subbing 2 T. of butter for peanut butter, skipped the white sugar and only used 3 T. of brown sugar. They were perfectly sweet and delicious. My new go to chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Thanks, Beth!