Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies are gluten-free, dairy-free, low in sugar, and made in one bowl with common pantry ingredients.
Try other nutritious baked goods next: Banana Bread With Greek Yogurt, chocolate-frosted Healthy Brownies, or Healthy Ice Cream (no bananas!).
Table of Contents
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies Healthy
After sharing these Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies, I wanted to create an oatmeal chocolate-chip version with similar goals in mind:
- Simple Ingredients: No need for specialty stores—you likely have everything in your pantry!
- Nutritious: These cookies use ingredients packed with benefits. There’s a small amount of sugar, much less than typical oatmeal cookies.
- Easy Prep: Just one bowl, a hand whisk, and a wooden spoon are all you need for freshly baked Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.
What To Expect From This Recipe
This recipe isn’t for classic Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. Without loads of butter, sugar, and chocolate, these cookies taste different. They’re crunchy with a sandy texture, dry, and a bit crumbly.
Flavor-wise, they’re oat-y with a bit of dark chocolate, and not very sweet. If you like oats, you’ll enjoy them; if not, this might not be for you. For extra sweetness, add more brown sugar. A pinch of sea salt on top adds the perfect touch of salty-sweetness!
Let’s Talk Oats
Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies use oats in three different forms:
- Old-fashioned oats
- Quick oats
- Oat flour
Before you get overwhelmed (Didn’t I say no specialty ingredients after all?!), if you have oats, you can have oat flour in a matter of minutes.
How to make powdered oats: Add the old-fashioned oats or quick oats to a food processor or small blender jar. Pulse or blend the oats until they are ground into a powder-like consistency that resembles flour. Stir the oats around to be sure that all the oats have been finely ground and there aren’t any whole oats left. (This affects the texture and liquid absorption of these cookies.)
Quick Tip
Make sure to measure the oats once they’ve been blended into a powder and not before. Gently pack the oats into the measuring cup and level the top off. It’s important to measure the oat flour correctly for the recipe to work properly.
How To Make Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Melt Coconut Oil: Microwave until liquid, then cool. Measure after melting.
- Blend Oats: Process into fine flour. Measure after blending.
- Combine Wet Ingredients: Whisk together wet ingredients. Use room-temperature ingredients.
- Add Dry Ingredients: Mix in oat flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and chocolate chips. Stir until combined.
- Chill Dough: Chill for 30 minutes, shape into balls, then chill again for 30 minutes.
- Bake: At 350°F for 7-9 minutes. Slightly under bake for best texture.
- Cool and Serve: Let stand before transferring to a cooling rack. Handle gently; they’re fragile.
Other Ingredients In Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Below are some notes about the ingredients in this recipe.
- Oats: You need both quick and old-fashioned oats for the right texture and structure.
- Vanilla extract, salt, and cinnamon: These add important flavor. If you don’t like cinnamon, you can use less, but it will change the taste.
- Egg: Helps bind the cookies and gives them a little rise.
- Baking soda: Important for the structure of the cookies—make sure it’s fresh.
- Coconut oil: Adds flavor and texture. Measure it in liquid form and let it cool to room temperature before adding. Other oils won’t work the same.
- Brown sugar (or coconut sugar): Adds necessary sweetness with just 4-6 tablespoons, much less than most cookie recipes.
- Dark chocolate chips: These add sweetness and flavor. Any type of chocolate chip works, but milk or semi-sweet chips have more sugar. Check the labels for fewer additives.
Quick Tip
While the ingredients in these bars are naturally gluten-free, make sure to check all your ingredient labels to verify they weren’t processed in a facility with gluten.
Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Tips
- Measure Carefully: Baking needs precise measurements. Level the tops of measuring cups with a metal spatula or knife.
- Follow the Recipe: Stick to the recipe; substitutions may not work well here.
- Use Room-Temperature Ingredients: Make sure the egg and melted coconut oil are at room temperature.
- Measure Dough Balls: Each should be 1½ tablespoons or 30 grams- use a cookie scoop. Roll and slightly flatten before baking. Expect about 14-15 cookies.
- Bake on a Lined Pan: Use a silicone liner or parchment paper for even baking and easy cleanup.
- Let Cool: Cookies are crumbly when hot. Let them cool on the tray before transferring to a rack.
- Handle Carefully: Cookies are delicate; move them gently to avoid crumbling.
Storage
Storage: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Freezing Dough Balls: Freeze dough balls on a parchment-lined sheet until solid, then transfer to an airtight container or bag. Bake directly from frozen, adding 1-2 minutes to the baking time.
More Nutritious Treats:
- Healthy No-Bake Cookies chocolate and peanut butter flavored
- Monster Cookies with a healthy twist
- Healthy Blueberry Muffins with Greek yogurt
- Chocolate Granola Bar with dark chocolate and coconut oil
- Healthy Pumpkin Muffins with dark chocolate
Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- Blender or food processor
- Sheet pan
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut oil see note 1
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 tablespoons light brown sugar lightly packed, see note 2
- 3/4 cup oat flour regular oats blended in a blender—see note 3
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1/4 cup quick oats
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt or 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips see note 4
Instructions
- Melt the coconut oil in the microwave until it is liquid. Measure once fully melted. Set aside to cool back to room temperature—it should not be hot when adding to the recipe.
- Add old-fashioned or quick oats to a blender or food processor. Blend or process until the oats are fine and resemble flour; stir and reblend if needed so that all the oats are a fine powder. Measure the oat flour after blending to get a level and gently packed 3/4 cup oat flour. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine cooled coconut oil, vanilla extract, egg, and brown sugar in a bowl. Briskly whisk everything together until completely smooth.
- Add oat flour, old-fashioned oats, quick oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt to the wet ingredients. Mix with a wooden spoon and stir until just combined, then stir in the chocolate chips. The dough is very wet—this is normal.
- Cover the dough tightly and chill for 30 minutes. Don’t skip chilling, but don’t chill longer than 30 minutes or the dough will be nearly impossible to shape! Remove dough and use a 1-1/2 tablespoon measuring spoon or cookie scoop to measure out cookie dough balls. Tightly roll the balls, then slightly flatten. You should get about 14 dough balls. They must be this size for correct baking. Place the balls on a parchment-paper-lined plate, then chill all the rolled dough balls for another 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Once dough balls have chilled, transfer them to a lined sheet pan, spacing them out 2-inches apart. Bake for 7–9 minutes (I think they’re perfect at 8 minutes) or until no longer gooey-looking on top. Slightly under-baking is best for flavor and texture. Carefully remove the tray from the oven. If desired, press a few chocolate chips into the tops of the cookies. It makes them look pretty and ensures chocolate in every bite! Once those chips have melted a bit, add a sprinkle of sea salt onto the melted chocolate if desired. Let the cookies sit on the sheet pan 5 minutes. Then use a spatula to carefully remove cookies to a cooling rack. Handle carefully; these cookies are very delicate and crumbly.
- Enjoy hot, warm, or at room temperature (I like them best right out of the oven!). Cookies are best the same day they’re made—they get harder and less sweet every day following.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Measure the ingredients carefully. As with most baked goods, loosely measuring may result in cookies that do not work out properly.
- Even tried-and-true substitutions (like flax egg for regular egg, vegetable oil for coconut oil, or almond flour for oat flour) don’t work the same in these cookies—this recipe is fairly particular.
- Use room-temperature ingredients. It’s best if the egg and melted coconut oil are at room temperature. This ensures even emulsification of ingredients instead of a cold egg seizing up in warm or hot coconut oil.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I was craving the giant crazy unhealthy costco cookies so i did myself a favor and googled healthy chocolate cookies instead 🙂 and found your recipe! Any cookie recipe requiring only 4 tbsp of sugar is good in my book! I hate overlyy sweet anything, so these sounded perfect! Baking my second sheet right now and my kitchen smells divine!
i really wanted these, but was missing some ingredients and was unable to go buy them, so i did make some substitutions…sorry 🙂
i used regular butter instead of coconut oil and instead of brown sugar, i used 2 tbsp white sugar plus 2 tbsp maple syrup. I also added 2 tbsp flax meal. For the cocholate, i only had milk chocolate, which i chopped up and also threw in about 1/4 cup macadamia nuts and cashews (fished those out of a jar of mixed nuts). The results are amazing!!!! Sorry i can’t comment on the original recipe, but I’m sure they taste great!
I am definitley keeping this recipe! It is sweet enough that my kids won’t complain they are healthy cookies 🙂 i also baked mine longer, about 12 minutes, as i like my cookies on the crispy side. Centers are soft, edges crunchy…heavenly! Already ate 2…
Yay!!! I’m so thrilled these were such a big hit and I love that you added a bunch of nuts — sounds delicious! So happy you enjoyed these! Thanks for the comment 🙂
Hi Chelsea,
Great job with the blog! I love seeing people following their passions. This is what life is about!
I found your recipe after I decided that it was time to make some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Based on all of the comments, I’m going to assume that these are pretty good! Thanks for the recipe.
Hey Matt! Thank you so much for your encouragement, that means a lot to me! I hope you thoroughly enjoy these cookies 🙂 Best!
What substitute could be used for Coconut Oil? I am severally allergic to it.
It won’t be as healthy but I believe butter works. However, that is just based off of others reviews so I really can’t say for sure without further recipe testing.
No one else seems to be having this issue, but both times I’ve made these, my cookies have come out FLAT except for the very center. They are also quite oily and soft.
I used LouAna coconut oil. I used rolled oats and made my own flour and blended them just a little for the quick oats. All ingredients used were the same. I followed recipe EXACTLY the first time, then because those didn’t work I tried not melting the oil the second time since it was already soft and blended in just fine. The second batch held up a little better, but still mostly flat. I chilled them 1 hr first time, 30 min second time, and chilled both times after balling (since I had to use my hands- but handled very quickly and as little as possible). I don’t know what else to do ? but I adore the flavor of these cookies. Please help! ?
I’m sorry you’re having some problems with flat cookies Abb. I’d suggest trying the following: add a bit more oat flour, allow the coconut oil to harden a little bit and cool completely (after melting it to measure it) before adding it to the other ingredients, make sure your baking soda is fresh, make sure the oven is completely pre-heated before putting them in the oven, and try freezing your cookie dough balls for 5-10 minutes before baking them after you’ve chilled the dough and rolled them into balls. It could be that your kitchen is warm or your hands are warm and taking away the “chilling effect” of the dough. Hope that helps! Glad you enjoy the flavor!
hi chelsea,
i just made these and it came out a little oilier than i expected. there were rings of bubbling oil around the cookies while it was baking in the oven.is that suppose to happen? i did put in 1/2 cups of liquified coconut oil as stated, and placed it in the fridge for about an hour
should i try and reduce the coconut oil the next time i bake it or place in the fridge a liitle longer?
thanks!
Hey Jan! Thanks for the comment. Yes it seems like the coconut oil is a little off or perhaps you may not have had enough dry ingredients or mis-measured by a little? Baking is tricky! I’d recommend trying less coconut oil next time or making sure the dough is pretty rock hard before trying to bake. You can also try adding a few more oats. Hope that helps! 🙂
These were great, I was looking for a bit healthier of lactation cookies- and somehow stumbled upon this. I made them as is for my first batch. For my second batch I added flax and brewers yeast (made them a bit drier the first day, but the next day after sitting in an airtight container they were soft) and a tad less sugar. I’m getting ready to make them again, just adding just a bit more “wet” ingredients to compensate for the flax/brewers yeast that I added. I definitely recommend taking them out of the oven as soon as they begin to brown on the edges, otherwise they are very crumbly (this was true for the original recipe and my modified one). Thanks for sharing- I love that it is a two bowl, no mixer recipe- I’m off to make more now!
Yay! So happy to hear you enjoyed these so much and were able to make them into lactation cookies 🙂 Thanks for the review!!
Can you use just quick oats?
No, sorry.
Hello d can this dough be frozen prior to baking? I would like to make a double batch!
I’m sorry I’ve never tried freezing the dough so I can’t say for sure
Based on my experience, yes you can freeze the dough for later use. Just be sure to defrost it before you bake the cookies
I made these tonight. Followed all measurements just as it said. This was my first time using oat flour and coconut oil. These cookies came out so delicious even my kids ate them. They are definitely going to be my go-to chocolate chip oatmeal cookie recipe! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Awesome!! That is so, so great to hear! I’m so glad these were so well enjoyed! Thank you Katie!
My cookies were flat! :/ I chilled them for an hour and he dough was hard but once I put them in the oven they got flat. Not sure what I did wrong, any advice?!
Did you substitute any ingredients or leave anything out?