Todd’s Famous Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy.
Fabulous flavor and texture, these cookies are a winning creation by my husband, Todd!
Todd has been making these since he was 10 years old for his family and friends, making a few changes here and there over the years to perfect them. He likes to remind his sister of the many times she would eat up all the cookie dough before he had the chance to bake them (ah, those days glorious sibling squabbles). In her defense, I like to remind him that all’s fair in love and cookie-making. If cookie dough is sitting unattended, it’s fair game. Period.
He made them for me when we first started dating and they definitely scored him a few points. And since then there have been several times when I’ve had the ol’ sweet craving hit me and Todd has whipped up a batch of these – boy, do they hit the spot. Fresh out of the oven with glass of cold milk – heaven!
Todd always uses an ice cream scoop for the cookie dough, which is pretty convenient. He also uses the Kitchenaid to make the batter, but I’ve changed the directions to the more standard method of making cookies for a couple of reasons: 1) Not everyone has a stand mixer and 2) I personally prefer the more traditional method of using a hand mixer and spoon to make cookies.
* On second thought, I’ll include the stand mixer directions as well for those who prefer to use it.
Enjoy!
Save This Recipe
Todd's Famous Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 sticks butter (1 cup) , at room temperature
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugars until pale in color and fluffy in texture. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until combined. Add the oats and use a wooden spoon to stir until combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir until combined.
- Drop the cookie batter onto a cookie sheet using an ice cream scoop or spoon, in about 1-inch rounds. Bake for 8-10 minutes.
Notes
Great recipe! I made the following modifications:
– substituted coconut oil for the butter; it was a bit warm today, so the oil was liquid, briefly mixed the coconut oil and sugars then put in fridge for 15 minutes – then it wiped up very nicely (yes, I used the stand mixer)
– have been playing with amping up flavors, so used the following in the dry ingredients
— 1 tsp of five spice powder
— tablespoon of freezed dried coffee
– substituted Kahlua for the vanilla extract
– Plus
—- ¾ cup chopped walnuts
—– 1 ¼ cup chocolate chips
refrigerated dough for 15 minutes before portioning out dough on tray (#70 scoop)
9 minutes was the perfect time
ended up freezing as formed balls (#70 scoop) about ⅓ of the dough [will put them in a bag tomorrow]
Like so many recipes here, these are great!
Do you refrigerate the cookie dough before baking it? A lot of cookie recipes that I’ve used recommend this step.. Do you? :)
Hi Priya, we don’t. There are some gluten free recipes that are necessary to refrigerate first, but these don’t need to be. Happy baking! :)
Hi Kimberly, thanks for sharing. I just made them with butterscotch chips and they are amazing!! One question- I used coconut oil but it didn’t cream very well when I added sugar, eggs and vanilla. There were small clusters in the batter. Any idea how to fix it? (Though I have say it didn’t seem to matter to the results… My husband loved these cookies!)
Hi Anita, wonderful, I’m so glad they were a hit! That’s normal for the coconut oil and there’s no need to be concerned. As soon as melted coconut oil hits something cool it will start to harden again. The way to avoid that is to have all ingredients at room temperature but, as you pointed out, it really makes no difference in the outcome.
Yummy! I think my ice cream scooper is waaaaay bigger cause they came out GIGANTIC….lol. I ended up using 2 spoons to make the cookies. Cookies are moist and so delish. Thank you Todd and Kimberly.
Awesome, thanks, Jennifer! I’ll let Todd know! :)
These cookies are amazing! I recently made them for a reunion and they were devoured equally by adults and kiddies. Thanks for such a fantastic cookie recipe!
Fantastic, so glad they were a hit! I’ll pass the feedback onto my husband – thank you!
Are these quick cooking oats or no? Would it make a difference in how they turn out?
Hi Stephanie! These are made with traditional rolled oats, not quick oats. Rolled oats are what are usually used in cookies but if you only have quick oats on hand those will work as well.
Please add to press down with a fork or bottom of a glass to the recipe. It doesn’t mention this anywhere. I substitued succanat sugar for the white & brown sugars. They still are great!
Hi KL! Hmmm, are you confusing these with peanut butter cookies? I’ll often press down peanut butter cookies with a fork, but not chocolate chip cookies. You’re certainly more than welcome to do that though if that’s your preference. I’m glad you enjoyed them!
Hi!
Is it alright to substitute the whole wheat flour with spelt flour? They’re quite similar aren’t they? Thanks for the recipe once again!
Hi Elena, yes you can use spelt instead. Spelt is an ancient form of wheat and is my personal preference between the two. It’s also less allergenic if you have a wheat sensitivity.
Hi Kim ,
Not sure why the cookies turned out puffy and cakey. But tasted good anyway! Will try it again tomorrow :)
I’m not sure either, Elena. Alton Brown made a video on all the reasons why chocolate chip cookies turn out the way they do. Google “Three Chips for Sister Martha” to find the video link. It’s a great little video!
the Chocolate chip video and available transcript is very useful thanks for that Kirsten p x
You’re welcome, Boots! It’s a great little video.
I could go for a stack of these cookies right now!
I could go for another stack, too :) Thanks so much for visiting, Steph!
They look delicious!! Which size ice cream scoop does Todd use?
Thank you! Oh, it’s just a standard ice cream scoop – the cookie dough balls are about an inch in diameter.
Beautifully baked cookies.. looks inviting!!
Thank you, Hari, I’ll pass on the compliment to my husband!
I love a cookie that I can feel good about eating! Definitely making these soon!
Lol, Taylor! Yes, the fact that they’re made with whole wheat and oats (even though they still have sugar in them) definitely helps ease the conscience, doesn’t it? ;)
I don’t have any chocolate chips so am going to make them without, I think they should still be great. Have you ever tried this?
Hi Cali! Have I ever tried them without chocolate chips? No, I haven’t – the chips make a huge difference in enjoyability. You can substitute any other chips if you have them – butterscotch, peanut butter, etc – and they’ll still be excellent.
I can attest to the yumminess of these cookies. I’d like to take some credit, but in all fairness, Todd’s cookies were always better than mine. Maybe it was because he made them and as a mom, that in itself was quite the treat. It’s nice to know he is carrying the tradition on with his own little family, and hopefully will pass down the talent to his children. Isn’t family great!
Family recipes are always treasures. Our kids will definitely grow up with the ability to cook. They’re already my little helpers in the kitchen, even at the tender ages of 20 months and 3 1/2. Right now their involvement is obviously minimal and for their benefit (as it just makes more work – and mess! – for me, haha!), but it’s so worth it. They have so much fun and we want them to grow up with a lot of different hobbies and interests. Liam made his very first pizza a few weeks ago! I had him and Emily pounding out the dough and rolling it out. Liam spread on the pizza sauce (I even had him make that from “scratch” – adding different dried herbs and seasonings to the tomato sauce), and did a perfect job of perfectly spacing out the pepperoni and sprinkling on the cheese. When the pizza was done he ate half of it! :) It’ll be so fun to look back on pictures like that in the future and reflect on the memories.
Dear Kirsten
Would be interested to see the kitchenaid version (to be PC other stand mixers are available esp Kenwood in uk)
P x
Hi Boots! Absolutely. For the stand mixer version it’s pretty similar: Use the paddle attachment to cream the butter and sugar, then add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Then add the baking soda, salt, flour – mix that until thoroughly combined. Then add the oats, then add the chocolate chips. Cheers, Kimberly
* I’ll just add this to the recipe write-up for those who prefer to use their stand mixer.