Soft and chewy healthy oatmeal cookies are made with oats, honey, coconut oil, chopped nuts, raisins, chocolate chips, and much more! They’re super nutritious and make a great snack or even breakfast.
It’s almost impossible to turn down cookies of any kind! But when it comes to these easy oatmeal cookies, I’m in food heaven. They are simple to throw together, and you don’t even need to feel guilty when eating them because they are much healthier than traditional oatmeal cookies. Because they are sweetened with honey or maple syrup depending on your preference, they aren’t filled with refined sugars. That is a huge advantage!
Another reason why I’m infatuated with these cookies is that you can do so many things with them. Don’t like coconut oil? No problem, use butter instead! Just ran out of honey? Easy fix, use some maple syrup. Additionally, you can add in any of your favorite ingredients too!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE HEALTHY OATMEAL COOKIES
- Honey: These oatmeal cookies are perfectly sweet with a little bit of honey. You can also substitute maple syrup if you’d rather.
- Coconut oil: Make sure the coconut oil is melted when preparing the oatmeal cookies. You can also swap out the coconut oil for butter.
- Egg: One large egg will do the trick and bind the wet and dry ingredients together beautifully.
- Instant Oats: To get the best texture and flavor combination, reach for instant oatmeal over old-fashioned oats.
- Whole wheat flour: I love the flavor of using whole wheat flour in these cookies! However, you can also use all-purpose flour if you don’t have any wheat flour on hand. Super-versatile recipe!
- Baking powder: Just a little bit, and these cookies with rise perfectly.
- Cinnamon: There is just something amazing about combining cinnamon with oatmeal. It’s a match made in heaven.
- Salt: Bring out the sweetness with a dash of salt!
- Chocolate chips: Adding chocolate chips makes the cookies almost sinful. And if you don’t like chocolate in your cookies, you can skip it!
- Add-Ins: When it comes to add-ins, I have tried a variety of ideas. Raisins, chopped pecans, walnuts, and cranberries are my favorites, but you can choose anything you like! Just don’t add more than 1/4 cup.
HOW TO MAKE EASY OATMEAL COOKIES
Not only will you be impressed with the amazing flavor of these healthy oatmeal cookies, but how easy they are to make too! Start off by preparing a baking sheet and preheating the oven.
Mix together the honey, coconut oil, egg, and vanilla in a large bowl. Then add all the dry ingredients to a separate medium-sized bowl. Slowly pour the dry ingredients in with the wet and mix.
Use a cookie scoop and place cookies on the baking sheet. Flatten the cookies, so they are 3/4″ thick and bake for 10 minutes. Let the cookies rest 5 – 10 minutes on the baking sheet then serve!
WHAT ARE THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF OATMEAL?
There are so many fantastic health benefits to eating oatmeal. Adding oats to your diet is a healthy way to get more fiber, magnesium, iron, zinc, folate, protein, and more. Plus, they are an excellent source of antioxidants too.
In addition to all the nutrients and antioxidants, oatmeal is also naturally gluten-free. So, if you eat a gluten-free diet, you can easily add them in! It’s important to note that if you are gluten-free that you make sure that they are certified gluten-free because otherwise there could have been some gluten cross-contamination.
HOW DO YOU STORE HEALTHY OATMEAL COOKIES?
You should always store homemade oatmeal cookies in an airtight container. They will last 4-5 days in your pantry or all the way up to 6 months in the freezer. They are perfect for doubling the batch and having leftovers for later! Or making ahead when you want a sweet treat for an event or party.
It’s important to keep the oatmeal cookies away from heat sources like the stove, moisture, and direct sunlight.
The Best Healthy Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup honey or maple syrup, can use 1/2 cup for sweeter cookies
- 1/4 cup coconut oil or unsalted butter, (melted)
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup instant oats
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, (or all-purpose flour)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup chocolate chips, (optional)
- 1/4 cup raisins
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, foil or silicone baking mat and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the honey, coconut oil, egg, and vanilla. In a medium bowl whisk, all the dry ingredients then stir them into the wet mixture.
- Drop cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet using a medium-large cookie scoop and flatten to about ¾’’ thickness. Bake 10 minutes then allow in the pan for at least 5-10 minutes and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Tried it for my toddler! Turned out really well. I didn’t have honey so used 1/2 cup brown sugar with 2 tablespoon hot water & replaced butter with equal amounts refined oil. Super yum! Crispy on the edges & just the right amount of gooey!
Yum! Thanks for the detailed feedback 🙂
Wow! I was really craving oatmeal cookies but don’t use sugar. I did 1/4 cup honey and 1/4 cup molasses. Melted together with coconut oil. Added the egg and baking powder and cinnamon. Added two tablespoons freshly grated ginger and a tablespoon of tumeric and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper for my autoimmune issues. Stirred in old fashioned oats and let them sit and absorb the goodness for about 15 minutes, stirred in enough almond meal to make it thick like a pudding. Then I dropped them by tablespoons with lots of space and baked for about 10 minutes. Thin, crispy on the bottom but chewy in the middle….soooo good. I realize it was an entirely different cookie but couldn’t have gotten there without your recipe. Thanks for the inspiration.
I just made this recipe for the third time. It’s Super easy and Super delicious! Great for a quick breakfast or a healthy snack , anytime! My family looooves it! Thanks for sharing. I think this will be our family’s all time favorite!
Happy to hear that!
I didn’t love them, but my husband did. I planned on eating some for breakfast but he finished them all 😭
I put in 1/2 cup of regular granulated sugar instead of honey. I was looking for an oatmeal cookie that didn’t have 2 cups of sugar, so not necessarily healthy but at least reasonable.
These are so good! An excellent treat to make when watching the waistline LOL. I added walnuts to mine and WOW, I’ll definitely be making these again <3
If I only have old fashioned oats, will it still work or is there an additional step I could take to make it work?
Thanks! Look forward to making these soon.
I pulsed them up a bit before using – now I saw that others asked same question. I should have looked before. I added coconut flakes, choco chips, flaxseed, almonds, walnuts, and some clove spice– so yummy! I used coconut oil and honey. I baked a few extra minutes. Very easy and versatile. I baked 4 and froze the rest of pre-formed cookies. I look forward to popping them in the oven for fresh cookies in future. Thank you for a delicious and simple recipe 🙂
These are so yummy!Thank you.
You can go ahead and use them 🙂
Tasted great!! Second time i made it. My kids love them. I use Golden Syrup instead and added almond and choc chip. I may have to triple the recipe next time as it doesnt last that long in our household. Thanks for this healthy oatmeal cookies recipe!
This is the third time I made this cookies. It taste better each time. I used maple syrup from Trader Joe’s and used butter instead of the coconut oil. Added extra chocolate chips… it is deliciouso!
So happy to hear all my recipe testing paid off!
This looks great! I’m hoping to make this later today and I was wondering if I could use almond flour instead of all purpose? Thanks!
I haven’t tested it with almond flour yet but I would give it a try!
I have just made it last night with almond flour and it was super delicious! Definitely recommend it!
Does using almond flour change the recipe at all or do I add same amount as if I were using normal flour?
Was wondering the same….do I need to change amount of flour is using almond flour?
Delicious and so easy!! Will def be making them again:)
Enjoy!
Hi Layla, We made these according to the recipe and added 1/4 cup dark chocolate chunks, 1/4 cup toasted flake coconut AND 1/4 CUP toasted pecans chopped. The cookies were delicious, we like frozen cookies and they were perfect.
Question please, can we make these as bars instead and double the recipe for easy grab and go nutrition?
Thank you.
I haven’t tried these as bars and I’m not sure they will hold up with the current ratios. To make them into bars, I would test with a little more coconut oil and flour.
These cookies taste delicious!
I followed the recipe exactly choosing to use: 1/4c melted butter, 1/3c honey, and 1/4c coconut flakes instead of the chocolate chips. I am a fan of cinnamon so I enjoyed the cinnamon flavor! I sprinkled some ground flax seed on top of the cookies before baking since I had some that I wanted to use up. I baked mine at 350 for 15 minutes and they turned out slightly crispy around the edges and just right in the center. I like the crispy/soft combo in my cookies so it was perfect!
Thank you for such a wonderful recipe. Sometimes it can be difficult to find healthier cookie recipes that have good flavor and textures : )
PS. I am making another batch with chocolate chips and toasted coconut flakes instead of the raisins : )
Looks great. I’m a little confused with the extras. Does that mean I could add
1/4 cup of canberries
1/4 cup of choc chips
1/4 cup of walnuts
1/4 cup of other nuts?
How many 1/4 cup extras can you add?
We tested with up to 3 add-ins and it did not change the texture 🙂
These were so delicious!! I’m now making my third batch for my little one. Can I sub the coconut oil/butter for olive oil?
Can we powder the instant oats? The first batch I made came out amazingly great.
That sounds like a good idea but I’m not sure how it would impact the texture. Definitely something to add to my list!
So simple in terms of the ingredients and the preparation. Also relatively guilt free. I’ll definitely use this recipe again.
I don’t normally take the time to write comments even if I live the recipe but this deserves it. They are so good and don’t make you feel guilty. So perfect if you’re craving sweet things.
I would like to make these cookies
Can I use canola oil instead of coconut oil? If so what would be the ratio?
Thank you
Yes, you can. It would be a 1:1 ratio.
I used ghee instead of oil and added hemp seeds and almond shavings. With maple syrup. Epic!!
I’ve made these twice with honey and they were great. Can you use monk fruit sugar instead of liquid sweetener and the recipe still be moist enough?
I haven’t tested it with that but the cookies should still be fine as the cookies are super moist.
Made them for the first time this evening. They taste great! … Any tips on how to get them more crunchy? 🙂️
made these for the first time tonight, my family is on a no processed sugar or flour fast and was craving something sweet and this was just what we needed. Thank you so much!
Happy you enjoyed them!!
If you want the cookies crunchy, flatten them a bit and cook them longer. I just made some and cooked them 14 minutes and they were a crunchier. Next time I will probably cook them a bit longer. Just add 2 minutes at a time so you don’t burn them.
We really like the recipe but find it too sweet. Now that I have cut down the honey, is there another way to make it more moist?
You could try substituting some of the honey with applesauce which tends to be less sweat but will still give you the moisture.
That is what I’m thinking of trying. I am looking to make these this week for the first time.
Refined or Unrefined coconut oil? Which do we use for this Recipe?
Refined coconut oil works well.
I researched for a simple oatmeal cookie recipe that was lower in fat, used natural sweeteners, and didn’t have a ton of flour in it. This hit the mark. I have my first batch in the oven. The five stars may be premature as I haven’t tasted the final product, however, the batter tastes great! I actually cut the butter in half (so 2 Tbsp.) and added 1/4c applesauce. I also used up my honey, which was a bit less than 1/4c, so I made up the difference w/ maple syrup. I added raisins and a little dried cranberries, and am using a triple chocolate chip mix. I basically am cleaning out the fridge and freezer of my in-laws. My mother in law did a lot of baking, especially this time of year. I figured I’d do my best to find some healthier recipes, and voila! The five stars is also for ease, great ingredients, and as I said, the batter taste so far. I may experiment w/ some other variations next as well! Thanks for a great healthy oatmeal cookie recipe! ~ Tracy
Tracy you cook like I do ;-D
Hi. Do these cookies get a little crispy on the outside & chewy inside? Or, are they soft & more cakey?
Thanks
Just amazing… this is the best oatmeal cookie recipe ever!!! Thank you so much for this!! 🤎🤎
are there any substitutes for honey?
You can use maple syrup or agave.
Was looking for a healthy cookie. These cookies turned out very yummy. It did seem like the batter was a bit wet (it may be due to me adding in 2 eggs, but I was trying to equal the 1 large egg) so I added in 2 tbl of grounded oats. Baked for 10 mins. Delish!! Thank you, Layla for posting.
Can I use rolled oats? Thank you!
Yes, rolled-oats work!
Turned out really yummy. Can we substitute maple sugar with coconut sugar or brown sugar? If yes how much would you recommend?
Subbing with sugar would throw the wet/dry ratios off but I would test with the same amount and see how it turns out!
I’m never going back to a regular recipe! These are delicious and I love the hint of coconut flavour from the coconut oil! What a great alternative. Texture is a bit like a cake, but I love that too! Thanks for this gem of a recipe!
I agree!
Followed the recipe exactly (omitting chocolate chips). Only used raisins but will include nuts next time for some crunch. Made 8 larger/flatter cookies instead of 16 and baked for 11 minutes. Not too sweet which I like. Delicious!
Just made these. Follow exactly as recipe and it came out soooo yummy!!!!
This recipe is super easy! I’m about to make these cookies for the 2nd time. Last time, I used about a Tbsp butter and coconut oil for the rest, Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 (gluten free) flour, maple syrup, chocolate chips and craisins. I cut the amount of cinnamon in half. They came out pretty good. Still too much cinnamon, but that’s only because of the chocolate. It would be good with the traditional oatmeal raisin flavors (I would still cut the amount in half though. A Tsp of cinnamon is a lot, especially if it’s high quality). Also, after 10 mins of cooking, they still seemed too wet and not fully set. I kept them in for almost 2 more mins, but then they were a bit overdone. So, this time, I’m gonna omit the cinnamon and add a little cocoa powder. And I think I’ll take them out at 10 mins, even if they don’t look quite done.
My family loved them! What can I add to this recipe to make them a bit moist? since we use whole wheat flour… would greek yogurt be an option? if yes how much? If not what would and how much? thank you!
The recipe makes very moist cookies. If you found your cookies on the dry side. I would add a little less flour next time.
How many cookies does this recipe make?
The recipe should make about 16 cookies.
These came out great! I was looking for a healthy cookie recipe so we could have a treat but not a lot of sugar. I pretty much stuck to the recipe with only a couple of tweaks. I used honey and unsalted butter, I had quick oats on hand instead of instant, I used 1/4 c. whole wheat flour and 1/4 c. all-purpose flour since all whole wheat comes out heavy, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon because I don’t like the strong flavor with the chocolate, and I used a little less than 1/4 c. of all three- golden raisins, cranberries and semi-sweet chocolate chips.
I made them larger so I had only 10 instead of 16 so the cook time was 18 minutes. They were yummy! Thanks for the recipe!
This was a delicious recipe. Thank you!
Can you substitute almond flour to make it grain free?
I haven’t tested it with almond flour so I can’t say for the exact ratios!
Hi,
Can I use old fashioned rolled oats?
Yes, as long as they are rolled oats they will work!
The instructions mention vanilla but the ingredients list does not…I always eyeball it anyways but just a heads up 🙂
Thanks for the heads up! Updated 🙂
I need to use almond or coconut floor. Can you provide measurements for either. Thank you
I haven’t tested the recipe with almond flour but it should be a 1:1 ratio.
How much vanilla?
1 teaspoon!