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(Kind of like) Mom’s Brown Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. Homemade chocolate chip cookies made with browned butter, sweet brown sugar, and oats. A classic cookie made better with the addition of brown butter and, of course, plenty of melty chocolate. These cookies can be lightly sprinkled with sea salt for a salty-sweet cookie bite. Sometimes you just need to bite into the classic oatmeal chocolate chip cookie we all know and love.
I have so many memories of baking my mom’s oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. She’d make them once a week and even became a little famous for them. She certainly knew the recipe by heart! Oats, flour, baking soda, salt, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, canola oil, and a ton of chocolate chips.
Her recipe called for canola oil, which I prefer not to use. So basically what I’ve done with these cookies is replace the canola oil with browned butter.
I mean, brown butter? Canola oil? I’m going to pick brown butter 100% of the time!!
The details are simple
As with a lot of my cookie recipes, start with browning the butter.
I like to use a medium skillet and brown both sticks of butter over medium heat. Then simply let the butter cook until it bubbles up and foams on top. This is when I turn the heat off and continue to allow the butter to cook in the pan.
Little brown bits will form on the bottom of the pan. Those are the nutty little bits that will make your recipes extra delicious. Especially with the oats. I found the pairing to be really special.
When the butter has browned, the rest goes pretty much as you would think. I don’t use a mixer for these, just a good old-fashioned spatula will do the trick. Mix the butter with brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. The only difference from my mom’s recipe is that I nixed the granulated sugar completely.
I don’t think it’s needed for sweetness and I love the flavor brown sugar adds over granulated sugar. I will say that if you love a traditional really sweet cookie, you might want to add 1/2 cup of granulated sugar. It’s up to you, but we think the cookies are sweet enough as written!
So after you’ve got your wet ingredients (+ brown sugar) together, then add the dry. Flour, oats, baking soda, and a small pinch of salt.
Mix in the chocolate chips. Or do it like me and mix chocolate chunks with chocolate chips. I usually use 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chunks and 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Either way, it will be delish!
We love a flatter cookie, so I gently press the dough balls down, then bake.
While the cookies bake, you’ll smell the wonderful scents of rich butter and vanilla. All the scents we love most. I highly recommend enjoying a cookie straight off the pan with a sprinkle of sea salt.
Holy freaking yummm! So simple, so delicious, and the classics never go out of style!
Looking for back-to-school recipes? Here are a few ideas:
Cookies n’ Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies
Vegan Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Healthier Homemade Nutter Butter Cookies
Lastly, if you make these Brown Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Brown Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Servings: 24 cookies
Calories Per Serving: 279 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter
- 1 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups chocolate chunks or chips
- flaky sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2. Add the butter to a skillet set over medium heat. Cook until the butter begins to brown, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Let cool 5 minutes or so.3. To the brown butter, mix in the brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla, mixing until smooth. Add the flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Gently fold in the chocolate. 4. Roll the dough into rounded tablespoon size balls and place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Gently flatten the dough down. Bake 8 minutes. Remove from the oven, rotate and tap the baking sheet on the counter 1-2 times to flatten. Bake another 2-3 minutes or until the cookies are just beginning to set on the edges.5. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. They will continue to cook slightly as they sit on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with flaky salt (if desired). Eat warm (highly recommended) or let cool and store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Really liked this recipe but will tweak it next time I make it by -reducing chocoalte chips down to 1.5 cups and upping kosher salt to 1 full teaspoon. I didn’t have flaked salt but sprinkled some diamond crystal kosher salt on at the end, but still felt like the batter itself could use a bit more salt. I loved that I didn’t have to get my stand mixer out and I didn’t mind at all the extra time it took to brown the butter and let cool (took me nearly 7 minutes to achieve brown butter but could be because I used a saucepan instead of skillet.) Cooking time was spot on for me too, 8 minutes, then 3 more for the perfect bake.
Hey Allison,
Fantastic!! So glad to hear that you enjoyed this recipe, thanks so much for trying it out! Thanks for sharing your feedback and what worked well for you! Have a great weekend! xx
I’m not sure what I did wrong! My cookies didn’t spread and stayed super crumbly. Help! Your cookies look so good.
Hi Emily,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try, so sorry to hear you had some issues. Was there anything you may have adjusted in the recipe? What kind of oats did you use? Did you mix by hand or use an electric mixer? Let me know how I can help! xT
Delicious! I added walnuts because I’m a sucker for them in an oatmeal cookie. Dough turned out pretty runny, despite using the metric weights of all the dry ingredients. Had to add almost 1/3 more of flour and oats.
Hey Laura,
Thanks so much for giving these cookies a try, I love to hear that they were enjoyed! Sorry about the extra flour and oats! xT
Should I refrigerate the cookie dough for a couple of hours prior to baking? I ask, as I’ve read that this makes better cookies…thoughts?
Hey Anita,
Nope, you don’t need to do that for this recipe:) Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
I’d say it’s best!! I tried it both ways and it’s best after it has cooled. If it’s baked before cooling, the cooking with be more of a dried cake texture. After cooling, it was perfect.
Thanks so much Niya!!
Second time making these but made a couple adjustments to ‘Fall it up’ a little bit. 🍁🍂🎃🍪
Added cinnamon to the dry ingredients. Also did half chocolate chips half salted caramel chips. 🤤
Holy moly! The brown butter, oats and cinnamon work so well together. The salted caramel chips with the semisweet made a delicious combo.
Can’t wait to make these again!
Thanks for the recipe! 🖤
Hey Caroline,
Happy Sunday! I am delighted to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for making it! xTieghan
Seriously the best cookies! I have made these twice in the last month, and am currently trying to decide if I should try a new Halloween cookie recipe or stick with what we know and love! My family does request that I don’t add the salt on top- I add it to some for myself because I love it! =] Thank you for this recipe!
Hey Carrie,
Wonderful! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed and appreciate you giving it a try! Have a great weekend!🍁
I used salted butter but it is not browning very easily, I used a stainless steel skillet and the butter just continued to bubble and not brown. What do I do?
Hi Sara,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try, sounds like the butter just needs more time:) I hope this helps! xx
If I wanted to prep and freeze these for later what would be the steps/suggestions to do that? Planning to make these this week and I’m so excited!!
Hey Katy,
I would just fully bake the cookies and then freeze them or freeze the individual dough balls. I hope you love the recipe! xx
Hands down the best oatmeal chocolate chip cookies ever
Hi Patricia,
Happy Monday!! I am delighted to hear that this recipe was tasty for you! Thanks for making it:) xx
I raved about your zucchini orzo meal to my sister, and she said it was one of the best things she’s ever made. Also, I think the photography on your website is really unique.
Thanks so much for your kind message Beth:)
Elevated yet simple oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe. I loved these!
Hi Kate,
Happy Monday!! I am delighted to hear that this recipe was tasty for you! Thanks for making it:) xx
LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe. I decreased the Pat to get a more flour like texture and it was a hit! The cookies were gone within two hours!
Hey Jazmin,
Happy Sunday! I love to hear that this recipe turned out well for you and appreciate you giving it a try!🍂 xT
Would love to make this as a bar cookie. Any suggestions?
Hey there,
I would try one of these recipes:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/healthy-ish-chocolate-chip-cookie-bars/
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/healthy-dark-chocolate-chunk-oatmeal-cookie-bars-idiot-proof/
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/monster-oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cookie-bars/
Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
I know this is going to make me wildly unpopular- but I’m not crazy about brown butter. Sorry. So… if I don’t brown it, will it affect how it turns out in terms of being too runny or flopping ?
Hey Erin,
Lol no worries, just use melted butter instead:) I hope you love the recipe!! xx
Actually one cup melted butter and one cup of butter brown do not equal the same end result. The brown butter reduces total volume after browning.
I usually use Unsalted butter and your recipe calls for salted. Would I need to add more salt to this recipe or would it still taste the same without the salted butter?
Hey Sharon,
I would add 1/4 teaspoon of salt. I hope you love these cookies, please let me know if you give them a try! xT
I did give them a try! These were amazing! And my husband loved them as well! Love your recipes! Thank you!
Thanks so much Sharon!!
These are delicious! Are they meant to be more of a cake like cookie? I’m not sure if by using gluten free flour made them cakey. I also used a mixer cause I didn’t read your notes lol! I do prefer a chewy oatmeal cookie. Any suggestions?
Hey Wendy,
Thanks for giving the recipe a try! They are not meant to be cake like:) Next time, you can still use the gluten free flour, but I would gently mix by hand and be sure not to over mix. I hope this helps! xTieghan
Why baking soda and not baking powder? Doesn’t baking soda require an acid (buttermilk for example) to activate?
Hi Anil,
Not necessarily, I always use baking soda in my cookies. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love them! xT