Copycat Potbelly Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies {easy, no chill recipe} (2024)

FAQs

Why are my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies so hard? ›

The most likely reason for hard, dry oatmeal cookies is over-baking or over-measuring your flour.

Cookies become hard when the moisture in them evaporates. This can be caused by leaving them out in the air for too long, baking them for too long, or storing them improperly.

Brown sugar adds the perfect caramelized sweetness. Sea salt offsets the sweet sugar and raisins. Cinnamon and vanilla extract give them that delicious warm, spiced oatmeal cookie flavor. Coconut oil or melted butter adds moisture and richness.

Oatmeal raisin cookies are a healthier choice in comparison to chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate chip cookies have less protein and fiber, and more fat, than oatmeal raisin cookies.

If you enjoy your cookies soft and chewy, chances are likely the recipe contains a common ingredient that serves a very specific purpose. No, it's not granulated sugar, nor the butter. It's not the egg, all-purpose flour, or even the vanilla extract. The simple, yet oh-so-necessary component is cornstarch.

The key to keeping cookies fresh and soft is to seal them in an airtight container, like a resealable freezer bag. And here's a nifty little trick: add a piece of bread to the bag. You might think that the bread trick works because the cookies absorb moisture from the bread.

Baking cookies quickly in a hot oven – at 375 degrees F as opposed to a lower temperature – will make for soft results. They'll bake fast instead of sitting and drying out in the oven's hot air. Ever so slightly underbaking your cookies will give you softer results than cooking them the full amount the recipe says.

When added to dough, baking soda releases a carbon dioxide gas which helps leaven the dough, creating a soft, fluffy cookie.

Dry – “Dry” or “Crumbly” dough is a product of over-mixing or using too much of any ingredient during the mixing process. This can be reversed by adding one to two tablespoons of liquid (water, milk or softened butter) to your mix.

Cool down your dough for a tastier, chewier cookie.

There's a few reasons why, but one important part is it gives the butter in your dough a chance to firm up before baking. The colder your dough is before it heads into the oven, the less it will spread during baking, which makes for loftier cookies.

What does oatmeal cookies do to your body? ›

Oatmeal cookies provide a small amount of protein that is not present in other cookies. Oatmeal cookies have a high fiber content compared to normal sugar cookies. Oatmeal cookies contain significant amount of minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium and potassium, all of which are needed for overall physical health.

The difference in texture might help you decide which type of oat you should use in a recipe. Rolled oats hold their shape well and give things a nice chew. This makes them perfect for baked goods and cookies. Quick oats are better for blending into recipes.

Consume With Caution

Even with healthy additions, an oatmeal cookie is still a cookie. Enjoying one occasionally is OK. They may contain more nutrients than other cookies, but they still contain large amounts of fat and sugar, which aren't so healthy and may be detrimental to your waistline.

A cup of cooked oatmeal (1/2 cup of dried oats) contains approximately 30 grams of carbs, which can fit into a nutritious meal plan for people with diabetes. Oatmeal is high in fiber and nutrients but low in saturated and trans fats and sugar and can help you maintain a healthy blood sugar level.

Hard cookies: you are over mixing, baking too long, baking at too high a temperature, or some combination of these. Cakey cookies: not enough brown sugar, too much or too little egg, too much flour, maybe you used baking powder instead of baking soda?

They go from soft to hard because they start to dry out, and it begins as soon as you pull them from the oven. (Yikes.) Whatever moisture is left in the cookies is always in a state of evaporation. At the same time, the sugars and starches are solidifying.

Don't Overbake!

This isn't a revolutionary tip and is probably quite obvious, but if you leave your cookies in the oven for even a few minutes longer than necessary, the mix will dry too quickly and lead to more rigid, dry cookies.

Using lower-moisture sugar (granulated) and fat (vegetable shortening), plus a longer, slower bake than normal, produces light, crunchy cookies. That said, using a combination of butter and vegetable shortening (as in the original recipe), or even using all butter, will make an acceptably crunchy chocolate chip cookie.