Granola cookies are thick, soft, buttery treats with crisp edges and chewy centers. Crunchy granola and sweet mini chocolate chips are folded into the dough for texture and flavor. This granola cookie recipe is simple, quick to prepare, and easily customizable.
Why Should You Make This Recipe
If you love soft, chewy cookies with a comforting oat-like flavor, replacing oats with granola creates a delightful variation. The granola adds more crunch and mix-in possibilities, while preserving that cozy cookie texture. This recipe joins other favorite cookie variations and is easy enough to make any time you want a batch of warm cookies.
- Quick and easy: These buttery granola cookies are made like standard drop cookies: mix, chill briefly, scoop and bake.
- Customizable: Use your favorite granola—homemade or store-bought—and swap mix-ins to match your flavor preferences. Adjust nuts, seeds, or chocolate to create a cookie you’ll want to make again.
Ingredients
This recipe uses common pantry ingredients. Below is an overview of the dry and wet components you’ll need.
- Dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking soda, ground cinnamon and salt.
- Wet ingredients and mix-ins: cold unsalted butter, light brown sugar, a large egg, vanilla extract, chopped granola, finely chopped nuts and mini chocolate chips.
Substitutions
You can adapt this recipe to dietary needs or ingredient availability. Here are sensible substitutions and notes.
- All-purpose flour: Use a reliable 1:1 gluten-free flour blend measured by weight (about 180 g) if you need a gluten-free version.
- Baking soda: This recipe is formulated for baking soda; baking powder has not been tested here.
- Butter: Salted butter may be used if you omit the added salt. Plant-based or vegan butter works to make the cookies dairy-free.
- Light brown sugar: Alternative natural sweeteners can be used, but results may vary.
- Egg: The recipe includes one egg; egg-free swaps are untested in this version.
- Vanilla: Adds background flavor and enhances the other ingredients.
- Mini chocolate chips: Mini chips distribute more evenly, but regular chips work as well.
- Nuts: Finely chop to blend smoothly with the granola; choose a nut that complements your granola flavor.
- Granola: Any granola is fine—homemade or store-bought. Chop it into small, pea-sized pieces so it integrates well in the dough.
How To Make
Follow these straightforward steps to make granola cookies.
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a bowl until combined; set aside.
- In a large bowl with a paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer), beat the cold cubed butter and light brown sugar on medium speed for 3–4 minutes until well combined. Reduce speed to low and beat in the egg and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add the dry ingredients on low and mix until just combined. Fold in the chopped granola, nuts and most of the mini chocolate chips.
- Cover the dough and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight. About 30 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Use a medium cookie scoop (about 2 tablespoons / 30 ml) to portion the dough into balls, spacing them about 3 inches (8 cm) apart on the prepared sheet. Press a few reserved chocolate chips or nuts on top if desired. Bake 10–12 minutes, until edges are lightly golden and tops are set. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
How To Make Ahead, Store, Freeze and Thaw
- Make ahead: Prepare dough up to the chilling step and refrigerate, covered, up to 2 days. For longer storage, freeze the dough.
- Store: Keep baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 4–5 days.
- Freeze baked cookies: After cooling completely, wrap cookies individually in parchment or wax paper and store in a freezer-safe bag up to 2 months.
- Freeze dough: Scoop dough into balls and flash-freeze on a lined sheet for 20 minutes. Transfer frozen dough balls to an airtight container for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight or bake from frozen, adding a few extra minutes to the bake time.
- Thaw: Thaw baked cookies at room temperature. For a just-baked warmth, microwave a thawed cookie for 15–20 seconds.
M’s Expert Tips
- Measure flour by weight: A food scale ensures consistent results—about 180 g for this recipe.
- Don’t overmix: Use low speed or mix the dry ingredients in by hand. Stop when just combined to keep cookies tender.
- Chop mix-ins finely: Granola and nuts should be chopped to pea-sized pieces so each bite has balanced texture.
- Customize: Match mix-ins to the flavor profile of your granola and keep the overall ratio of granola, nuts, and chips similar for best texture.
- Shape options: These cookies are naturally thick. For flatter cookies, gently press each scoop into a disk before baking.
- Slightly underbake: For a soft center, bake until the edges and tops are set but still tender.
- Cookie scoot: Within a minute of removing from the oven, you can use a round cutter to nudge edges into a neater round shape if desired.
FAQs
They taste similar to buttery oatmeal cookies but with extra crunch from the granola. The mix-ins and chocolate chips balance the soft, thick cookie base.
Chilling is recommended for thicker, chewier cookies, but for this recipe it is optional if you’re short on time.
A medium scoop (about 2 tablespoons) produces the ideal thick cookie. Smaller cookies are possible but may bake faster and lose some of the intended texture. For larger cookies, increase the scoop and add a couple minutes to the bake time.
Other Cookie Recipes to Try
- Date Cookies
- Coconut Pecan Cookies
- Honey Cookies
If you try this Granola Cookies recipe, please rate it and leave a comment. Feedback helps other readers decide if this is the right recipe for them. Tag @olivesnthyme on Instagram so I can see what you baked! – M
Granola Cookies Recipe
Megan
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Equipment
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment or electric hand mixer
- 1–2 baking sheets
- Parchment paper
- Medium cookie scoop (about 2 tbsp) — optional
Ingredients
- 1½ cups (180 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (113 g) cold unsalted butter, cubed
- ½ cup (100 g) light brown sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract
- 1–1½ cups (93–130 g) granola, chopped into pea-sized pieces
- 1 cup (170 g) mini chocolate chips, divided
- ¼ cup (30 g) finely chopped nuts
Instructions
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- Beat the cold cubed butter and light brown sugar on medium speed for 3–4 minutes until combined. Reduce to low and beat in the egg and vanilla until smooth.
- On low speed, add the dry ingredients a little at a time and mix until just combined. Stir in the granola, nuts and ¾ cup of the mini chocolate chips; reserve the remaining ¼ cup for topping.
- Cover the dough and chill at least 30 minutes or up to overnight. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C) and line baking sheets with parchment.
- Scoop dough with a medium cookie scoop (about 2 tablespoons) and place balls about 3 inches apart. Top with reserved chocolate chips. Bake 10–12 minutes until edges are lightly golden and tops are set. Cool on the baking sheet 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely.