An easy recipe for high altitude maple walnut oatmeal cookies. These soft and chewy oatmeal cookies are loaded with sweet white chocolate chips, nutty walnuts, and a hint of maple, cardamom, ginger and allspice.
You might also love these oatmeal cream pie cookie bars, oatmeal butterscotch cookies, and old fashioned iced oatmeal cookies.
This site contains affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This means that I may make a small commission if you purchase a product using those links. This in no way affects my opinion of those products and services. All opinions expressed on this site are my own.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
No Mixer Needed. You don’t need a mixer for these maple walnut oatmeal cookies, just a bowl, whisk and spoon to make the cookie dough.
Soft, Thick and Chewy. These are really thick cookies. When you take them out of the oven, you might think they’re too under-baked, but trust me, they’ll be perfect as they cool and set. An oatmeal cookie is one that you definitely don’t want to over-bake, or it will end up dry and crunchy as it cools, rather than moist and chewy.
Salty, Sweet, Nutty, Buttery. The browned butter in these cookies adds so much flavor, complemented by the nuttiness of the walnuts and sweet white chocolate. And a pinch of flaky salt on top makes them even better.
High Altitude Tested. I develop all the recipes on my site for Denver’s altitude of 5,280 feet. If you’re at a lower or higher elevation, please see my FAQs for guidance on adjusting recipes for your altitude.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Ingredients
- Unsalted Butter. Use unsalted butter so that you can control the saltiness of your cookies. I also begin by browning the butter first, which adds a much richer and deeper flavor to the cookies.
- Sugar. A combination of granulated sugar and light brown sugar adds sweetness, moisture, and a hint of molasses. It also helps caramelize the edges of the cookies for a crisp golden brown edge with chewy centers.
- Pure Maple Syrup. The function of the maple syrup isn’t really to add maple flavor, since it’s not enough to make the cookies taste like maple. But it gives them a chewy texture and keeps them soft. You can also use light molasses (not blackstrap) instead of the maple syrup.
- Eggs. The eggs add structure and moisture, keeping the cookies chewy, rather than crumbly.
- Vanilla + Maple Extracts. Flavor.
- Flour. Use all-purpose flour to give the cookies structure and strength.
- Oats. You need old fashioned rolled oats, not quick oats or steel cut oats.
- Salt. Balances the sweetness of the white chocolate chips and enhances the flavor of the walnuts and brown butter.
- Baking Soda. Leavening agent.
- Spices. Ginger, allspice and cardamom adds warmth and coziness.
- Walnuts. If you don’t have walnuts, pecans work equally well.
- White Chocolate Chips. Since white chocolate is pretty sweet, you can use less of them if you don’t want your maple walnut oatmeal cookies to be overly sweet.
Instructions
Brown the Butter.
- In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter for about 4-5 minutes, swirling occasionally to see the bottom of the pan, until the butter is very fragrant, and nutty, golden brown solids have formed on the bottom of the pan.
- Pour the brown butter, scraping up all of the browned bits, too, into a medium-sized mixing bowl, and let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Make the Cookie Dough.
- After cooling the brown butter, add the granulated sugar and brown sugar, and whisk vigorously for 1 minute.
- Add the maple syrup, eggs, vanilla extract and maple extract, and whisk vigorously for 1 minute, until lightened in color.
- Separately, whisk together the flour, oats, salt, baking soda, and spices. Add the flour mixture and the chopped walnuts to the butter mixture, use a spatula to stir everything together until moistened, then stir in the white chocolate chips.
Chill the Cookie Dough.
- Divide the dough into 20 portions using a cupcake or ice cream scoop with a release lever. Roll the dough into balls, and flatten the balls slightly with the palm of your hand.
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill the dough balls in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
TIP: For perfectly round cookies, immediately after taking the pan out of the oven, use a round cookie cutter that’s larger than the circumference of the baked cookies, and “scoot” it around the hot cookies. This pulls in the uneven edges and makes beautifully round cookies. You have to do this quickly, before the cookie sets.
Bake the Cookies.
- While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of your oven. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or baking paper.
- Place the chilled dough 3 inches apart on the baking sheet (keeping the remainder of the dough in the refrigerator while you bake the first batch). Bake the cookies for about 9 1/2 – 10 minutes. They should appear set around the edges, underdone in the middle, and very pale. Do not over bake, or they will end up dry.
- Cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool and set completely. If you like, decorate the tops of your oatmeal cookies with white chocolate chips, walnuts and a sprinkling of flaky finishing salt, such as Maldon.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
How should I store leftover cookies?
Leftover cookies should be stored in an airtight container for 2-3 days. Since oats are very absorbent, oatmeal cookies tend to dry out faster than other cookies, but a slice of plain sandwich bread in a cookie jar does wonders to keep them soft for days.
Can these cookies be frozen?
The cookies can also be wrapped well and frozen for 3-6 months. Maple oatmeal cookies with walnuts and white chocolate chips make a wonderful cookie for the holidays or Christmas!
You Might Also Like
Please check out my Amazon Shop for a curated collection of some of my favorite cake pans from trusted brands, baking tools, ingredients, pretty things and fashion finds. I recommend products that I buy and use every day!
Did you love today’s recipe? Please rate the recipe and let me know in the comments what you thought! Also, be sure to follow Curly Girl Kitchen on Instagram, and tag me when you try one of my recipes so I can see all your delicious creations!
High Altitude Maple Walnut White Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- â…” cup granulated sugar
- â…” cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 tsp pure maple syrup (or light molasses)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ tsp maple extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1 ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- â…› tsp ground cardamom
- ½ cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
- ¾ cup white chocolate chips
- ¼ tsp flaky finishing salt (optional)
Instructions
- In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Continue to cook the butter for about 4-5 minutes, swirling occasionally to see the bottom of the pan, until the butter is very fragrant, and nutty, golden brown solids have formed on the bottom of the pan.Pour the brown butter, scraping up all of the browned bits, too, into a medium-sized mixing bowl, and let cool at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- After cooling the brown butter, add the granulated sugar and brown sugar, and whisk vigorously for 1 minute.
- Add the maple syrup, eggs, vanilla extract and maple extract, and whisk vigorously for 1 minute, until lightened in color.
- Separately, whisk together the flour, oats, salt, baking soda, and spices. Add the flour mixture and the chopped walnuts to the butter mixture, use a spatula to stir everything together until moistened, then stir in the white chocolate chips.
- Divide the dough into 20 portions using a cupcake or ice cream scoop with a release lever. Roll the dough into balls, and flatten the balls slightly with the palm of your hand. Cover with plastic wrap and chill the dough balls in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
- While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of your oven. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or baking paper.
- Place the chilled dough 3 inches apart on the baking sheet (keeping the remainder of the dough in the refrigerator while you bake the first batch). Bake the cookies for about 9 1/2 – 10 minutes. They should appear set around the edges, underdone in the middle, and very pale. Do not over bake, or they will end up dry.TIP: For perfectly round cookies, immediately after taking the pan out of the oven, use a round cookie cutter that's larger than the circumference of the baked cookies, and "scoot" it around the hot cookies. This pulls in the uneven edges and makes beautifully round cookies. You have to do this quickly, before the cookie sets.
- Cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool and set completely. If you like, decorate the tops of the hot cookies with a few extra chocolate chips, walnuts and a sprinkling of flaky finishing salt, such as Maldon.
Notes
- Leftover cookies should be stored in an airtight container for 2-3 days. Since oats are very absorbent, oatmeal cookies tend to dry out faster than other cookies, but a slice of plain sandwich bread in a cookie jar does wonders to keep them soft for days.
- The cookies can also be wrapped well and frozen for 3-6 months.
Leave a Reply