If you’ve been looking for the consummate healthy cookie recipe, this is it! These thick, chewy, and goodie-packed low calorie Oatmeal Cookies are made from wholesome ingredients, yet they taste like a true treat!
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Soft, chewy, and made with whole grains and a slew of chunky mix-ins, these are the best healthy cookies you’ll ever bake.
I highly recommend them for all of your sweet treat and pick-me-up snack moments.
While I am all for the full-on indulgence of a regular oatmeal cookie every now and then (these perfect classic Oatmeal Cookies are my favorite recipe), it’s nice to have a trusted collection of healthy desserts on hand for when you need them.
These nutritious oatmeal cookies are one of the most popular healthy cookie recipes online and have become a tried-and-true reader favorite.
They’re great anytime you need healthy cookies for kids, are trying to lose weight but don’t want to give up cookies (I hear you!), or you just want to feel a little bit better reaching for that second (or third) cookie.
Plus, they taste absolutely scrumptious!
Secrets to Baking the Best Healthy Oatmeal Cookies Recipe
It doesn’t get much more delightfully old school than an old fashioned oatmeal cookie.
Thus, it feels especially appropriate that I used one of the oldest healthy baking tricks in the book when developing the recipe: applesauce.
- Replacing half the usual amount of butter with applesauce still keeps the oatmeal cookies plenty moist, without the need for extra fat.
Next, I wanted to see if I could sweeten the healthy oatmeal cookies without sugar. Honey did the trick!
- In addition to being a more wholesome alternative, honey’s homey, comforting flavor is a classic and lovely combination with the oatmeal.
Oatmeal Cookie Mix-Ins
Now, we need to talk about one of the more divisive oatmeal cookie topics: raisins.
I know that a healthy oatmeal raisin cookie recipe would have been the *most* traditional route, but I simply could not do it.
Far better is a healthy oatmeal raisin cookie WITH CHOCOLATE.
I love my oatmeal cookies fully loaded, which is why to go along with the raisins, you’ll find melty dark chocolate chips and chunky toasted nuts too.
I adore the overall effect the range of mix-ins gives these healthy oatmeal cookies.
We have the crunch and warmth of the nuts and the sweet chew of the raisins, and I don’t think I need to tell you that if you stack an oatmeal cookie with chocolate chips next to an oatmeal cookie without, one of them is going to be the clear crowd favorite.
Recipe Variations
- For healthy oatmeal cookies banana edition, don’t miss my Banana Oatmeal Cookies, this recipe’s different but equally delicious cousin.
- For healthy oatmeal peanut butter cookies, you can bake Monster Cookies, which have a peanut butter oatmeal cookie base, but use raisins, chocolate chips, and chopped nuts for the mix-ins instead. Or, try these Healthy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies. YUM!
- For oatmeal cookies with a festive twist, try these Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies, Apple Oatmeal Cookies, or Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies.
Dietary & Substitution Notes
- Do not swap all of the fat in this recipe for applesauce. The modest amount of butter is key to the healthy oatmeal cookies’ texture and keeps the cookies from being excessively cakey.
- If you are seeking healthy oatmeal cookies no flour (meaning no wheat flour in order to make the cookies gluten free), I’d suggest using a 1:1 gluten-free baking blend like this one in place of the wheat flour. Make sure your oats are certified GF also.
- If you’d like the healthy oatmeal cookies vegan, you can swap said butter for a vegan butter substitute (my recommendation for that buttah flava) or coconut oil. Use maple syrup in place of the honey
How to Freeze These Cookies
These healthy oatmeal cookies are highly freezer friendly.
If you anticipate craving cookies in the future (who doesn’t?), you can either double the recipe and freeze half or bake only the oatmeal cookies you think you’ll eat in the next day or two right away, then freeze the remaining dough for fresh-baked healthy oatmeal cookies on demand.
^^Between you and me, I can’t believe that I actually had enough self control to freeze some of the dough versus baking and eating every single cookie immediately, but I am certainly happy that I did!
Healthy Oatmeal Cookies
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Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups quick-cooking oats
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup honey
- ⅓ cup dark chocolate chips
- ¼ cup raisins
- ¼ cup well chopped raw walnuts or pecans (in this recipe, we usually go for pecans, but both are delicious) or an additional 2 tablespoons chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons raisins
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
- In a medium bowl, combine the applesauce, butter, egg, vanilla, and honey. Whisk until blended.
- Pour the liquid mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until combined. The dough will be wet and sticky.
- Fold in the chocolate chips, raisins, and walnuts. Place in the refrigerator and let chill for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 days.
- When ready to bake, place a rack in the center of your oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator (if it is very stiff, you may need to let it sit out for 5 to 10 minutes). With a cookie scoop or spoon, drop the dough into 1 1/2-inch balls and arrange on the baking sheet, leaving 1 inch of space around each. With your fingers, gently flatten each cookie to be about 3/4-inch thick.
- Bake until the cookies are golden and firm around the edges and set on top, about 9 to 10 minutes.
- Place the baking sheet on a wire rack and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer the cookies to the rack to cool completely.
Video
Notes
- Leftover cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- I recommend quick oats for this recipe, as they yield a more tender cookie. You can use regular rolled oats, but they will have a heartier consistency.
- To make gluten free: you can experiment with oat flour (I haven’t tried this yet, but I would suggest swapping 1 1/4 cups oat flour for the white whole wheat flour) or use a 1:1 GF baking blend instead of the wheat flour.
- To make vegan: Use maple syrup instead of honey. For the egg: I haven’t tried this with a flax egg instead of the regular egg yet, but I’d love to hear how it goes if sometime does play around!
Nutrition
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Great cookies! I don’t like walnuts so I substituted organic corn flakes. And I didn’t have raisins so I used white chips. I also used gluten free flour. So yummy!
So glad you enjoyed them, thank you for the feedback Tracy!
1 to 1 if almond flour is used? 1 cup?
Hi Patti, While I have not tried this recipe with almond flour, another reader has reported success with a 1:1 substitution. If you decide to experiment, I’d love to hear how it goes!
Honey is so expensive so I used 1/3 cup brown sugar the second time I made them. Just as good, if not better!
They freeze super well.
Glad it worked! Thank you Rachel!
Can I use old fashioned oats in this recipe??
Hi Ramona, I recommend quick oats for this recipe, as they yield a more tender cookie. You can use regular rolled oats, but they will have a heartier consistency.
I read a cheat that you can turn old fashioned oats into quick oats by running them in a blender or food processor to break them up. Apparently the only diff is size. Quicks oats are smaller pieces so they cook faster. :)
Let us know how that goes!
Is there anyway to make this cookie low fat? I know that it uses less butter but with the egg and nuts that increases the amount of fat. Due to medical reasons I can not exceed 30g of fat (doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad fat) a day. I can omit the chocolate chips and nuts but I didn’t know if I can decrease the amount of butter.
Hi Tricia! We’ve had lots of readers leave the nuts out. As far as the butter, I haven’t tried it myself but other readers (in the comments) have said they left the butter out or used coconut oil and still having great results. Hope this helps! Let us know if you decide to experiment!
My cookies never grew in size, why might that be please? Not enough baking powder?
But still delicious taste thank you
I’m sorry to hear you had trouble with the recipe, John. The amount of baking powder doesn’t need to be changed but make sure it is fresh. Hope this helps!
O loved the recipe cookies weekend more than Ok, theta were perfecttttt 👌🏼🍪💖🙌🏻
Thank you Ana!
Used 2 tablespoons peanut butter and no butter. Only a few squeezes of honey and they are perfect.
Thanks for the feedback, Lori1
what are the amount of ingredients in metric system
Hi Cassidy, unfortunately, I’m not able to provide metric measurements. There are several online conversion sites—one good one is from King Arthur! Here’s the link: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/ingredient-weight-chart.
I don’t have any applesauce and I don’t mind using extra butter for this recipe so I’m wondering how much butter I would need to use?
Hi!! I’ve never made these with all butter, but I think yu can swap the same amount of butter. Be sure to give the dough a good chill.
Great recipe love it
Thank you Myrna!
These turned out super yummy! I used maple syrup instead of honey and they are delicious. I had to bake mine for almost 15 minutes; maybe my oven temp isn’t quite right, but they came out great! I also added peanut butter chips with the chocolate, yum.
Glad to hear you enjoyed the cookies, Sarah! Thank you!
I allergic to Dairy what would you switch the butter with?
Hi Kody, while I haven’t tried any non-dairy butters in this recipe, you could test it out with a diary free butter or what ever you use as your go-to substitute. If you decide to experiment, I’d love to know how it goes!
Didn’t like theses cookies at all, will not make again.
We absolutely loved it!
So happy that you enjoyed the cookies, Danielle! Thank you!