These toasted oat chocolate chunk cookies are not your average oatmeal cookie. By toasting the oats before adding it into the dough, you elevate the flavour profile by bringing notes of nutty caramelization.
A Classic Recipe, but…
Nothing like a good ol’ classic and memory-filled dessert when the cravings hit. However, I like to add new twists to make the classics even better, without the addition of too many extra ingredients or complicated steps, of course. So that’s when the idea of tinkering with the staple elements came to mind. These toasted oat chocolate chunk cookies are not your average oatmeal cookie. I wanted a cookie that would be chewy, crispy on the edges, and packed a full punch of that nostalgic butterscotchy flavour.
… Reinvented
To do that, I changed up one simple step in the recipe: I toasted the oats.
By toasting the oats, the maillard browning reaction happens from the heat and it gives the oats a distinctive, complex flavour profile. Food science, super nerdy, I know. But so cool right?
As a result, when you add the toasted oats to the dough, it yields an elevated cookie with deep notes of nuttiness and tones of caramel.
Just so you get a sense of how good these are – I brought these toasted oat chocolate chunk cookies into work at the beginning of the week and my colleagues were still talking about it on Friday!
How to Toast Oats
The essential step of creating these toasted oat chocolate chunk cookies is of course, toasting the oats! It’s super easy and fool-proof.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
- Spread the oats out on a baking sheet
- Bake for about 10 minutes until golden brown and a nutty fragrance develops, check at the half way point and stir to get even browning
Storing and Keeping Cookies Fresh
I keep the cookies in an airtight container with a slice of bread to keep them nice and soft! Also, as a general rule of thumb, I never keep cookies longer than 2 days. They just don’t taste as good after that long.
If you don’t need the full 12 cookies (though, I really can’t think of a situation where you wouldn’t), you can freeze the dough balls that you don’t need and just bake off the ones that you do plan on eating. Frozen cookie dough stores very well for up to a month.
More simple, deliciously elevated cookie recipes:
- Soft and Chewy Triple Chocolate Cookies
- Homemade Pocky
- MilkBar’s Chocolate-Chocolate Cookies
- Chocolate Sables
Recipe for Toasted Oat Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Toasted Oat Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/4 cup oats large flake
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
- 2/3 cup brown sugar lightly packed
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- pinch of nutmeg
- 1 egg large
- 2 cups dark chocolate chunks
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
- On a baking sheet, spread out the dry oats and toast for 20-25 minutes until there is a nutty fragrance and the oats have taken on a caramelized brown colour. Stir every now and then to make sure that it gets evenly browned.
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and oats
- In a large glass bowl, melt butter in the microwave
- Add in both sugars, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg to the melted butter and stir until combined.
- Beat in egg until mixture has thickened to the point where it falls in ribbons
- Alternate adding in the flour mixture and the dark chocolate chunks, mixing gently only until incorporated.
- Divide dough into 8 pieces, roll or scoop into balls and refrigerate in airtight container for 1 hour.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-11 minutes until the edges are lightly browned.
Did you make this recipe?
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These toasted oat chocolate chunk cookies are not your average oatmeal cookie. The oats are toasted until browned and aromatic and this simple step adds so much to the flavour profile.