Makes 3 dozen
My dear friend and fellow best-mom-in-the-world, Erica, sent me cookies in the mail a few months ago when I was going through a tough time—welcome to 2020. The note inside explained these were not just cookies but also “hugs.” I only had to take one bite, and it made complete sense.
After the tears stopped flowing and the crumbs stopped falling, I called Erica and demanded (after thanking her profusely) that she share the recipe with me. Because she is an angel, she did just that then agreed that I could share it with all of you!
Turns out, these are the oatmeal cookie I have been waiting for my whole life! I am not a classic oatmeal raisin fan, which is perfect because this recipe adds fun mix-ins like potato chips, pretzels, coconut, cereal, toffee… really, anything your heart desires. I truly do not know what’s more fun than stuffing a cookie with all the best things!
After playing with the recipe in my own kitchen, I quickly discovered that these are the long lost oatmeal cookie sister to my Chocolate Chip Cookies. If you’ve made that recipe, you know there are some specific methods that make it what it is, and the same methods apply to this recipe, too.
I am certain you know someone who needs a mouth-hug, so get to work!
Watch me make this recipe on Instagram!
PrintOatmeal Cookie Hugs
What You’ll Need
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 cups old fashioned oats
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) cold unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar (dark or light)
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 12 oz bar of chocolate (semisweet, bittersweet, milk or dark), chopped into chunks
- 1 cup total mix-ins (crushed potato chips, pretzels, toffee pieces, Rice Krispies, coconut, nuts). Feel free to mix and match, and if it’s more than 1 cup, that’s ok—have fun with this!
- flaky sea salt to top
What You’ll Do
- In a medium bowl, combine 1¾ cups all-purpose flour*, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, 2 cups old fashioned oats, and ½ teaspoon cinnamon. Set aside.
- Cube your 14 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter and add it to the bowl of a stand mixer. Handheld beaters or a wooden spoon also work here. Beat together the butter and ¾ cup granulated sugar, 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar (dark or light), 1 large egg, 1 large egg yolk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract until combined. Mix, but don’t over beat. You will have some clumps of butter, and that’s okay. We want that. The goal here is to keep the butter as cold and firm as possible throughout the entire recipe.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and using a wooden spoon, mix until just incorporated. Chop your 12oz chocolate bar into chunks and add to the bowl.
- Now comes the fun part! You get to decide what other amazing mix-ins you want to add to the dough to make this your perfect cookie. Overall, you need about 1 cup of mixed mix-ins, though please feel free to do a bit more than that because why the fuck not?
- Here are some suggested mix-ins:
- -crushed potato chips
- -crushed pretzels
- -toffee pieces
- -Rice Krispies
- -corn flakes
- -coconut
- -nuts
- …and literally anything else your heart desires!
- Mix chocolate and your mix-ins into dough with wooden spoon, distributing as evenly as you can.
- Using your hands, form balls from ALL your dough at one time. I go for dough about 1 ½ inches around. Line them up on a sheet tray. There should be about 3 dozen, give or take however many you eat along the way!
- If you have made my Chocolate Chip Cookies, you know I like an extremely thick and chewy cookie. The higher the cookie, the closer to goddess. This is why we are now going to freeze your dough balls for AT LEAST 30 minutes. Freezing makes the butter firm again, which slows it from melting in the oven which prevents it from spreading too fast while baking. Do not skip this step. I will know that you did and I will call you and we will have to have a very difficult conversation.
- Preheat your oven to 350º.
- Take as many balls as will fit on your baking sheet with 2 inch spacing, and place them directly from the freezer onto the baking sheet and into the oven.
- Bake cookies in batches for about 15 minutes. Keep an eye on the first batch and adjust timing based on your oven.
- Remove from oven, sprinkle flaky sea salt on top and let cool.
- Freeze the balls you don’t want to bake today and bake them later on! I always have dough balls in my freezer, which honestly makes me the best mom in the world. Balls go directly from freezer to oven with no delay.
- When you store your baked cookies in a bag or a box, you wanna add a slice of bread to keep your cookies soft and chewy. The bread absorbs the air instead of the cookies.
- You can absolutely double or triple this recipe!
- *Gluten free All-Purpose 1:1 flour can be used.
Make It Step By Step With Me:
1. Grab a bowl honey, this is a gonna be fun!
2. Add 1¾ cups all-purpose flour*, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt, 2 cups old fashioned oats, and ½ teaspoon cinnamon.
3. Combine and set aside.
4. Cube your 14 tablespoons cold unsalted butter and add it to the bowl of a stand mixer. Hand held beaters or a wooden spoon also work here. Also add ¾ cup granulated sugar, 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar (dark or light), 1 large egg, 1 large egg yolk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
5. Mix, but don’t over beat. You will have some clumps of butter, and that’s okay. We want that. The goal here is to keep the butter as cold and firm as possible throughout the entire recipe.
6. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and using a wooden mix until just incorporated.
7. That’s about right. Set aside your dough.
8. Chop your 12oz chocolate bar into chunks and add to the bowl.
9. Now comes the fun part! You get to decide what other amazing mix-ins you want to add to the dough to make this your perfect cookie. Here are some suggested mix-ins:
-crushed potato chips
-crushed pretzels
-toffee pieces
-Rice Krispies
-corn flakes
-coconut
-nuts
…and literally anything else your heart desires!
10. Overall, you need about 1 cup of mixed mix-ins, though please feel free to do a bit more than that because why the fuck not?
11. Mix chocolate and your mix-ins into dough with wooden spoon, distributing as evenly as you can.
12. There ya go!
13. Using your hands, form balls from ALL your dough at one time. I go for dough about 1 ½ inches around.
14. Line them up on a sheet tray. There should be about 3 dozen, give or take however many you eat along the way!
15. If you have made my Chocolate Chip Cookies, you know I like an extremely thick and chewy cookie. The higher the cookie, the closer to goddess. This is why we are now going to freeze your dough balls for AT LEAST 30 minutes. Freezing makes the butter firm again, which slows it from melting in the oven which prevents it from spreading too fast while baking. Do not skip this step. I will know that you did and I will call you and we will have to have a very difficult conversation.
16. While your balls freeze, preheat your oven to 350º. Check your in-oven thermometer to make sure your oven is actually at 350º.
17. Take as many balls as will fit on your baking sheet with 2 inch spacing and place them directly from the freezer onto the baking sheet and into the oven.
Bake cookies in batches for about 15 minutes. Keep an eye on the first batch and adjust timing based on your oven.
18. They are gorgeous! You are nailing it!
19. Sprinkle flaky sea salt on top while they are still warm and let cool.
20. Immediately grab a cookie, take a bite, and experience why we call these cookies a “hug.” Are you crying? I am crying.
21. Share these cookies with your friends, family, or anyone that needs a hug! Enjoy!
