Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Oatmeal Cookies

Well guys, I’ve been staying home as much as possible for about 6 weeks now. Minnesota’s stay-at-home order began March 26th, but I started almost 2 weeks early (I have elderly folks in my building that I want to protect, plus I already work from home so it was pretty easy for me to do). Anyway, to combat cabin fever, I’ve been using my extra time at home the best I can – doing a ton of reading, going for lots of walks, FaceTiming with friends and fam, and, of course, baking. Since I have plenty of time, I decided to test half a dozen kinds of oatmeal cookies to create a recipe you can adapt to whatever flavor you want – a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure sort of thing. Well, my freezer is chock full of oatmeal cookie dough, but I think I’ve done it!

I love a thick, soft oatmeal cookie with chewy bits of oats (old-fashioned oats make the best oatmeal cookies – don’t fight me). My favorite oatmeal cookies of all time are the ones from a bakery I used to work for (shoutout to Amazing Grace Bakery here in Duluth!) – this recipe is inspired by those cookies.

And as far as the controversial raisins vs chocolate chips argument? I’m about 50-50. I like both, it just depends on what mood I’m in. I think an oatmeal cookie lends itself to lots of different flavor combinations actually. It’s a great background for a whole slew of mix-ins – dried fruit, chocolate, nuts, even chopped up candy bars! Yum.

Use What You’ve Got

This recipe is incredibly adaptable, and is a great clean-out-your cupboard sort of cookie. You can use whatever mix-ins you want of course, but you can also swap out other ingredients. For example:

• Replace part of the butter with peanut butter for a PB oatmeal cookie
• Sub cocoa powder for some of the flour for a chocolate oatmeal cookie
• You could probably sub whole wheat, spelt, or other whole grain flour for half of the flour also (but I haven’t tested that so can’t guarantee how they’d turn out).
• Out of white sugar? Replace with more brown. (Or vice versa)
• Don’t have cinnamon? Leave it out or replace with ginger, nutmeg, or whatever other spice you like.
• Don’t have heavy cream? Use any kind of milk (reg or nut, soy, oat, etc) or try cold coffee!

See what I mean? Be as creative as you want with your flavor combos. I’ve included a handful of flavors I tried and loved in the recipe notes, but they’re only the tip of the iceberg. On the other hand, maybe you want to go old school and make the recipe as-is with raisins or chocolate chips? Great! You do you. Whatever flavor you decide to make, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Stay safe and healthy my friends, and Happy Baking!

Print Recipe

Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Oatmeal Cookies

A basic (and delicious!) soft oatmeal cookie recipe you can adapt to any flavor you like! Be creative – clean out the cupboard by using up leftover bits of dried fruit, chocolate, nuts, candy bars…the sky's the limit!

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, Oatmeal Cookies, Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Servings: 16 big cookies

Ingredients

• 3/4 c butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks)
• 1/4 c granulated sugar
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 c rolled oats (old fashioned style, preferably)
• 1 1/2 c flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• pinch salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 T heavy cream (or milk)
• 1 c mix-ins (chocolate chips, dried fruit, nuts, marshmallows, candy bars, coconut, etc)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
• In a small bowl, combine, oats, flour, baking soda & powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, cream butter and sugars until light & fluffy – about 1-2 minutes at medium speed.
• Add eggs and vanilla and beat until well combined, about 1-2 minutes at medium speed.
• Add dry ingredients and mix at low speed just until combined.
• Then add heavy cream and mix at low speed until combined.
• Add mix-ins and mix until combined (you may want to use a wooden spoon or spatula – dough will be pretty thick at this point).
• Using a large cookie scoop, spoon, or your hands, scoop dough into approx 3-3.5" balls. Place on cookie sheet and flatten a little using the bottom of a glass or your hand.
• Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes, or until bottoms are beginning to brown and tops are set.
• Cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.
• Cookies will keep for about 5 days stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

Notes

Flavor Combination Suggestions:

Date & Walnut: Use 1/2c each chopped dates and walnuts for your mix-ins.

Cranberry & White Chocolate Chip: Use 1/2c each dried cranberries and white chocolate chips for your mix-ins.

Chocolate Chip, Ginger, & Cacao Nib: Use 1/2c chocolate chips, 6T chopped crystallized ginger, and 2T cacao nibs for your mix-ins.

Double Chocolate Sea Salt: Replace 1/2c flour with cocoa powder; use 1c chocolate chips for your mix-ins; sprinkle tops with coarse sea salt before baking.

Double Chocolate Walnut: Replace 1/2c flour with cocoa powder; use 1/2c each chocolate chips and chopped walnuts for your mix-ins. Sprinkle tops with coarse sea salt before baking, if desired.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip: Instead of 3/4c butter, use 6T butter & 6T peanut butter. Omit cinnamon. Use 1c chocolate chips for your mix-ins. Top with coarse sea salt if desired.