Oatmeal Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe was originally published in September 2020. It has since been updated with new images and an improved recipe.

This is such an easy recipe and I love that I don't need to pull out my mixer to make these! The middles are super soft and chewy but they have crisp edges, so you're getting the best of both worlds.

While I've got a few cookie recipes with pecans, like these chocolate chip pecan cookies, I realized I didn't have many using walnuts! And oatmeal walnut cookies is such a classic that I had to make them.

These oatmeal walnut chocolate chip cookies use melted brown butter, which gives you a delicious toasty and slightly nutty flavor. You will have to chill the dough briefly but I promise the wait is worth it! If you want to swap out the walnuts for candy, try my M&M oatmeal cookies.

If you want even more oatmeal cookies, try my oatmeal walnut cranberry cookies, coconut chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, or brown butter oatmeal cookies!

Why you'll love this recipe!

• You don't need a mixer to make these chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, just a saucepan to brown the butter, a bowl, and a whisk.
• I'm using super simple ingredients here that you can easily find at the grocery store, but you get a flavor boost thanks to browned butter and toasted walnuts.
• I slightly underbake my oatmeal cookies so the middles stay super soft and chewy for days.
• I'm using walnuts and chocolate chips but you can make some easy swaps to customize these oatmeal cookies!
• I've tested this recipe numerous times and tried changing the amount of rolled oats and flour, making sure you have a soft and chewy (never dry!) cookie.

Ingredients Needed

• Oats: make sure to use rolled oats or old fashioned oats. If you use quick oats or porridge oats they'll make the cookies dry. I don't recommend using steel cut oats.
• Flour: I've only tested this recipe with all purpose flour.
• Unsalted Butter: I recommend using European style butter which is much richer and creamier.
• Spices: I'm using a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom. If you can't find cardamom you can swap it out for ginger. These spices will make the cookies taste so cozy!
• Walnuts: chop up some walnuts before adding them to the cookie dough. You can swap these out for pecans if you prefer.
• Chocolate Chips: I prefer using semisweet chocolate chips in these cookies to balance out the sweetness. You can also use milk chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, butterscotch chips or peanut butter chips.

Step by Step Instructions

Step 1: Start by browning your butter. Place the butter in a small saucepan and set over medium-low heat. Let the butter melt completely, then begin to stir. The butter will start to foam and sputter. It should stop sputtering and if you stir you'll see small diary solids at the bottom. Once those milk solids turn golden brown and it smells toasty, turn the heat off and pour the brown butter into a large bowl. Let cool.

Step 2: While the brown butter is cooling down you can toast the walnuts. This is optional but I love the flavor of toasted walnuts! Preheat your oven to 350ºFahrenheit/175ºCelsius and place your chopped walnuts in a small baking dish. Toast for 5-7 minutes, then set aside to cool.

Step 3: Add the light brown sugar, white granulated sugar, and vanilla extract to the melted butter. Whisk until smooth. Add the eggs and whisk until combined.

Step 4: In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda and spices together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and use a rubber spatula to mix until just combined.

Step 5: Stir in the rolled oats, then stir in the chocolate chips and toasted walnuts. Cover the bowl and place it in the fridge for at least 45 minutes, or up to overnight.

Step 6: Preheat the oven to 350ºFahrenheit/175ºCelsius and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Take the chilled cookie dough out and use a medium cookie scoop or spoon to scoop out 2 heaping tablespoons of dough. Place on your prepared baking sheet and bake one sheet at a time for 11-13 minutes. The middles will look slightly underbaked but the edges will be set and golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack. I recommend keeping the cookie dough balls that aren't being baked right away in the fridge until ready to bake.

My Baking Tips & Tricks

• Kitchen Scale: I always recommend using a kitchen scale when baking since it's the most accurate way to bake! It's so easy to add too much flour or rolled oats, giving you dry cookies.
• Bigger Cookies: I've tested this recipe with 2 tablespoons of cookie dough and 3 tablespoons of cookie dough. While you of course get bigger cookies with the 3 tablespoons, I found they spread quite a bit on the baking sheet so please keep that in mind if you want bigger cookies!
• Bakery Style Cookies: as soon as my cookies come out of the oven I use a large biscuit cutter to gently scoot the cookies. This is going to give you a perfectly round shape but is also helpful to do if your cookies spread a bit more than you wanted! I then add a few extra chocolate chips on top.
• Slightly Underbake: to get soft and chewy oatmeal walnut cookies I recommend slightly underbaking these cookies.
• Overnight Chilling: you can chill the cookie dough overnight, which is great if you want to make these cookies ahead of time. Just let the cookie dough come to room temperature for about 15-20 minutes before scooping it out, otherwise, it might be too hard.

Storage & Freezing

Keep these chewy oatmeal walnut chocolate chip cookies in a ziploc bag or airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

To freeze, place the cooled cookies in a ziploc bag in the freezer for up to 2 months. Let thaw at room temperature before enjoying.