Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies
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This recipe produces simple, buttery, old-fashioned oatmeal cookies with a hint of warm cinnamon, chewy centers, and lacy edges. They are easy to make — no dough chilling required — and perfect for a quick treat with coffee or a cold glass of milk.
Is there anything as comforting as a freshly-baked cookie? This particular one has an extra-special place in my heart, because I worked so hard to tweak the recipe with the goal of mimicking a simple, classic oatmeal cookie my husband remembers his Mom making. He affirms that this version nails it.
These old-fashioned oatmeal cookies have simple ingredients and no fancy steps. The centers are thin but buttery soft, while the edges are a bit lacy and delicate. We like them with a hint of cinnamon, which you can easily dial up or down to suit your taste, or add to with a pinch of nutmeg, cardamom, or another spice.
All in all, we believe these are old-fashioned in all the best ways.
Ingredient Notes
Best oats for oatmeal cookies
Using old-fashioned oats, also known as rolled oats, is crucial to success with this recipe. Quick oats absorb a different amount of moisture and simply don’t hold shape and texture in the same way when mixed into cookie dough and baked.
Fortunately, old-fashioned oats are very easy to find. They are in most grocery stores in canisters or large bags next to the quick and steel-cut oats, as you’d expect. I consider them a pantry staple for not only breakfast but also making granola, snack bars, and cookies like these!
How To Make Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies
This is an overview. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Set the butter out well in advance. It bears repeating: for consistent results with this cookie, it’s important that your butter be truly room temperature when you start.
If the butter is at all melted or even has a few very soft spots — as can easily happen when you try to rush it along in the microwave — the dough will look and taste good, but the cookies will spread out too much as they bake. Room temperature butter is your friend.
Preheat and prep pans. Warm the oven to 350°F and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
Whisk together the dry ingredients. Combining these separately first helps to ensure they are evenly distributed without needing to over-mix the dough at the end.
Cream together butter and both sugars. It’s important to beat well at this step, until the mixture is not only thoroughly combined, but also takes on a light and fluffy texture.
Finish the dough. Beat in the egg and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl at least once, then beat in the dry ingredients, followed lastly by the oats.
When the mixture is visually even, stop mixing.
Scoop and roll smooth. Use a cookie scoop, or two spoons, to portion the dough into balls that are about 1.5 to 2 Tablespoons each. Roll smooth between your palms and arrange on baking sheets with several inches between them. These cookies do spread out; leave ample room.
Bake. These should take 12-15 minutes in a 350°F oven. They are done when the edges develop a golden brown tinge. The middle will still be tender but firm up a touch more as they cool on the baking sheet.
Storage and Freezing
These old-fashioned oatmeal cookies will keep well tightly-covered at room temperature for at least 3-4 days.
It is also possible to freeze the shaped dough balls, then bake directly from frozen, just adding 2-3 minutes onto the baking time. Voila: fresh oatmeal cookies on demand!
Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour see note
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 14 Tablespoons butter at room temperature (1 and 3/4 sticks)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 and 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 3/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- Using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, beat together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy.14 Tablespoons butter, 1 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- Add the egg and vanilla and beat on medium-low to combine.1 large egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated. Gradually add the oats and mix just until evenly combined. Try not to over-mix.2 and 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- Scoop out mounds of dough that are 1.5-2 Tablespoons each. Gently roll into smooth balls. Place the cookies at least 3 inches apart on the baking sheets; they will spread out.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the cookies are golden brown with crisp edges and very slightly soft centers. If baking more than one pan at a time, rotate them midway through the bake time to ensure the cookies brown evenly. Cool cookies completely on the baking sheets, then store tightly covered at room temperature.
Notes
- Flour: For thicker, less lacy cookies add 2-3 Tablespoons of additional flour. This changes the texture of the cookies very slightly but helps prevent excessive spreading, so it can be especially helpful if you think your butter is overly warm, etc.
- Butter: For consistent results with this cookie, it’s important that your butter be truly room temperature when you start. If it is melted or has very soft spots, as is possible when you try to rush it by microwaving butter, the dough will look and taste good, but the cookies will spread out more as they bake.
- Storage: Cookies will keep well at room temperature at least 3-4 days.
- Oats: Do not sub quick cooking for the old-fashioned rolled oats; they absorb a different amount of moisture and will not yield the same texture.
Nutrition Estimate
More Easy Cookie Recipes
If you like this recipe, you may also enjoy my mini oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, blueberry oatmeal cookies, and apple cinnamon oatmeal cookies. Yes, we really like this combination!
Other favorite quick treats include super soft chocolate chip cookies, bakery-style chocolate chip cookies, and my family’s favorite Amish sugar cookies.
You can also FOLLOW me on PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM, and FACEBOOK for more great recipes and ideas!
This post was originally published on September 26, 2018 and has been updated with new photos, more detailed ingredient information, and troubleshooting tips to help ensure your cookies have the right consistency.
These turned out great! But as I’m wont to do, I made modifications. Baked 1 sheet at a time at 350 Convection setting for 9-10 minutes. I sprayed the parchment with coconut oil.
I changed the shortening to half-and-half butter and lard. Lard is great for that old fashioned flavor and texture. I mixed, in the food processor, 1/2 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut with a few chunks of home-made butterscotch until very fine. I added this mixture with the flour mixture. With the oat addition, I added 1/2 cup of commercial butterscotch bits for a little mystery texture.
I have baked many variations of oatmeal cookies and this one is the best so far.
I like my cookies crisp, and these filled the bill! I’ve tried three different oatmeal cookies over the last month, and will stop here. This is it!! (I added raisins and walnuts, as I always do.)
Hi! I haven’t tried this recipe yet but it looks amazing! I just wanted to mention that I live in Spain and I work with grams. It would be great if in the ingredient list you added the equivalent because I find it a nightmare to look up all the conversions from “cups”. I would really appreciate it! 😀 Thanks! Really nice blog btw!
Hi Jenn, I understand that – I will try to work on that in the future! Thank you for the idea and the feedback!
Made these yesterday. Used 1 cup of sugar (using 3 types of sugar, 45% granulated, 40% coconut, and 15% brown). Also used 6 tablespoons of butter and 8 tablespoons of coconut oil. My new favorite oatmeal cookies. Thank you….
So glad you enjoyed the cookies, Steve, and thank you for sharing what worked for you!
Best oatmeal cookies I ever made. I used half whole wheat flour and they still blow the doors off!
These are the best! They are the perfect crispy/soft combination. I made them for Ev and they reminded us all of Mary.
I tried to make these cookies and they turned out really flat and greasy too..like a sheet pan of cookies? Lets see if they can be cut later on into squares….? What have I done wrong ? I have made a few batches of different oatmeal cookies and usually its the other way round they are too thick and a bit cakey.. but this one is the exactly opposite ..
Help please, I must’ve done something wrong because my cookies are flat and somewhat greasy. I bake a lot, with success usually, but I consistently have a problem with oatmeal cookies spreading, almost like a lace cookie. Thanks for any help you can offer!
Hi Becky- I checked out your Facebook page, your sugar cookies are works of art! The first thing I thought of was that perhaps your oven runs hot, although if you don’t have this problem with other types of cookies, that seems unlikely. Are you always using old-fashioned oats in the recipes that give you trouble? Also is it possible that your butter is very warm, warmer than room temperature?
I hope this gives you some helpful ideas, but if you’re looking to troubleshoot some more, this post has a lot of helpful suggestions! https://www.bostongirlbakes.com/8-reasons-your-cookies-spread-too-much/
Thank you so much for the compliment, that was so nice! I will try again with these new tips in mind. I want my cookies to look like yours ?
I adore oatmeal cookies. These look seriously delicious and I really want to reach in and take a bite.
I love that your “favorite thing to bake” decision is between cupcakes and cookies — two of my least favorite things to bake! But I will never, ever turn down a good cookie baked by someone else, and these oatmeal cookies look like perfection.
These cookies hit all the right notes! A batch of these would be perfect for the weekend.
I love good old fashion crisp oatmeal cookies! You have the right idea by putting them next to a glass of cold milk because that is exactly how they would be eaten.
I always loved oatmeal cookies! And crisp was definitely best for me… They are so easy to make yourself These look delicious.
Love the crispy edges of these cookies! I prefer them to chewy cookies big times!
Totally agree with you on the old fashioned oats! If I want an oatmeal cookie I want the texture of the oats to be noticeable when I bite into it and these are definitely cookies I want to bite into!
These oatmeal cookies look so good! And who could resist them when they are crispy on the outside while soft on the inside? 🙂
I love oaty biscuits and these look smashing! I wonder if your old-fashioned oats would be the equivalent to our rough oats in Scotland. I’ll have to give these a try and see. sharing!
Oatmeal cookies are always popular in my house and these look incredible! Love that these are crisp too!
Okay you’ve definitely reached cookie perfection with these! They look SO yum!!
Oatmeal cookies are the best! Love them with a creamy cup of coffee. 🙂 Breakfast.
Oooohhh! You don’t see crisp oatmeal cookies that often and I don’t know why because they are delish! My father would absolutely love these so I’m going to make them for him!
Oatmeal cookies are my absolute favorite. I love the texture of earthy oats against warm spices. With a snap! I cannot wait to give this version a go. My typical oatmeal cookie is chewier.
I love how crunchy these look!! Crispy on the edges just how I like it!
How sweet to work so hard to recreate the beloved cookie of your husband’s childhood! A lovely recipe – classic and simple, which is just absolutely perfect for an oatmeal cookie!
I think oatmeal cookies are my favorite kind of cookie. I definitely prefer the old fashioned oats to quick oats in my cookies. These would go fast in this house (and not just because of the kids)!