Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

4.79 from 85 votes

Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies are gluten-free, dairy-free, low in sugar, and mixed up in just one bowl with pantry staples!

Prep Time20

Cook Time8

Chilling Time1

Total Time1 28

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American, Healthy, Vegetarian

Keyword: Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Servings: cookies

Author: Chelsea Lords

Cost: $3.48

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

US - Metric

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

Notes

Gluten Free: While the ingredients in these cookies are naturally gluten-free, check all your ingredient labels to verify they weren’t processed in a facility with gluten.

Note 1: Coconut oil brands vary in strength; I use LouAna Coconut Oil. It is very important the oil is fully cooled to room temperature (if you touch it and don’t feel a temperature, it’s at room temperature) before adding to this recipe.

Note 2: If you aren’t used to healthier treats, increase the brown sugar to 5–6 tablespoons (I typically use 6 tablespoons). Most of the sweetness in these cookies comes from chocolate chips.

Note 3: Regular, old-fashioned oats or quick oats will work to blend into oat flour. Make sure the oats are completely and thoroughly blended to a powder before measuring. Gently pack in a measuring cup and level off the top.

Note 4: Why dark chocolate? Dark chocolate is known for its high antioxidant and mineral content and is a great source of healthy fats; read about the benefits of dark chocolate here. Any type of chocolate works, but milk or semi-sweet chips will be slightly less nutritious.

A few quick tips:

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.

Storage: I recommend freezing unbaked cookie dough instead of freezing baked cookies. Drop the cookie dough balls on a large sheet pan and freeze until solid. Once solid, transfer the frozen dough balls to an airtight container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake these cookies straight from the freezer, though you may need to add an extra minute to bake time.

Nutrition