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These small batch oatmeal cookies are soft, chewy, and full of comforting flavors. Quick to make with simple ingredients, they’re the perfect treat for any occasion.
Looking for more small batch cookie recipes? You’ll love these warmly spiced Ginger Cookies, soft Peanut Butter Cookies, melt-in-your-mouth Butter Cookies, and chewy Hermit Cookies!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Simple to Make: No special tools or techniques required—just mix the dough, scoop, and bake.
- Perfectly Portioned: Just the right amount to enjoy without having too many leftovers.
- Customizable: Easily adapt the recipe with suggested substitutions and add-ins.
- Quick and Easy: You’ll have warm, freshly baked cookies in less than 30 minutes.
- Deliciously Chewy: Packed with flavor and a texture you’ll love, these oatmeal cookies are sure to become a favorite!
Ingredients
If you have any ingredients leftover from this small batch oatmeal cookie recipe, check out our Leftover Ingredients Recipe Finder.
- Butter: Adds richness and flavor to the cookies. For a dairy-free option, substitute with coconut oil or vegan butter.
- Sugar: A mix of granulated sugar and brown sugar provides sweetness, structure, and tenderness. If you’re out of brown sugar, try our easy homemade brown sugar recipe.
- Egg Yolk: This recipe uses just one egg yolk to bind the ingredients together. Save the egg white to use in recipes like Meringues, a mini Texas Sheet Cake, or Two Vanilla Cupcakes.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds a sweet, aromatic flavor to the cookies. Maple syrup or almond extract can be used as substitutes, though the flavor will vary.
- Flour: All-purpose flour provides structure to the cookies. This recipe has not been tested with alternative flours.
- Baking Soda: Helps the cookies rise and ensures a soft texture. Make sure your baking soda is fresh for the best results.
- Ground Cinnamon: Brings warmth and depth to the cookies. You can substitute with nutmeg or allspice for a slightly different flavor.
- Salt: Enhances all the flavors and balances the sweetness.
- Oats: Rolled oats are ideal for these cookies, giving them the perfect chewy texture. Quick oats can be used, but the texture will be softer, and the baking time may need to be adjusted. Leftover oats? Try them in recipes like Blackberry Crisp, Butter Pecan Granola, or Texas Governor’s Mansion Cookies.
Recipe Variations
Here are a few ways to customize this oatmeal cookie recipe:
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies: Mix in chocolate chips for a classic, chocolaty upgrade.
- Tropical Oatmeal Cookies: Add shredded coconut and dried pineapple for a sweet, tropical twist.
- Oatmeal Walnut Cookies: Stir in chopped walnuts, pecans, or almonds for a nutty crunch.
- Spiced Oatmeal Cookies: Enhance the flavor with a pinch of cardamom or cloves for a warm, spiced touch.
How To Make Oatmeal Cookies
These step-by-step photos and instructions help you visualize how to make a small batch of oatmeal cookies. See the recipe box below for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions.
- Set the oven to 325°F (165°C). Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Stir until well blended.
- Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla extract until the mixture is creamy. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
- Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a large spoon until fully combined.
- Stir in the oats until evenly distributed in the dough.
- Use a medium cookie scoop or a heaping tablespoon to portion the dough. Place the scoops about 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Expert Tips
- Measure Flour Properly: Stir the flour in its container, then spoon it into a dry measuring cup until slightly overfilled. Level it off with a straight edge, like the back of a knife. Avoid scooping directly from the container, as this packs the flour too tightly and leads to using too much.
- Line the Cookie Sheet: Use parchment paper or a silicone baking mat to prevent sticking. Avoid greasing the pan, as this can make the cookies spread too much.
- Don’t Overbake: Remove the cookies from the oven as soon as the edges start to lightly brown. They’ll firm up as they cool.
- Portion Dough Evenly: Use a cookie scoop that holds 2 to 2.5 tablespoons of dough for uniform cookies.
Serving Suggestions
These oatmeal cookies are delicious on their own, but here are a few ways to enjoy them even more:
- Ice Cream Sandwich: Create a simple dessert by sandwiching a scoop of vanilla ice cream between two cookies.
- Drizzle with Caramel: Add a touch of indulgence by drizzling warm caramel sauce over the cookies before serving.
- Dessert Platter: Add these cookies to a dessert spread with treats like Cheesecake Bars, Peanut Butter Fudge, Rum Balls, or Buckeyes, for a variety of flavors.
- Crumbled Topping: Crumble the cookies over Baked Apples for added texture and flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cookies may spread if the flour wasn’t measured accurately, resulting in too little flour to hold the structure. Also, ensure the baking soda is fresh, as expired baking soda can affect how the cookies hold their shape. Using a non-lined or greased baking sheet can also contribute to spreading—be sure to line the baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.
While these soft oatmeal cookies are delicious as is, you can add a simple icing if you’d like. Combine 1/3 cup powdered sugar, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1 teaspoon milk or cream in a small bowl. Stir until smooth, adding a little more milk if needed to reach your desired consistency. Drizzle the icing over cooled cookies and let it set for 15-20 minutes before serving.
Yes, simply double all the ingredients.
More Small Batch Cookie Recipes
If you’re looking for more small batch cookie recipes, here are some favorites to try:
- Lace Cookies – Delicate and crispy with a caramelized flavor.
- Flourless Chocolate Pecan Cookies – Rich and chewy with a nutty twist.
- Shortbread Cookies – Buttery and crumbly, a timeless classic.
- Peanut Butter Blossoms – Soft peanut butter cookies topped with a chocolate kiss.
- DoubleTree Chocolate Chip Cookies – Warm and gooey, just like the iconic hotel treat.
- M&M Cookies – Colorful, fun, and full of chocolatey crunch.
- Chocolate Chip Cookies – Classic, buttery cookies loaded with chocolate chips.
Ways To Use Leftover Ingredients
If you have any ingredients leftover from this recipe, check out our Leftover Ingredients Recipe Finder or you might like to consider using them in any of these single serving and small batch recipes:
If you’ve tried this small batch oatmeal cookies recipe or any recipe on One Dish Kitchen please let me know how you liked it by rating the recipe and telling me about it in the comment section below.
If you take a picture please tag us on Instagram (@onedishkitchen) we’d love to see it!
Small Batch Oatmeal Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons salted butter -melted
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar -packed
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 large egg yolk
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup old fashioned oats
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F (165°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Mix the wet ingredients: In a medium bowl, stir together the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until well blended. Add the egg yolk and vanilla extract, stirring until the mixture is creamy. Set aside.
- Combine the dry ingredients: In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
- Mix the dough: Gradually stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until fully combined, then fold in the oats until evenly distributed.
- Portion the dough: Use a medium cookie scoop or a heaping tablespoon to scoop the dough, placing each portion about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake: Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden.
- Cool: Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Measure Flour Properly: Stir the flour in its container, then spoon it into a dry measuring cup until slightly overfilled. Level it off with a straight edge, like the back of a knife. Avoid scooping directly from the container, as this packs the flour too tightly and leads to using too much.
- Line the Cookie Sheet: Use parchment paper or a silicone baking mat to prevent sticking. Avoid greasing the pan, as this can make the cookies spread too much.
- Don’t Overbake: Remove the cookies from the oven as soon as the edges start to lightly brown. They’ll firm up as they cool.
- Portion Dough Evenly: Use a cookie scoop that holds 2 to 2.5 tablespoons of dough for uniform cookies.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I made the cookies exactly as stated, but included 1/4 c walnuts. They were delicious! I did cook them longer—probably 15 minutes in all. They were crispy on the outside, chewy in the middle—puffier than my go-to recipe, but perfect taste and texture. They may be my new favorite!
Hi Lori,
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies, thank you for your feedback!
Joanie
These cookies are delishhh i left out the raisins because i don’t like them but they are still sooo good, better than store bought 😋🙌
Experienced home baker here. Had every listed ingredient and followed the recipe to the letter; only got five 1-inch dough balls out of it that refused to bake in an oven that is fairly new and used often with no problem.
After being baked for the suggested maximum of ten minutes, they had not even begun to flatten out and resemble cookies. Left in for an additional five minutes, they had only just barely begun to flatten. After being left in for five more minutes, the dough balls had turned rock hard and burned. Ended up having to throw them away.
Hi Rose,
They didn’t flatten at all? I’m not sure what could have happened – were any ingredients substituted? Was the butter melted? We recently added a recipe video for these cookies which is now on the recipe post, maybe that can help to pinpoint what might have gone wrong.
Joanie
I only have Quick Oats. Will this work in the recipe. Thank you.
Hi Mabel,
Yes, quick oats will work.
Rolled oats will give the cookies a more chewy texture but either kind will work.
Joanie
Your recipe does not indicate when to add the egg mixture. I added mine to the sugar mixture then added the dry ingredients and baked them at 350F for 10 minutes. My yield was ten 2 inch cookies. The cookies came out fine and were pretty tasty!
Hi,
It’s in step 3, “Beat in the egg yolk and the vanilla extract until creamy…” – sounds like you added it at the right time 🙂
Glad you enjoyed the cookies.
Made these today. Super simple and tasty.
Looking foreword to making more small batch recipes. Thank you!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies!
I don’t know what I did wrong. I followed the recipe and my cookies didn’t come out right. At the 10 minute mark they were still dough, they hadn’t baked, at the 15 minute mark I took them out and they still fell apart.
Hi Irene,
I’m so sorry to hear that the cookies didn’t turn out. These cookies have been made by many readers with success, in fact I made them just the other day, so I’d love to see if we can figure out what went wrong. It sounds as if your oven temperature might be a little off, have you checked your oven temperature recently? To do this, use an oven-safe thermometer. Place the thermometer on a rack in the center of your oven. Pre-heat your oven to the temperature you’d like to test (350° F, or 177° C) is generally a good recommendation). Once the oven is preheated, check the temperature on the thermometer inside.
Another question, were any substitutions made? Did you use all purpose flour and did you use butter, not margarine?
these cookies are amazing. They are amazing for when i crave cookies but don’t want to make too much. oatmeal raisin cookies are my favorite and these are the best tasting!
Hi should i melt the butter until it becomes a liquid?
Vicky, Yes. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter either in the microwave or in a small saucepan.
Simply delicious! I just made these oatmeal cookies for Christmas. I have to be gluten free so used gf flour. I made a double batch and used quick oats and golden raisins. Using a small cookie scoop I got 1-1/2 dozen cookies. Just perfect for my Christmas. Tomorrow I’m baking a double batch of coconut macaroons! ❤️
Thank you so much for letting me know you enjoyed the oatmeal cookies and I’m so happy you shared that the gluten free flour worked for you. Our readers will appreciate that information. Hope you enjoy the coconut macaroons!
Joanie
These cookies are amazing!! Found myself looking through the kitchen for a sweet treat and having nothing on hand that was ready to eat. I usually keep a brownie mix or something stashed in the cupboard, but on this day I had nothing. Decided to check here before going to the store. So glad I found this recipe. It’s perfect in every way. So full of flavor. Buttery. Not loaded with sugar or overly sweet. Just right. I almost doubled it, but so glad I didn’t. I would have eaten them all!!
Shannon,
I’m so happy you enjoyed the cookies! They’re so easy to make and are perfect when a sweet craving hits. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know you loved the recipe.
Have a wonderful week!
Joanie