These oatmeal walnut chocolate chip cookies are super soft and chewy! They're made with brown butter and lots of spices, giving all the cozy cookie vibes. Plus, you don't need an electric mixer to make these oatmeal 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!
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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.
Expert 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
You probably overbaked the cookies. I recommend taking them out of the oven when the middle is still under-baked and the edges have set and are golden brown.
I don't recommend it, I have tested oatmeal cookies with quick oats but I found it made the cookies very dry and the texture wasn't as good. I recommend using whole oats, rolled oats or old-fashioned oats.
You may not have chilled them long enough, causing the butter to become warm and spread more while baking. Make sure you chill the cookie dough for at least 45 minutes!
I LOVE using brown butter because it gives your baked goods so much more flavor. If you haven't browned butter before, then I recommend checking out the video in the recipe card where you can watch me brown butter. I promise it is worth it!
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.
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Have you made this recipe? Please rate the recipe below! Don't forget to follow me on Instagram @alpineella and Pinterest!
Recipe
Oatmeal Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup walnuts roughly chopped
- 1 ¾ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups rolled oats
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Start by browning the butter. Add the butter to a small saucepan and place over medium-low heat. Stir as the butter begins to melt. As the butter melts it will start to foam and sputter. Stir until the butter completely melts and the sputtering starts. You should see small dairy solids at the bottom, and those should start to turn golden brown. The butter will smell nutty and toasty. Take off the heat and pour into a bowl to cool completely.1 cup unsalted butter
- While the brown butter cools you can toast the walnuts! This step is optional but I think it adds a flavor dimension to the cookies. Preheat the oven to 350℉/175℃ and place the chopped walnuts in a small baking dish. Toast for 5-7 minutes. Take out of the oven and let cool.½ cup walnuts
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda and spices. Set aside.1 ¾ cup all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Add the light brown sugar, white sugar and vanilla extract to the cooled brown butter. Whisk until smooth.1 cup light brown sugar, ¼ cup white sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Add the 2 eggs into the melted butter, and whisk until just combined.2 large eggs
- Pour the flour mixture into the sugar mixture and stir until just combined. Stir in the rolled oats.2 ½ cups rolled oats
- Stir in the chocolate chips and toasted walnuts. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least 45 minutes, or up to overnight.1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- After 45 minutes, preheat the oven to 350℉/175℃ and line two baking trays with parchment paper.
- Using a medium cookie scoop or a tablespoon, scoop out 1.5-2 tablespoons of dough. Place on the prepared baking sheets, keeping the cookie dough balls about 3-4 inches apart.
- Bake 1 sheet at a time for 11-13 minutes. The edges will have set and turned golden brown but the middles might look underbaked which is fine. Let cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before tranferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- I recommend keeping the cookie dough balls that aren't being baked right away in the fridge! That way they don't get too warm. If they get too warm they will spread out while baking.
Nicole
So simple to whip up quick. Tasty and wholesome cookies. Need to get a nice jar and keep a supply of these in my kitchen for coffee breaks.