Eggless Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
- 15 min prep
- 57 min
- Bake
- Serves 7
- 360 kcal
- 4.3 g protein
Chewy in the middle, crisp at the edge, full of chocolate, and not an egg in sight. A spoon of milk does the egg's job; rolled oats do the chewing.
Ingredients
- ½ cup (110 g) unsalted butter, soft at room temperature
- ½ cup (100 g) brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup (50 g) white sugar
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (90 g) whole wheat flour (atta)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp cinnamon powder (optional)
- 1 cup (90 g) rolled oats
- ½ cup (85 g) chocolate chips, plus a few for the tops
Method
- 1Beat the soft butter with both sugars in a large bowl for 3 to 4 minutes, using a whisk or hand mixer, until the mixture is paler and fluffy.
- 2Add the milk and vanilla and beat for another 30 seconds. It may look slightly split; that is fine.
- 3Sift the atta, baking soda, salt and cinnamon over the bowl and fold with a spatula until only a few streaks of flour remain.
- 4Add the oats and chocolate chips and fold until the dough comes together. Cover and chill for 30 minutes so the oats soak up moisture and the cookies spread less.
- 5Heat the oven to 180°C and line a tray with baking paper. In an OTG, bake on the middle rack with both rods on and preheat for a full 10 minutes.
- 6Scoop the dough into 14 balls of about 40 g, set them 5 cm apart and press each lightly. Push a few extra chips into the tops.
- 7Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, until the edges are golden and set but the centres still look a little soft. They firm up as they cool.
- 8Leave them on the tray for 10 minutes, then move to a rack to cool completely.
Notes from the Department
- Pull them while the centres look underdone. A cookie that looks finished in the oven will be hard by evening.
- For crispier cookies, flatten the balls to 1 cm and add 2 minutes.
- Dough balls freeze for a month; bake straight from frozen and add 2 minutes.
Nutrition per serving
- Energy
- 360 kcal
- Protein
- 4.3 g
- Carbohydrate
- 49 g
- Fat
- 17 g
- Fibre
- 3.6 g
- Sugars
- 29 g
Why this works
Eggs in a cookie mostly add moisture and a little binding. Here, creamed butter and sugar hold the structure, a few spoons of milk bring the moisture, and the oats themselves absorb liquid during the chill and help hold the cookie together. The result is chewy rather than cakey, which is what most people want from an oatmeal cookie anyway.
Whole wheat flour gives a nuttier flavour than maida and sits well with oats. Brown sugar keeps the centres soft for days because it holds on to moisture.
Swaps
Quick oats make a flatter, more uniform cookie; rolled oats give the classic bumpy chew. Use maida instead of atta for a lighter colour. Replace half the chocolate chips with chopped walnuts or raisins. For a vegan version, use a firm plant butter and oat milk, and check your chocolate is dairy-free.
Oven and OTG notes
OTGs heat unevenly, so bake one tray at a time and turn it around at the 7-minute mark. If the bottoms brown before the tops, move the tray up one rack or switch off the lower rod for the last 3 minutes.
Yield and storage
This makes about 14 cookies, two per person if the Department of Snacks is being strict. Store in an airtight tin for up to 5 days. A slice of bread in the tin keeps them soft; leave it out if you prefer them crisper.
Questions people ask
- What replaces the egg in eggless oatmeal cookies?
- Milk and creamed butter do the work here. The milk adds the moisture an egg would, and the oats absorb it while the dough chills, which helps the cookies bind.
- Why did my eggless cookies spread too much?
- Usually the butter was too soft or the dough was not chilled. Chill the scooped dough for 20 minutes and make sure your oven has fully preheated.
- Can I use quick oats instead of rolled oats?
- Yes. Quick oats absorb liquid faster, so the cookies will be a little flatter and more even in texture. Use the same weight.
Inspired by Spices N Flavors. Method, notes and photograph by the Ministry of Oats.
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