Our healthy oatmeal cookies have been made by hundreds and are truly one of the best. They are made with rolled oats, flour, maple syrup, and a little brown sugar making them perfectly sweet and slightly chewy.
We’ve been blogging since 2010 and this is one of our very first healthy oatmeal cookies recipes. We’ve revised and retested it many times to make it perfect for you!
These healthy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are lower in sugar than most other oatmeal cookies and are the perfect starting point for making them your own!
PS: while this oatmeal cookies recipe calls for butter and a little brown sugar, we’re about food freedom and making small, nutritious swaps!
What is in these healthy oatmeal cookies?
- Rolled Oats: for these oatmeal cookies you need to pulverize them a bit! Do do this you can use a food processor or coffee grinder.
- All Purpose Flour: a little flour helps bind these cookies.
- Light Brown Sugar: brown sugar adds a bit of chewiness to these cookies.
- Mini Chocolate Chips: mini chocolate chips give you a chocolate chip in every bite.
- Eggs: don’t skip the eggs and be sure they are large eggs.
- Maple Syrup: we use a mixture of brown sugar and a mixture of maple syrup to sweeten these babies up.
- Vanilla Extract: love the bit of sweetness and flavor vanilla gives all cookies!
Ingredient Swaps
All-purpose flour-–> we’ve tested this recipe with both white whole wheat and a gluten-free flour mix.
Rolled oats—> quick cooking oats (you wouldn’t have to pulverize the oats if you use these)
Light brown sugar—> dark brow sugar or coconut sugar will work, too.
Mini chocolate chips—> regular chocolate chips
Maple syrup—> we do not recommend substituting maple for honey in this recipe.
Fun Add-Ins/Variations for Healthy Oatmeal Cookies
The sky is the limit when it comes to ingredient add-ins. You can add any of the ingredients below to these cookies or feel free to get created.
- Nuts (walnuts or pecans)
- Oatmeal Raisin
- M&Ms
- White Chocolate Cranberry
Healthy Oatmeal Cookies FAQ
Can I use a flax egg?
Yes, you can substitute a the large egg with a flax egg. Check out how to make a flax egg.
Are these oatmeal cookies gluten free?
No, but you can make them gluten free by buy certified gluten free oats and using 1:1 gluten free flour instead of all purpose flour.
How to Store Oatmeal Cookies
Keep these cookies in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, making sure they fully cool before storing.
Can you Freeze Cookies?
Simply store in an air-tight container (large Ziplocs work great for this!), and write the date you made the cookies + the name of the cookies on the bag before placing in the freezer.
Thawing Healthy Oatmeal Cookies
Remove a cookie from the freezer and place in the microwave for 1 minute on defrost, or until it’s chewy and delicious.
Can I freeze the cookie dough for oatmeal cookies?
Yes, make the cookie dough as written in the recipe and the place it in a freezer safe container. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Storage
Let the cookies cool completely. Then, transfer them into an airtight container or gallon-size bag and store them in a cool, dark place for up to 3 days.
Freezer Instructions
Freeze the dough: this is a great make-ahead cookie. Make the dough as-is and then scoop it into single-serve balls. Place the cookie dough balls on a baking sheet and freeze for 1 hour. Once they are almost frozen, transfer them into a gallon-size bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
Freeze after baking: let the cookies cool completely. Then transfer them into an airtight container (I prefer a gallon-size bag) and store them in the freeze for up t 3 months.
Healthy Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
Dry
- 1.25 cups rolled oats lightly pulverized (or quick-cooking oats)
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar packed
Wet
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Place oats into a food processor and blend for 15-20 seconds to lightly pulverize, shredding them into smaller pieces. If you’re using quick cooking oats, omit this step.
- Add oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt to a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
- Using a standing mixer, cream butter and brown sugar together on medium/high speed until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl and then turn the mixer on low speed and slowly add the maple syrup to the butter and sugar. Beat on medium/high until light and fluffy.
- Add egg and continue mixing. Scrape the sides of the bowl, add vanilla, and mix until light and fluffy.
- Slowly add dry ingredients (everything but the chocolate chips) to wet ingredients, 1/4 cup at a time, mixing on low. Last, fold in mini chocolate chips.
- Place the cookie dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to harden and to allow the flour in the cookie dough to hydrate.*
- Using a tablespoon cookie scoop, roll dough into ball and slightly flatten between your palms. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes.
- Remove cookies from oven, let cool, and enjoy!
Tips & Notes
- This recipe was updated on January 6th, 2022. Click here for the old recipe.
- Refrigerating the dough: don’t skip refrigerating the cookie dough or you will run the risk of the cookie dough being too thin and spreading when baking.
We have to use ‘egg replacer’ thanks to an allergy in our house. I thought it worked better 2nd time around when I made these when I chilled the cookie dough for 2 hours.
I made these cookies for my kids, and they had no idea they were on the healthier side. Your healthy oatmeal cookies are packed with wholesome ingredients, and satisfy the sweet tooth just right. They’re a reminder that healthier treats can be just as delicious.
Wahoo!
is the calories for one cookie? What is the serving size?
Yes, the nutrition information is per 1 cookie. Hope this helps!
This recipe exceeded my expectations. The clear instructions and helpful substitutions made it easy to customize the dish to my liking. The end result was a restaurant-quality meal that I made in my own kitchen.
These came out amazing!! I don’t understand all the negative comments because these cookies came out perfect. Delicious flavor. Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. I did add a little bit of extra flour and oats because the dough looked a bit too wet at first.
I love the flavor of these cookies! They are soooo good. . My only issue (which for me personally isn’t an issue) is that they were crisp on the edges but really soft in the middle. I like my cookies like this, but I wasn’t sure if that’s how it was supposed to turn out. I got tricked up after beating in the egg. It said to only mix until combined, but it never looked…well, combined lol. Is that normal or did I not mix it long enough?
These were delicious but I may chill them longer next time. They still spread a lot. I’d try them again with a few alterations: less maple syrup, more oats and longer chill time? Like everyone has mentioned, they were pretty wet. But delicious, none the less! Worth tweaking!
Honestly not too bad if you just cook them longer.
Amazing!! Im glad I waited till my cookies were in the oven baking before reading these comments. I followed the receipt to a T and let them rest in fridge for 30 mins. The only thing I changed while making them was the size and I made each cookie 2 tablespoons. Made the cooking time over all around 15-20 mins but they came out big and fluffy!
Delicious! And hey… I like cookies that spread. And yes, they were still wet at 10 minutes. A couple more minutes in the oven gave me exactly what I like in a cookie… thin, crispy, yummy – but not too sweet.
Lots of complaints about this recipe… but my batch turned out perfect. It’s a little sweet for my liking, but there’s no reason that the outcome should’ve been anything different.
Happy to hear this, Maycee! We love how these cookies turn out when we make them too 😀
Cookies were great, we added an extra half cup of old fashion oats and an extra egg. Didn’t refrigerate the dough and they were perfect. Loved that they weren’t too sweet.
Happy to hear these tweaks worked for you, Sandra!
I really liked these and so did my kids and husband. Yes a bit wet and had to bake a few extra minutes but the taste is yummy. My only compmaint is they spread too thin. I might add in some extra oats and see if that makes a difderence. All that to say. The cookies themselves are good tasting.
These were yummy! I was worried when I read the reviews, but they turned out great. Perfect for my daughter’s lunches…”cookies” with a more reasonable amount of sugar. I did cook them for a few extra minutes, they still looked wet at the 10min mark.
What a great idea to send in your daughter’s lunches! So glad you enjoyed these cookies 😀
I’m really baffled? Truly? How was this recipe page not updated to reflect the reviews of the current iteration of the recipe. Like others recently, my dough was much too wet and slick and did not bake at all. I guess the oversight of a rating update was overshadowed by the need for page views which I guess the author got? Even though there were multiple individuals who have complaints without any recognition by the recipe author. My guess is that the flour amount was too low; .5 cups??? Yeah, huge pass.
Oh we’re so sorry to hear this, Alexis! Wondering if you refrigerated the dough before baking? We’ve found this to be crucial to hydrating the flour and preventing spreading during baking.
Me encantan las Cafeteras, hace poco tuve la mia averiada, se trataba de una distinguida marca las cafeteras SAECO, no hay lugar a duda que tuve que repararla dado que sin mi café no podía estar.
A diario la uso y me parece de lo mejor! el Café con galletas uf delicioso, les recomiendo también café con pan de leche, muy rico.
Si las cafeteras son de lo mejor
This was not good. I saw this and should of read the reviews before wasting my ingredients. I made them and had to throw them out Sorry for the bad review
Maybe you all should go back and look at this recipe and make sure the measurements are right cause there is NO WAY this is how this is supposed to come out T^T. I used to make the old version all the time and those were great. This was a horrible soggy mess and YES I followed it to the t. I was sure I was doing something wrong but I tried twice and same results. It definitely didn’t need revision so maybe go back to the old one
This was a terrible recipe. The last step, where you put the batter in the fridge, is not cookie like at all. It’s more like cake batter. There is zero chance I could have taken a spoonful and flattened with the palm of my hands. Gooey and weird. Waste of time and ingredients. I wish I’d read the reviews first instead of just looking at the stars. 👎👎
Huge miss. For starters, swapping out a bit of the sugar for maple syrup doesn’t really make these much “healthier”, whatever that even means when you’re making cookies (why are we trying to ‘healthify’ cookies anyways?). But I decided to try the recipe because the maple flavor sounded interesting and I was looking for something a little different. I don’t know there I went wrong, but these ended up being a sloppy mess. They spread out and basically turned into a giant cookie mess on the pan. I’ve reread the recipe a dozen times and can’t figure it out because I followed the recipe exactly. It seems like a half cup of syrup was just too much. Can’t say I’ll make these again. I’ll probably just go back to my regular “unhealthy” cookie recipe.