Name: Double Chocolate Icebox Cookies with Oatmeal and Chocolate Chips
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 2 squares unsweetened chocolate; 1/2 cup butter; 1 cup brown sugar, packed; 1 large egg; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; 1/2 teaspoon almond extract; 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour; 1/2 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1 cup quick or old-fashioned oats; 1/2 cup chopped pecans; 1 cup mini chocolate chips

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Sneak Preview: Always keep a batch of these Chocolate Icebox Cookies on hand! With oatmeal for texture and optional chocolate chips and pecans for extra flavor, this easy slice-and-bake recipe is your secret to effortless, delicious treats anytime.

Refrigerator Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies stacked on a plate with milk in the background

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That moment when you’re kids, grandkids, or Eddie Haskell-like neighbor kids start going through your pantry looking for something to eat: Will they find a) a nearly-empty bag of crumbled corn chips, b)some stale saltines, or c) leftover marshmallows from last Christmas?

My go-to? Rich, fudgy Chocolate Icebox Cookies. Keep them in your freezer, ready to impress unexpected guests with a freshly baked treat in minutes! By the way, icebox cookies are the same thing as “slice-and-bake cookies.”

Five Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe

Chewy texture from oatmeal, not coconut
Guilt-free indulgence with wholesome oatmeal
Freeze unbaked dough for up to three months
Subtle, delicious almond flavor
Tastes like fudge when raw

Win ‘Baker of the Year’ as the irresistible aroma of fresh-baked cookies fills your home.

Recipe Inspiration

Thanks to my friend Beth P. for putting me on to these cookies many years and memories ago.

This recipe is slightly adapted from a similar recipe in Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book(paid link) for Chocolate Oatmeal Refrigerator cookies.

Ingredients and Substitutions

UNSWEETENED CHOCOLATE:
- Use solid chocolate designed for baking
- Substitute 6 tbsp cocoa powder + 2 tbsp oil/melted butter
BUTTER:
- Use unsalted butter
- In a pinch, sub margarine or shortening
BROWN SUGAR:
- Pack it tightly in a measuring cup
EGG:
- Use a large egg
VANILLA AND ALMOND EXTRACT:
- Almond extract is the secret ingredient
- Vanilla balances the flavors
FLOUR:
- Bleached or unbleached all-purpose flour
SALT:
- Table or sea salt
- Substitute Kosher salt (add a pinch more)
OATMEAL:
- Quick oats or old-fashioned oats
- No instant oatmeal with added sugar and flavorings
PECANS:
- Optional
- Toast for best flavor.
MINI CHOCOLATE CHIPS:
- Easier to slice when the dough is frozen

How To Make Double Chocolate Icebox Cookies

mixing the brown sugar and butter until fluffy — Use a large bowl and electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to beat the room-temperature butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.

adding egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract — Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract.

mixing sugar and butter with egg and extracts — Mix until combined.

adding flour, salt, and baking soda — Add flour, salt, and soda, along with chocolate, to the butter-sugar mixture.

mixing in oatmeal, pecans and chocolate chips — Mix well. Stir in oatmeal, pecans, and chips.

making a log of dough — Divide dough into two logs. Wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap.

log of cookie dough wrapped to put in the refrigerator or freezer — Chill for at least 4-5 hours or overnight. You can also freeze the log.

slicing raw icebox cookie dough to make cookies — When the dough is firm and hard, slice it into 1/4-inch slices and place each on a parchment paper-covered baking sheet. Bake at 350˚F (180˚C) for 10-12 minutes or until the cookie is puffy but still soft in the middle.

Do not overcook, or cookies will be hard when they cool. Remove cookies to a wire rack to cool.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE OATMEAL REFRIGERATOR COOKIES sitting in front of a lunch box — Does the oatmeal make them OK to eat for breakfast?

Parting Thoughts: If you love chocolate and oatmeal together, I highly recommend my Irresistible Chocolate Granola. My Low-Calorie Granola is good if you’ve already eaten too much chocolate. If you would rather eat cookies than breakfast, I suggest these Easy Raisin Bran Crunch Cookies.

Help at Your Fingertips: For questions or suggestions, email Paula at saladinajar.com. If you need help, I’m happy to troubleshoot via email (faster than leaving a comment). Attach pictures and as many details as possible for the best advice.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE OATMEAL REFRIGERATOR COOKIES

Yield: cookies

Double Chocolate Icebox Cookies with Oatmeal and Chocolate Chips

By Paula Rhodes

A chocolate slice-and-bake cookie dough with oatmeal and mini chocolate chips–a long-time family favorite.

5 from 14 votes

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Video

Prep time: 15

Cook time: 10

Total time: 25

Ingredients

2 squares (56 g) unsweetened chocolate
½ cup (113 g) butter
1 cup (220 g) brown sugar, packed
1 large (50 g) egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
1 cup (120 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (81 g) quick or old-fashioned oats
½ cup (54 g) chopped pecans
1 cup (180 g) mini chocolate chips

Instructions

Melt 2 squares (56 g) unsweetened chocolate in a microwave for 2 minutes on MEDIUM and set aside to cool.
Mix 1/2 cup (113 g) butter and 1 cup (220 g) brown sugar, packed until light and fluffy. Add 1 large (50 g) egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1/2 teaspoon (½ teaspoon) almond extract, and continue to beat. Blend in cooled chocolate. Add 1 cup (120 g) unbleached all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon (½ teaspoon) baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon (½ teaspoon) salt. Stir in 1 cup (81 g) quick or old-fashioned oats, 1/2 cup (54 g) chopped pecans, and 1 cup (180 g) mini chocolate chips.
Mold into a long cylinder and wrap in waxed paper. Refrigerate at least 4-5 hours or overnight.
Cut cookies with a sharp knife into 1/4-inch thick slices. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 °F (180˚C)for 10-12 minutes. It is difficult to tell when they’re done because you won’t see any browning. The entire cookie should be puffed up but soft in the middle.

Notes

DO NOT OVERBAKE or these cookies will be hard when cool. Mine are always done in 10 minutes (when coming out of the fridge), but your oven may be different. Allow an extra minute or two if the cookie dough is frozen.

How long does the dough last in the freezer?
Double-wrapped logs last up to 3 months. Slice only when ready to bake.
How to slice frozen dough without breaking it?
- Use mini chocolate chips, not regular ones.
- Slice with a sharp or high-quality serrated knife (e.g., Victorinox).
- Frozen dough slices cleaner than refrigerated but let it soften slightly if too hard.
What to do with leftovers?
Turn leftover cookies into truffles using my chocolate chip cookie truffle recipe and substituting these cookies.

Equipment

KitchenAid Stand Mixer

Nutrition

All images and text ©️ Paula Rhodes for Salad in a Jar.com

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This recipe is adapted from a similar recipe in Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book.

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21 Comments

Paula, wow! These look like a keeper. I love an easy freezer dough cookie. Have you made these with coconut before? I wonder how they would be with coconut subbed for oatmeal. What a gem that book is!

I love refrigerator cookies and raw dough! These look like I need to have a roll in my freezer! We camp in a 5th wheel alot in the Summer and it’s always fun to pull out a log of cookie dough to bake. These look like a contender for my favorite! 🙂

Stumbled on this post looking for “oatmeal icebox cookies,” but had to leave a comment: I too once got my mom to agree to letting me make a cake for the purpose of eating the batter. When she said yes, I was so surprised I checked that she had understood the request. Later, when I was partway through one cake pan’s worth of batter, I felt sick. However, my mom denied having given any such permission.

This recipe looks divine. I wonder if I can make these gluten free and still have the batter hold together similarly. One of my munchkins is gluten intolerant and I’ve had to make concessions with anything bread or flour related. I’ll have to give it a try and let you know 🙂

Paula says:

at

Hi Lucero,
I rarely dabble in gluten-free recipes so I have no idea. But if you try it and it works I would love to hear about it.

Reply

These are definitely going on our “must try this summer” list which is steadily growing longer! I am looking forward to the extra time the kids and I will have to play in the kitchen. Thanks for sharing!

I, too, am known to make a batch of cookies purely so I can eat the raw dough. While I love the baked cookies, the raw dough is even soooo much better! I knew I liked you!!!

Paula, I enjoy your blog so much! Thank you for all the time and effort you put into it. The photographs are delectable and your cheerful prose is a sunbeam. These chocolate yummers appeared on my blog reader just as I was wondering what to bake for my eldest son’s preschool closing ceremony tomorrow. I’ll send the kids home with chocolatey smiles and a secret serving of oatmeal (heh, heh, heh)!!

That roll of raw cookie dough looks so delicious, it’s practically begging me to reproduce it in my own kitchen. I can just picture nibbling these with a tall glass of cold milk… 🙂

Paula,
Wow, do you have any left? I’ve got my cold milk ready and I’m waiting…….and drooling……:) – they look awesome!!!

Cookie dough is one of the best foods ever! All that talk about coconut makes me want to add some to this recipe!

Paula says:

at

Jill, I thought of adding coconut and maybe even adding peanut butter so they would be similar to chocolate no-bake cookies like my mom used to make. But that all seemed like too much when they are perfect the way they are. pr

Reply

I love cookies with oatmeal in them but have never made anything like this. They look delicious.

Ha. A friend from Bible study years ago used to say, “If it has an egg in it, it’s breakfast.” : )

Paula says:

at

Kirstin, I used to use the egg argument to justify eating pudding for breakfast. Love it.

Reply

I will be whipping up a batch of these this weekend! They look divine!

I love dough that you can keep on hand in the freezer- it’s so handy for those emergencies when you need cookies (or dough) in a hurry. These cookies look delicious! 🙂

looks like a yummy cookie, then again I haven’t met to many cookies I haven’t liked 🙂 And I do think you could count this for breakfast since it had oatmeal in it.

Such a timely post. I just mentioned to John I was in the mood for a cookie. We are plumb out of desserts here (can you believe it?) Nothing in the freezer ~ Nada!

I love that there is oatmeal for a chewy texture. The little flecks look neat too. I can see why this recipe has been around for many years and many memories 🙂

Paula Rhodes, owner

As a retired home economist, I created Saladinajar.com to share my belief that you don’t have to be a chef to find joy in creating homemade food worth sharing. Bread machines (used in an unconventional way), homemade yogurt, and quick microwave recipes are my specialty.