Sometimes a small batch muffin recipe is perfect for serving a few guests. And then there are times when your house is full and you need easy cookies for a crowd. This big batch of chocolate chip cookies is my go-to recipe for those occasions. Making about 40 cookies, this recipe is in rotation nearly *every* holiday or family gathering because my mom always requests it! After making versions of these cookies for nearly 15 years, I’m sharing this beloved cookie recipe here.
Ingredients in these Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
This Teens Cook Dessert cookbook introduced me to the first chocolate chip cookie recipe that I’d ultimately make on repeat for years. Over time, I gradually made changes, like replacing some of the chocolate chips with M&Ms and adjusting ratios of ingredients.
After recipe testing, below are the key ingredients that make this large batch cookie recipe delicious and extra special.
- Ground oats from old fashioned oats – They add texture and chewiness. They even add small health benefits – like fiber, vitamins, and minerals – to the cookie!
- Chocolate chunks – Chocolate chips will work. However, they contain added ingredients that make the chip keep its shape, meaning it won’t melt. Instead, chop chunks of chocolate. They make your cookies unique in appearance as bits and larger pieces of chocolate scatter throughout. If you need further convincing, read this Epicurious article called “Why Chocolate Chips Ruin Chocolate Chip Cookies.” I usually throw in a mix of milk and dark chocolate chunks. I wish I had read this article from Bon Appétit about the various kinds of chocolate before I once tried baking cookies using a chocolate bar that was more than 80% cacao. I love dark chocolate but recommend chopping up bars with 70% or less cacao.
- Browned butter – Browned butter provides a lightly nutty flavor. It’s not strong but is noticeable and enhances the cookie’s chocolaty flavor.
- Vanilla extract – An undervalued hero in desserts, vanilla extract helps elevate other flavors in a recipe. It also adds the familiar sweet aroma and flavor associated with cookies!
Guide for Browning Butter
Brown butter is a key ingredient here. It gives a rich flavor to these large batch chocolate chip cookies. Brown butter is also easy to make at home.
Place your sticks of butter in a pot over medium heat (approximately 8-12 minutes). Stir occasionally until the butter begins to foam and becomes golden brown before removing it from the stovetop.
Pour your browned butter into a heat-resistant container. Place it in the freezer to expedite the cooling process for the next 15-20 minutes as you move ahead with this recipe. When you next use it, it’ll likely be cool and, with enough time, have formed a sort of shell on its surface but be liquid-y beneath.
I’ve also been short on time and made this recipe without cooling the brown butter. That works, too. The end result is a slightly flatter – but equally tasty – cookie.
Best Tips for Browning Butter
If you’re new to browning butter, watch your pot closely. You want to see little brown flecks scattered throughout the butter as it becomes a more amber color.
I also suggest you use a pan or pot that has a lighter colored bottom. That makes it easier to notice the subtle changes in your butter’s color.
How to Make a Big Batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies
After you’ve browned your butter, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Measure all your ingredients besides your brown butter, which should be cooling in the freezer.
Place old fashioned oats into a food processor or blender and pulse until finely powdered. Set aside in a large bowl. Combine spooned and leveled flour and finely powdered oats into one big bowl.
Roughly chop your bars of chocolate and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cooled brown butter, white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, salt, nutmeg, baking powder, and baking soda. Start on a low speed to moisten, then increase speed to medium until batter is well combined, about 5 minutes. You may need to pause the mixer and scrape down the sides of your bowl halfway through the process to ensure your ingredients are incorporated.
Stop the mixer and add one egg as well as half of your flour/oat mixture. Beat until smooth before adding the second egg and other half of the flour and pulsed oats. Beat for about one minute. Stop the mixer to add your chocolate and beat for another 15-30 seconds.
Using an ice cream or cookie scoop, remove small balls of your chocolate chunk or chocolate chip cookie dough from the mixing bowl to place onto ungreased cookie sheets (no parchment paper needed), with about 2 inches between each of them. You may need to form their shape using your hands. Bake for 13 minutes.
Transfer cookies to cooling racks after they’ve sat on the baking sheets 5 or so minutes outside of the oven and are firm enough to handle.
Chocolate Chunk Cookies for the Holidays
I’ve enjoyed experimenting with this big batch cookie recipe for Valentine’s Day and Christmas. Instead of chopping up two and a half cups of chocolate bars, I sometimes throw in holiday M&Ms, depending on the season.
During the spring, I tweak this big batch chocolate chip cookie recipe for Easter with mini Cadbury eggs. Pastel M&Ms are another great way to make these cookies more seasonal.
Recipe FAQ
I often use ground oats, brown sugar, and melted and/or browned butter in my cookie recipes to maintain a nice, chewy texture.
A cookie’s chewiness or crispiness depends a lot on the ratio of ingredients in it. For instance, if you wanted a chocolate chip cookie with more spread, which will also tend to be on the crispier side, look for a recipe that uses mostly granulated (white) sugar. Brown sugar, on the other hand, contains more moisture in it and is key in making a more moist and chewy cookie.
However, these aren’t hard and fast rules for *every* cookie recipe because the role of sugar changes a bit with the ingredients around it. You can read more about each kind of sugar in this fascinating article from Serious Eats.
Melted butter can help make a cookie taste especially chewy and delicious. I’m almost always melting and/or browning my butter now for cookies. The flavor and chewiness it adds is one of my favorite hacks for making cookies taste even better.
These cookies will still taste fresh for 2-3 days at room temperature in an air-tight container.
If you don’t need this many cookies at once (this recipe makes about about 40 cookies), you could halve the recipe. Alternatively, I prefer making all of this dough at once and setting aside a few golfball-sized scoops of dough in an airtight container in the freezer so I can bring them out and have them ready to bake whenever I want.
You can also store these cookies fully baked in your freezer for up to 3 months.
More Dessert Recipes
These Biscoff butter cookie sandwiches are another really tasty cookie on my site. They’re thick and chewy with lots of Biscoff flavor in them.
Or looking for a smaller recipe than these big batch cookies? This peanut butter cookie recipe makes eight soft, thick cookies.
Big Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies with Brown Butter
Brown butter, oats, and chocolate chunks make these big batch chocolate chip cookies a crowd-pleaser. They’re soft, chewy, and easy to make.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 90 minutes
- Yield: About 40 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups (310 grams) assorted dark and milk chocolate (not commercial chips), roughly chopped
- 2 1/2 cups (225 grams) old fashioned oats
- 2 cups (264 grams) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 2 1/2 sticks (284 grams) unsalted butter for browning
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) white sugar
- 1 cup (190 grams) firmly packed (either light or dark) brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt, plus more for sprinkling (for regular table salt, use about half as much)
- Pinch of grated nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 large eggs (about 50g), straight from the fridge
Instructions
Browning your butter
- Brown your sticks of butter over medium heat (approximately 8-12 minutes). Stir occasionally and watch as the butter begins to foam and becomes golden brown. Monitor closely to avoid any burning. Once it smells nutty and becomes amber in color, remove it from the stovetop.
- Pour your browned butter into a heat-resistant container and place it in the freezer to expedite the cooling process for the next 15-20 minutes while you move ahead with this recipe. When you next use the butter, you’ll want it to be cool. It will likely have formed a sort of shell on its surface but be liquid-y beneath. That’s fine.
Baking your cookies
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and start measuring out all your ingredients besides your brown butter, which should be cooling in the freezer.
- Place old fashioned oats into a food processor or blender and pulse until finely powdered. Set aside in a large bowl.
- Add your two cups of spooned and leveled flour to your bowl of finely powdered oats.
- Roughly chop your bars of chocolate and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cooled brown butter, white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, salt, nutmeg, baking powder, and baking soda. Start on a low speed to moisten, then increase speed to medium until batter is well combined, about 5 minutes. You may need to pause the mixer and scrape down the sides of your bowl halfway through the process to ensure your ingredients are incorporated.
- Stop the mixer and add one egg as well as half of your flour/oat mixture. Beat until smooth before adding the second egg and other half of the flour and pulsed oats. Beat for about one minute.
- Stop the mixer to add your chocolate and beat for another 15-30 seconds.
- Scoop golf-ball sized portions of your cookie dough onto ungreased aluminum baking sheets, with about 2 inches between each of them. Bake for 13 minutes. Transfer them to cooling racks after they’ve sat on the baking sheets 5 or so minutes outside of the oven and are firm enough to handle.
Notes
- If you’ve previously made this dough and are pulling it from your freezer, add 1-2 minutes of baking time, depending on your preference for crispiness vs. chewiness in your cookie.
- For a seasonal twist, feel free to put some holiday-themed M&Ms into the dough in place of your chopped chocolate bars. They add color, crunch, and fun to these already tasty cookies! I will sometimes use about half of the amount of chocolate bars (so roughly 150 grams) and let M&Ms help me reach 310 grams of chocolate in total. But tweak it to your liking – I definitely recommend trying out this substitution sometime, though!
Susan, these cookies are absolutely delightful! The chunky pieces of chocolate mingling with the hearty oats create such a satisfying texture. I love the nutmeg touch; it brings a warmth that’s just perfect for the cooler weather. I followed your recipe exactly and was rewarded with the most scrumptious cookies I’ve had in a long time. The tips for making them in advance were super helpful too. Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe!
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So glad you enjoyed making them! Thanks for the review!
Spot on! I tried these with dark chocolate chunks and they were a hit. Will be making them again for sure
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Dark chocolate is so great in cookies! Glad you enjoyed!
These cookies were a dream come true for my sweet tooth! I adore the wholesome goodness of oatmeal combined with the indulgence of chocolate. They were easy to make, and the house smelled amazing while they were baking. The tip about using a food processor to finely powder the oats was very useful. The cookies had a fantastic texture, and the chocolate chunks provided a delightful sweetness. This recipe is a keeper!
★★★★★
I just love the texture and flavor of oats in chocolate chip cookies. So glad you liked them, too!
Solid recipe. The cookies turned out good and everyone loved them. Thanks, Susan
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So glad to read this review. They’re a family favorite so am happy to see that they’re a hit for you!