Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies

These lightly sweetened chewy oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies with rich dark chocolate chunks are the perfect treat to say yes to! With almond flour and oats, and no refined sugar, they’re the healthier version of a classic.

Do you ever crave dessert, but you want it to be healthy?

I do just about every night, and not long ago I wanted to make a healthier version of my original Vanishing Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Cookies.

Thanks to long lines and food magazines, I found the perfect recipe idea for oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies, and it totally hit the spot!

OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHUNK COOKIES

Sometimes you have to compromise a bit on flavor when it comes to making a healthy dessert, but not in this case! These oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are:

• Gluten-free
• Naturally sweetened (without brown sugar)
• Easily adapted to be vegan
• Made without butter or oil
• A healthier dessert option!

But that DOESN’T mean we’re sacrificing taste because these cookies are also:

• Soft
• Chewy
• Just sweet enough
• Freezer-friendly
• Easily made in a food processor

Y’all, these chewy chocolate chip oatmeal cookies are so good, the four of us ate A WHOLE BATCH hot out of the oven and ruined our dinner!

INGREDIENTS FOR DARK CHOCOLATE CHUNK OAT COOKIES

One of my favorite reasons for making this healthy chocolate chunk oat cookies recipe is that you only need a few ingredients:

• Almond butter. This takes the place of the fat in a traditional cookie recipe, but it adds some nutty goodness as well. You can substitute another nut butter, or a nut-free butter as well.
• Maple syrup. You only need ½ cup to sweeten this oatmeal cookie recipe.
• Vanilla. Gives a classic cookie flavor, but you can use almond extract too. (Here’s how to make Homemade Vanilla Extract plus vanilla extract substitutes).
• Egg. The binder and lifting agent. Bring the egg to room temperature before mixing up the cookies. I haven’t tried it yet, but I bet a flax egg would also work here.
• Old-fashioned rolled oats. You can substitute quick-cooking oats if that’s what you have.
• Almond Flour. Instead of wheat flour, almond flour keeps these cookies gluten-free, and it adds a nutty flavor as well.
• Salt and baking soda. Also classic cookie ingredients, you need just ½ teaspoon of each.
• Dark chocolate. I recommend using 70% cocoa or greater here, to get that rich flavor that dark chocolate is known for. You can use semisweet chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, or chop up a chocolate bar.

Notice what we’re NOT using in this cookie recipe…

• White granulated sugar
• Unsalted butter
• All-purpose flour

Not that there’s anything wrong with these ingredients (since butter and sugar are pretty much the staple of nearly every tasty dessert), but by making a few swaps, we’re able to truly make this a healthy cookie!

Note: If you want to avoid chocolate, you can make these healthy oatmeal raisin cookies by substituting raisins for chocolate chips.

MY NEW FAVORITE HEALTHY DARK CHOCOLATE OATMEAL COOKIES

My old Vanishing Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Cookies recipe isn’t NOT healthy, but there’s room for improvement for sure.

I’ve been looking for a good chocolate chip cookie recipe that doesn’t use refined sugar, and it’s been hard to find. I love that this one only uses maple syrup!

Plus, these gluten-free dark chocolate chunk oatmeal cookies use only oats and almond flour. That means they’re safe for my daughter and any other friends who have to be careful about food allergies!

HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE CHUNK OATMEAL COOKIES

These chocolate chunk oatmeal cookies come together super quick when you use a food processor.

Step 1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats.

Step 2. Add all the wet ingredients to a food processor and process until everything is well combined and smooth.

Step 3. Add the dry ingredients and pulse until the oats are broken up and everything is blended up well.

Step 4. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Step 5. Using a cookie scoop, drop the dough onto the baking sheets, leaving about ½” space between the cookie dough balls. There’s no need to chill the dough before baking.

Step 6. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to brown. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to cool completely on wire racks.

OATMEAL COOKIE RECIPE TIPS

Although it’s really easy to make oat flour, I recommend starting with whole old-fashioned rolled oats. That way you end up with the right texture and the cookie doesn’t dry out.

I did test this oatmeal cookie recipe using a blender instead of a food processor and it was just a big mess. I have this food processor and the whole process was REALLY easy.

If you don’t have a food processor, you can process the oats separately and make the dough in a stand mixer, or in a large bowl with an electric mixer.

Bonus points if you use a cookie scoop to make every cookie the same size AND bake uniformly in the oven.

OATMEAL COOKIES FAQS

WANT MORE HEALTHIER COOKIE RECIPES?

Here are some of our favorite cookie recipes that have been made just a bit healthier: