These healthy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are a simple and delicious dessert that uses simple ingredients! No eggs or dairy needed, they take just 12 minutes to cook!
Why this healthy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe will be a favorite-
- Ready in 12 minutes. From prep to plate, these cookies take just 12 minutes to bake.
- Made in one bowl. You’ll have minimal clean up at the end of this.
- No eggs or dairy. These are perfect if you follow a vegan, dairy free, and/or gluten free diet.
- Soft, chewy, and delicious. These cookies tick the boxes in the texture department.
What I love about these cookies is how deceptively delicious they are. Everyone who has tried them can’t tell that they are secretly healthy!
How to make healthy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
The Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour- You can use white whole-wheat flour (plain flour) if you’d like an even healthier boost.
- Rolled Oats- Also known as old fashioned oats.
- Baking soda- Gives the cookies some rise, and stops them from flattening out too much.
- Salt- Brings out the sweetness!
- Coconut Sugar- A refined sugar free sweetener, I often replace brown sugar in recipes with coconut sugar. You can use brown sugar if that is all you have on hand.
- Granulated Sugar- White sugar or table sugar. I only used a smaller amount. You can use extra coconut sugar instead. See my notes below to replace the sugar.
- Maple syrup- Gives the cookies a little extra sweetness, and brings out the classic oatmeal cookie flavor. Only a little is necessary, so it won’t be overpowering.
- Applesauce- Adds extra moisture, and helps cut down on the coconut oil needed.
- Coconut Oil- Gives the cookies a buttery texture, with no butter at all.
- Vanilla Extract- A must for any good cookie recipe.
- Chocolate Chips- I used a mix of dark chopped chocolate and dark chocolate chips. I find adding chopped chocolate to the batter ensures every bite has chocolate in it. I promise you the dark chocolate chip flavor is so much better than other kinds of chocolate!
The Instructions
Prepare the oven: Line a large baking tray with parchment paper and set that aside and preheat the oven.
Make the cookie dough: In a large mixing bowl, mix your sugars, maple syrup, applesauce, coconut oil, and vanilla until fully combined. Add the dry ingredients then fold through the chocolate chips.
Refrigerate the dough: Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough for 20 minutes.
Shape and bake the cookies: Using a cookie scoop or a large spoon, place balls of cookie dough onto the lined baking tray. Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes, or just until the edges brown.
Dietary swaps and substitutions
- Make them gluten free. Use certified gluten free oats and gluten free flour (with added xanthan gum).
- Cut out the sugar. Use a brown sugar substitute, sugar free maple syrup and sugar free chocolate chips.
- Cut out the dairy. Use dairy free chocolate chips.
- Lower the carbs. Make keto chocolate chip cookies instead.
- Add mix-ins. Add chopped nuts, seeds, coconut, or even candy.
Tips to make the best recipe
- Do not over-bake the cookies, as they continue to cook as they cool down. Also, these cookies have no eggs, so even if they are underdone by a little, it is fine.
- Avoid over mixing the dough. Over-mixing cookie dough is the number one reason cookies spread. Fold through the oats and chocolate chips at the very end.
- If you don’t have coconut oil on hand, use any neutral oil, like vegetable or canola oil.
- For a more robust flavor, you can use whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat all-purpose flour. You can also try using oat flour.
- To ensure there is plenty of chocolate dispersed throughout the cookies, use a mix of chopped chocolate and chocolate chips (see pictures- that is why there is a gorgeous marbled look).
Storing and freezing instructions
- To store: Place leftover cookies in a sealable container for up to 5 days. You can also refrigerate them, to keep them longer.
- To freeze: Place cookies in a freezer-friendly container and store in the freezer for up to 6 months.
More healthy cookie recipes to try
Frequently Asked Questions
Unlike my chocolate chip cookies, I don’t recommend freezing the dough. Freezing this dough is difficult as it contains oats, which naturally makes the dough less firm and more crumbly (even before baking!).
There are just 97 calories in each homemade oatmeal cookie.
You can replace the coconut oil with equal parts unsalted butter or shortening.
Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (Award Winning!)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour use gluten-free, if needed
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats use gluten-free, if needed
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper and set aside. Alternatively, use two baking trays, to avoid cookies from overspreading.
- In a large mixing bowl, add your coconut sugar, white sugar, coconut oil, applesauce and vanilla extract, and mix until fully combined. Then, add your flour, baking soda, and salt, and mix well. Finally, fold through your oats and chocolate chips, until just combined. Do not overmix. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Using a cookie scoop or large spoon, drop balls of cookie dough onto the lined trays, about 2 inches apart.
- Bake the cookies for 15-17 minutes, or until just beginning to go golden brown around the sides. Remove from the oven and let cool on the tray for 10 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Nutrition
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Making this right now- they look delicious!
Hope you enjoy them!
We just made them- they are PERFECT. 5 Stars! These are my new go to vegan gluten free cookies!
That is so great to hear, Hannah!
If using Monk Fruit Sweetener Instead of white sugar and Golden Monk Fruit Sweetener instead of brown sugar, how much of each? Monk fruit sweetener is more potent that sugar so I assume it calls for less. Please advise, thanks!
Hi Joe! I haven’t tried with this recipe, but I’ve found using those to be cup for cup- they aren’t like baking stevia which is overly sweet. Enjoy!
Can I use instant oats ?
Sure can!
Absolutely mouth-watering. My new go-to vegan gluten-free cookies!
Thank you for these wonderful recipe!
Thank you so much, Varsha!
These were just delicious! I substituted the regular flour and used brown rice flour. My kids and I just loved them! They will be gone by tonight. Thank you!
Looks great! Do you need a power-mixer for these or can you just mix with a spoon or spatula?
Spatula is fine.
Can I add coconut into these to make them coconut choc chip oatmeal cookies? Would I have to change anything?
I don’t see why not!
Yum! Made these with whole wheat flour, all coconut sugar (a little less), added ground flax seed, toasted almonds, coconut and cinnamon and omitted the choc chips for a healthy breakfast cookie. I bake a LOT and my boys eat a LOT so sometimes paleo recipes use like 5 eggs and regular recipes use lots of butter and eggs so I was happy this one called for neither! Hooray! So glad to use all ingredients that I always have in the pantry.
Can I substitute almond flour for regular flour?
Used one egg instead of applesauce. They tasted amazing- so good. But, they were really hard to get off the pan and didn’t really firm up. But worth it!
These are my favorite vegan oatmeal cookies! I make a variation with coconut, dairy free white chocolate, and tart cherries. People always love them and they smell heavenly. I also like that it’s simple ingredients. Thank you for your recipe!
You are so welcome!
Awesome cookies! Thank you for sharing your recipe. 🙂
I made them this afternoon. I did use coconut oil and both white sugar/coconut sugar. Also I added a little bit of unsweetened coconut as well as chopped up a half Belgium milk chocolate bar to go with the semi- sweet chocolate chips.
Followed your instructions as written and they turned out great!!! I had to try one right away…just to check. lol.
Hahaha you must always try it straight away 😀
Are the calories for the whole recipe or per cookie?
per cookie
I followed the recipe’s directions, then as they were cooking, realized I had an unused bottle of maple syrup on my counter. This was in the ingredients list, but not the instructions. That being said, they were pretty good and plenty sweet! They would have benefited from the extra moisture the maple syrup provides (or even 2T more oil or applesauce). I had to mash mine down with a fork mid way through. I added about 1/3 cup walnuts and 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds as well.