Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies w/ Walnuts & Sea Salt Caramel Chips

The other day Jarryd came home from work saying that his co-workers thought it'd been too long since they've had my baking (they all make my cookies disappear in a flash). So the next day (on my day off) I decided to bake my favourite cookies in the world: oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with walnuts. Being that I'm enrolled in Food Photography School, photographing everything I bake is an absolute must--gotta get that practice in!

So, I recently posted one of these cookie photos to Instagram and asked if any of y'all would want the recipe. I got a bunch of enthusiastic "Yes's!" from you guys in the comments and several requests outside of that as well! Thank you all so much! I almost DIDN'T ask because of my fears almost getting the best of me...what if no one wanted the recipe? What if people roll their eyes because there's nothing specifically complex or extravagant about these cookies? What if my comment section ended up being just the humiliating sound of crickets chirping? But ultimately, I'm so glad I swept those fears aside and decided to go with my gut because now I get to do what I love: share my tried and true recipes with you guys!

I'm not someone who is constantly sharing recipes on her blog--YET, because I only want to share the best. Quality over quantity, right? I've been baking these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for YEARS and I can sincerely testify that these babies are delicious.
Now, if you're on a diet...you've come to the wrong place. Although, I'd love to convince you to have a little cheat day and bake these cookies! So just keep scrolling down and I'll let the chocolate chips and butter lure you in. 😉

If you're looking for a simple and quick recipe, with easy-to-find everyday ingredients (most of these ingredients are probably sitting in your fridge and pantry right now!), you've come to the right place.

If you love cookies with alot of different textures, the chewiness that the oats bring, the crunch from the walnuts, and the crispy edges from the caramelized sugars...then you've DEFINITELY come to the right place.

As crazy as it sounds, I prefer these over just plain old classic chocolate chip cookies. Why? Because the rolled oats are a total game changer. They add so much more texture to every bite, so it doesn't feel like you're just eating flour, butter, and sugar. Plus, let's give some appreciation to the protein and fibre that the rolled oats bring to the table! These cookies have a little bit of health to them...right? (Dieters, did you hear that?)

So, let's go through the recipe shall we?

Firstly, butter. I want to talk to you about butter because butter is amaaaaazing. Well that, and the science behind butter is critical. The type of butter you choose is important. I used to always use salted butter in my baking; some people swear to this and will never refrain from using salted butter. But ever since I baked a cake with a buttercream that ended up being WAY too salty, i've made the permanent switch over to unsalted butter. Using unsalted butter is ultimately safe because you can control the amount of salt in your recipes. The salt content between brands of butter are all different because there isn't an industry standard! Which is why when I used a different brand of salted butter in my buttercream, I assumed it would turn out exactly how it did with the other brand I'd used, but this butter in particular was way too salty.
In conclusion, stick to unsalted butter and add in your teaspoons of salt as desired later. Therefore, giving you full control of your cookies' salt content.

Another tip with butter, your butters' temperature in baking is very important. As you can see from the photos, my cookies turned out pretty flat, flatter than I would have preferred to be honest. (Although I do think that this recipe results in a flatter type of cookie in general.) Other times' my cookies will turn out a little puffier. So, what gives? The temperature of your butter is what gives!
This recipe uses the "creaming method". Creaming is the mixing together of fats and sugars (butter and brown and white sugar in this particular case). When these two types of ingredients are mixed together, the sugar crystals cut into the fat, creating little air pockets, which then creates fluffier cookies.
This is why it's so crucial for your softened butter to not be over-softened. When the butter is too soft, there's no chance for the sugar crystals to cut through the fat to create air pockets; it really just all emulsifies together.

The perfect version of softened butter is when you can lightly press your finger onto the butter and it leaves a slight indentation still reciprocating a bit of pressure in response to you. If you press your finger onto the butter and it goes right through, your butter is TOO soft. Unfortunately, this is how my butter was when I baked these this last time around (most likely because I let my butter sit at room temperature for a few hours...oops).

To soften your butter perfectly, take it out of the fridge, cut it up into smaller chunks and leave it on the counter for 30 minutes. Depending on your kitchen's heat or air conditioning situation, that should do the trick. (More surface area getting hit by warmer air = faster warming).
Side note: Even though I over softened my butter which caused my cookies to come out flat, they honestly still tasted amazing. This just goes to show that it's not the end of the world if your butter is a little too soft. Some people actually prefer their cookies to be flatter.

As with most cookies, the add-in options are ENDLESS. Do you love chocolate but desire a more healthier/less sweet version? Pour in some of those dark chocolate chunks or chips instead of the semi-sweet chocolate chips. I personally love to use semi-sweet mini chocolate chips because they're the perfect balance of sweet and cocoa, but I feel like adding in dark chocolate chips is also a great idea. Let me know if you try dark chocolate chips and how it turned out--I'd love to hear!
In this recipe the particular add-ins that I used were:
Ghirardelli semi-sweet mini chocolate chips, Hershey's Sea Salt Caramel Chips, and a cup of chopped walnuts. It was a sweet, crunchy and salty combination made in heaven!

Other chip/chunk add-in ideas:
Dark chocolate chips
Caramel chips
Milk Chocolate chips
Peanut butter chips
Butterscotch chips
Peppermint chocolate chips
Toffee bits
White chocolate chips
Mini M&Ms
Reese's Pieces
Shredded coconut
Dried cranberries
Raisins
Oreo Chunks
Pretzels
and so much more...

Other chopped nut add-in ideas:
Pecans
Macadamia nuts
Peanuts
Hazelnuts
Almonds
Pistachios
and so much more..

. . .

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with Walnuts & Sea Salt Caramel Chips Recipe

[Recipe adapted and slightly altered from Panthera at AllRecipes.com]

Yields: Around 30 cookies, depending on your cookie dough size.

Ingredients:
1 cup Unsalted Butter, Softened
1 cup Light Brown Sugar, Packed
1/2 cup White Sugar
2 Eggs
2-3 tsp Vanilla Extract (depending on your love for vanilla)

1 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Salt (feel free to cut the salt down)

3 cups Rolled Oats
1 cup of Walnuts, chopped (or any nuts you prefer!)
3/4 cup Semi-Sweet Mini Chocolate Chips, (or any chocolate chip flavours you prefer!)
1/2 cup Hershey's Sea Salt Caramel Chips (totally optional and can be omitted or replaced!)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 335 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl using a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until fluffy and lightened in colour.
3. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla.
4. In a smaller bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Stir by hand the dry mixture into the creamed mixture until just blended.
5. Gently stir in the rolled oats and your selected add-ins (I like walnuts and chocolate chips).
6. Drop by Tablespoonfuls onto the parchment paper baking sheet.
7. Bake for 12-16 minutes (depending on your oven), then allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them onto a cooling rack. Enjoy!

. . .

I like to store my cookies at room temperature in ziplock bags (or tupperware containers) for about 7 days; that is, if they actually last that long and aren't being inhaled like usual.
If I decide to double the recipe and end up with a bounty of cookies, these freeze VERY well. Freeze them in freezer-safe ziplock bags for up to 5 months! Woohoo! (They also taste excellent when they're just barely thawed after being taken out of the freezer. Mmm!)

Thank you guys SO much for your support! Let me know if you bake these glorious cookies and how they turned out for you.