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Home » Food » Desserts and Baking

BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe (With or Without Oats!)

April 6, 2020 by Chelsea Kram – XO&So: Vegetarian Comfort Food 2 Comments

the best chocolate chip cookies recipeThese are thick, dense, chewy chocolate chip cookies with a recipe I've perfected over the years to get juuuust right. They can be made with or without oats, and shredded coconut gives them the perfect chewy texture.  

I've been making these chocolate chip cookies at least twice a month for over two years now. I haven't done the math, but that adds up to a lottttt of cookies! These are always requested by friends and family, and I'm always happy to deliver. 

I know it's tempting to skip right to the recipe, but I hope you'll give this whole post a read because I share lots of secrets for making the best chocolate chip cookies and I don't want you to miss them.

Chocolate chip cookies off all kinds are great. But these are the best. In my opinion anyway. I think you'll agree! They've got that perfect combination of being soft and chewy, just sweet enough, and really easy to make. Ding ding ding!

But chocolate chip cookie recipes are near and dear to a lot of people's hearts, and I know there are strong opinions about what makes the best ones deserve their title. These just happen to be my favorite!

Jump to Recipe

I've noticed in a lot of chocolate chip cookie recipes there are really strict instructions for making them. Like having your butter totally melted but cooled, weighing your flour, etc. There's nothing quite like that in this cookie recipe.

That being said, I do hope you'll read this post before you make the recipe to read about what I've learned for making the BEST chocolate chip cookies! 

First, let's start with the ingredients.

Ingredients

  • Chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk chocolate)
  • All-purpose flour
  • QUICK oats or old fashioned rolled oats — Not steel cut, etc. (I also include instructions and notes for making these without oats — be sure to read in the recipe card about that!)
  • Shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened can work)
  • Baking soda
  • Salt
  • Vanilla extract
  • Unsalted butter
  • Eggs
  • Sugar
  • Brown sugar

A note on the butter

I microwave my butter for about 20 seconds or until it looks like this. You want it soft and warm but not TOTALLY liquidy. 

If you add the butter to the sugars when it's like this, it'll all blend together nicely and get really creamy but not soupy. It'll look something like this when the butter and sugars are mixed just right:

Baking time

I like when my cookies are just a little bit under-baked. Then they're crisp on the outside and soft and ooey gooey in the middle.

The baking time is about 12-15 minutes, but you'll need to keep an eye on them as you make them so you can see when they're cooked to your liking. Every oven is so different that it's impossible to say exactly what will work for you. You want them to be just lightly golden on the outside and set. 

But since I like mine a little undercooked, I always take them out at 12 minutes. If you're baking the cookie dough from frozen, they'll take a bit longer. 

Why coconut?

If the shredded coconut seems strange to you, don't worry. It doesn't make the cookies taste coconut-y. It's just a little bit, but it adds such a good texture to the cookies!

With or without oats

If you make these cookies without oats, they'll spread out more and look like this:

A chocolate chip cookie without oats.

With oats, they're thicker and puffier, like this:

Equally delicious! Just a matter of preference and the ingredients you have on hand. 

Other tips for making the best chocolate chip cookies

  • No need to flatten the cookie dough balls before you bake them. As I mentioned, they'll flatten out a bit if you make them with oats, and a lot if you don't use oats.

    Here they are about to go in the oven.

  • If you're making them without oats, they'll spread out a lot, so you'll only cook six to a pan rather than all 12. 
  • These freeze really well. Bring them out of the freezer while the oven heats up then bake for a few minutes longer than you would if you cooked them fresh. Be sure to form the cookie dough balls before freezing, rather than freezing all the dough in a lump. 
  • The dough looks similar with and without oats, but the final result is obviously a bit different.

    Here's the cookie dough just before the balls get formed.

  • Feel free to double, triple, or even quadruple the recipe! Trust me — you'll want to get your hands on as many as you can!

Onto the specifics...

📖 Recipe

The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe (With or Without Oats!)

My tried and true recipe for the best chocolate chip cookies (with or without oats) that you can have ready in less than half an hour!
5 from 2 votes
Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 15 mins
Servings 12 cookies

Ingredients
  

  • ½ cup white sugar
  • ¼ cup packed brown sugar
  • ½ cup unsalted butter melted/soft (see notes)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1.5 cups flour
  • ⅔ cup quick oats or old fashioned rolled oats (if using) don't use steel cut oats
  • 2 tablespoon shredded coconut
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt use just a pinch if you're using salted butter
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Instructions
 

Chocolate Chip Cookies WITH Oats

  • Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Melt butter in the microwave for about 20 seconds until it's soft and melty but not totally liquid.
    In the bowl of your stand mixer (fitted with your flat beater) or using a hand mixer, beat the sugars and butter for 2-3 minutes, until very smooth.
    Add the egg and vanilla, mix for another minute.
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, oats, shredded coconut, baking soda, and salt. Mix. Slowly pour the dry mixture into the wet mixture, and continue to mix.
    Once combined, gently stir in the chocolate chips.
  • Divide the dough into 12 balls (roughly ¼ cup each). Place each ball on the baking sheet.
    Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly golden on top and set.
    Let cool for a few minutes before digging in.

Chocolate Chip Cookies WITHOUT Oats

  • Preheat oven to 350F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
  • Melt butter in the microwave for about 20 seconds until it's soft and melty but not totally liquid.
    In the bowl of your stand mixer (fitted with your flat beater) or using a hand mixer, beat the sugars and butter for 2-3 minutes, until very smooth.
    Add the egg and vanilla, mix for another minute.
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, shredded coconut, baking soda, and salt. Mix. Slowly pour the dry mixture into the wet mixture, and continue to mix.
    Once combined, gently stir in the chocolate chips.
  • Divide the dough into 12 balls. Place six on each baking sheet (they will spread out a lot more without the oats so give them lots of room).
  • Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly golden on top and set.
    Let cool for a few minutes before digging in.

Notes

Can these be frozen? 
Yes — these are definitely freezer-friendly. Bring them out of the freezer while the oven heats up. Then bake them for a few minutes longer than you would if you cooked them fresh. Don't forget to form the cookie dough balls before freezing, rather than freezing all the dough in a lump. 
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

a pinterest graphic showing the best chocolate chip cookies ever on a white background

There you have it! I hope you love these as much as me and mine do! Please let me know what you think.

XO - C

These are the best chocolate chip cookies ever, but if you want the best Christmas cookies ever? I've got you covered right here. 

Oh, and please don't forget to follow along on Instagram for more recipes and other fun stuff. 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Stephanie

    April 07, 2020 at 6:37 pm

    5 stars
    These are the cookies I dream about - like actually dream about if I don’t get a regular fix. They really should come with a warning - they’ll ruin all other chocolate chip cookies for you!

    XoAndso has got this one 100% down

    Reply
  2. Ryan

    April 09, 2020 at 11:47 am

    5 stars
    These are my favourite cookies ever! Perfection!

    Reply

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About Chelsea Kram & XO&So

Hi! I'm Chelsea and I'm the Canadian food blogger behind all of the XO&So vegetarian comfort food recipes. Click here to get to know more about me.

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