Healthy Oatmeal Cookies
Ben and I spent the better part of this week cleaning our old house in preparation for the new owners. My scary task: clearing out the refrigerator and freezer. While there were plenty of, um, questionable discoveries, one that I was very pleased to find was a frozen container of cookie dough from my last batch of Healthy Oatmeal Cookies!
The universe must have anticipated my needs. These soft, chewy oatmeal cookies are going to be key players in this weekend’s marathon unpacking session at our new house. I highly recommend them for all of your sweet treat and pick-me-up snack moments too.
If you’ve been looking for the consummate Healthy Oatmeal Cookie recipe, look no further. These thick and goodie-packed low calorie oatmeal cookies are made from wholesome ingredients, yet they taste like a true treat!
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.
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.
A few notes for different recipe adaptations + frequent oatmeal cookie recipe requests I’ve received:
- 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’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.
- For Healthy Oatmeal Cookies banana edition, don’t miss my Banana Oatmeal Cookies, this recipe’s different but equally delicious cousin.
- 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.
- 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. YUM!
As I can recently attest, 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
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups quick oats
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter — melted and cooled
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/4 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
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In a large bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Recipe 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 Information
Amount per serving (1 cookie) — Calories: 111, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 13mg, Carbohydrates: 17g, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 8g, Protein: 2gDid you try this recipe? I want to see! Follow Well Plated on Instagram, snap a photo, and tag it #wellplated. I love to know what you are making!
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About Erin Clarke
I’m fearlessly dedicated to making healthy food taste incredible. Wearer of plaid, travel enthusiast, and firmly convinced that sweets and veggies both deserve a place at the table. MORE ABOUT ERIN…
Can I swap out instant oats for old fashioned oats?
Krissy, I recommend quick oats here because they give the cookies a softer, chewier texture. If you don’t mind them being heartier and the oats tasting “harder” then you can use rolled.
My hubby enjoyed a homemade oatmeal cookie just today. I often add nuts and raisins but never thought of adding chocolate chips. I’ll have to give it a try! Hope your move goes smoothly!
Enjoy, Peggy! Thank you so much!
Can you please list the amount of sodium?
Hi Edwina! I don’t list sodium because the source I’ve been using (myfitnesspal.com) doesn’t seem particularly accurate on it. If you like, you can enter it for free on the website and see if you get better results, or you could try a different resource like sparkpeople.com. I hope that helps!
Delicious! So glad I used your recipe. I used Gluten free flour and mashed banana instead of apple sauce, and coconut oil instead of butter. Still came out pretty good! Next time I’ll just use apple sauce though to avoid the banana flavor. Thank you!!
Thanks for sharing your tweaks, Gina! I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies.
Perfect for long drives ! Thank you !
They totally are!! Hope you love the recipe!
Wgat is the temperature of the oven?
Hi Raylene, check out step 3! It’s 350 degrees F. I hope you enjoy the cookies!
Oatmeal cookies are my FAVORITE – and these are perfect!
Thanks so much, Ben! I’m glad you enjoyed them!
Definitely love raisins too! These sound great :)
No divisiveness on raisins here for me. Bring ’em on. Thook delicious!
These looks perfect. Thanks for sharing
I’m always looking for a healthy cookie recipe!
These are the most satisfying cookies. Love them!
These sound so good! So exciting that they are a healthy option!
I love the texture of these! Exactly what I’m looking for in a cookie.
They are totally irresistible!
Packed full of good things- yum!
Anytime healthy and cookies are in the same sentence, I am a little skeptical. But these are great!
I’m glad you enjoyed them, Erin! Thanks so much for reporting back!
Great recipe! My kids love these cookies so much.
Hi Erin – I’m hoping that the cookie post is the most recent. If not, I’m not receiving them. Maybe I should unsubscribe and start over. Is anyone else having this problem? Happy weekend.
Chris, I actually have posted 3 others since then! I just checked and your email address isn’t on the list any more for some odd reason, so I added you back. You should start receiving posts again. So glad you let me know!! I’d hate for you not to receive the recipes!
As you can tell (most likely) I’m still stuck on oatmeal cookies. Today’s post came through on my tablet but not on my chromebook. Can’t figure this whole thing out – frustrating! Other blogs that I follow are working fine. Is there a way that I can unsubscribe and start over? I’m sorry about all this…
Hi Chris! Is it when you go to my homepage? If that is the case, you probably want to clear your browser’s cache. If the emails are coming into one of your inboxes, I really don’t know why it wouldn’t come through on the other! Did you double check your trash? I still see your email address on the list, so I’m not sure what could be going on :(
Swapped in dark chunks, cranberries and white chips. They taste kind of like granola bars but that’s not a negative thing at all. Delicious and easy.
Nora, thanks for sharing your swaps! I’m glad you enjoyed the cookies!
Can I replace baking powder for,baking soda? How much ?
Hi Josy, I have not tested the recipe with baking soda, so I wouldn’t recommend that swap since it works differently than baking powder. I hope you enjoy the cookies if you give them a try!
I was looking for a healthier oatmeal cookie when I found this recipe. I followed the recipe exactly and the cookies came out amazingly good. Very moist and so tasty. My husband and daughter loved them!
Hooray! Thanks for taking the time to leave this review, Laura!
Hi! I’m on a low cholesterol diet…. so I substituted out flour (ground oats) for the regular flour. I also did a generous amount of almond instead of vanilla. They turned out great!!!
YUM Sarah! I am so happy to hear it!
Any alternative of apple sauce
Hi Parul, you can use additional melted butter or melted coconut oil in place of the applesauce. I hope you enjoy the cookies!
Is there any sub for applesauce?
Hi Sara, you can use additional melted butter or melted coconut oil in place of the applesauce. I hope you enjoy the cookies!
My daughter loves them and she is a very picky eater. She doesn’t like anything that is very sweet. I will be making them again . Thanks for the recipe
Hooray! I’m glad they’re a hit, Vickie. Thanks for reporting back!
These were great! I did substitute flaxseed+water for the egg, and I was out of applesauce so I used pumpkin. No pumpkin taste at all in the finished product. Oh, and I used coconut oil rather than butter. Fantastic! Didn’t have chocolate chips so just omitted. Still fab! Thanks for this recipe. My husband is asking for another batch already.
MJ, I’m glad the cookies were a hit! Thanks for taking the time to share your swaps.
Hi Erin I can’t wait to try this recipe but I’ll like to use granulated sugar instead of honey so they’ll taste more traditional. Any advice on how to safely swap this?
Hi Lyf, the cookies will likely turn out a little different since you’re swapping a dry ingredient for a liquid. A rule of thumb is to swap 1 1/4 cups sugar and 1/4 cup water for every 1 cup honey, so you could try that ratio, but I haven’t tested it that way, so you’d be experimenting. I really enjoy the honey here, so you may love it if you give it a try!
These are the answer to my healthy cookie woes♥️I’ve tried so many other recipes, it’s always the same, cardboard cookies. I used the miniature dark chocolate chips (67%) and I added one TBS of monk sugar.
PERFECT YUM! Thank you Erin, I am your new loyal follower.
Bo, thank you for taking the time to share this review! I’m glad you enjoyed the cookies!
can I use egg white instead .
Hi Paula! You could try using two whites instead, but I really recommend the whole egg as the yolk adds needed richness to the cookies. I hope you enjoy them!
My husband loves these! He has a rare congenital heart condition so we are trying to eat healthier, and he loves sweets! I made these for him w/o chocolate or nuts and he loves them plain. For me, I add raisins, cranberries and walnuts. They are great for dessert or breakfast on the run.
Cynthia, soooo happy to hear you both enjoy them, thank you for letting me know and sharing this lovely review!
Oops I didn’t read properly and made 12 instead of 24 😅
I hope you still loved them, Hollie!
Do you freeze the cookie or the dough?
Hi Debra, you can do either one! (If baking the dough, you may need an extra minute or two of cooking time when baking from frozen.) I hope you love them.
I just made these for a second time! They are so easy and the texture is just perfect. I added craisins and coconut flakes and decreased the chocolate chips to my preference. I also used half honey/half maple syrup. I think these would be great with maybe 2/3 or even 1/2 the amount of honey (or whatever sugar substitute). I remembered thinking this last time I made them, but I forgot until I tasted the finished project today!
A
nyways, great recipe. Will definitely be making them again. Probably doubling the batch to keep some in the freezer ;]
Rosie, I’m happy to hear the cookies are a hit! Thanks for taking the time to share this review!
This was a huge hit with my little one! I decorated them with some colorful m&ms on top to make them more appealing visually and she was so excited! Thank you so so much 😊
I’m so glad they were enjoyed, Sofia! Thanks for taking the time to share this review!
I made these for a friend who doesn’t like raisins or nuts. I left those out and instead chopped up tiny bits of apple. They came out wonderful. I did use a little less honey which made them a tad less sweet than I wanted. so I sprinkled a tiny bit of brown sugar and cinnamon on top of each cookie. That fixed it. Great recipe.
Jan, I am so pleased to hear it! Thanks for sharing!
Have you ever tried diced apples as an ingredient? I enjoy it with raisins and cinnamon, similar to common hot oatmeal flavor. You can throw in some nuts as well.
That sounds delicious, Chris! I’m glad to hear you enjoy the cookies.
I gave these cookies to ten of my teachers, alongside some Greek Yogurt cookies that I made, and these were the clear favorite! I was thrilled to tell them that they were naturally sweetened, and despite their initial skepticism, they LOVED them! I’ll definitely be making these again, and they just might become one of my go-to’s whenever I make a large amount of cookies! P.S, they’re also really simple to make!
Hooray! I’m glad the cookies were a success, and I so appreciate your taking the time to report back!