The Best Dark Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Recipe (soft & chewy!) (2024)

By Tiffany Published July 8, 2019 • Last Updated March 6, 2020 10 Comments

We think these dark chocolate chip oatmeal cookies are the best! Not only are they healthy (no refined sugar!), but they’re made with old fashioned oats and are naturally gluten-free.

Do you ever crave a healthy dessert?

I do just about every night, and not long ago I wanted to make a healthier version of my original oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe.

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

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

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

• Gluten-free
• Naturally sweetened (without brown sugar)
• Easily adapted to be vegan
• Made without butter or oil
• Naturally healthy

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

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

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

Ingredients for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of my favorite reasons for making this healthy cookie recipe is that you only need a few ingredients:

1. 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.
2. Maple Syrup. We need just 1/2 cup to sweeten our cookies.
3. 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).
4. Egg. Our binder and lifting agent. Use a room temperature egg, if you can remember.
5. Old-fashioned Rolled Oats. Can substitute quick-cooking oats if that’s what you have.
6. Almond Flour.
7. Salt & Baking Soda. Also classic cookie ingredients, we’re using 1/2 teaspoon of each.
8. Dark Chocolate. I recommend using 70% cocoa or greater here, to get that rich flavor that dark chocolate is known for. You can use chips or chop up a chocolate bar.

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

• white 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 good 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 the chocolate chips.

My New Favorite Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

My old oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe isn’t NOT healthy, but there’s room for improvement for sure.

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

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

How to Make Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies from Scratch

These cookies come together super quick when you use a food processor. It’s as simple as 1-2-3-4:

1. Add all the liquid ingredients and process well.
2. Add the dry ingredients and pulse until the oats are broken up and everything is blended up well.
3. Fold in the chocolate chips.
4. Bake! (chilling the dough is not required)

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

I did test this 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 a hand mixer.

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

Can You Freeze Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies?

Yes! I often make double or triple batches and then freeze them for later. I like to add a cookie to the kids’ lunches – it’s such a treat for them, and there’s no guilt about giving them a bunch of sugar!

Want healthier cookie recipes?

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

• Healthy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies(one of our other go-to oatmeal cookie recipes!)
• Healthier Candy Cane Cookies
• Healthier Cut-out Sugar Cookies
• Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting
• Molasses Breakfast Cookies

Dark Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Print Recipe

★★★★★5 from 1 review

We think these dark chocolate chip oatmeal cookies are the best! Not only are they healthy (no refined sugar!), but they’re made with old fashioned oats and are naturally gluten-free.

• Author: Tiffany
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 12 mins
• Total Time: 22 mins
• Yield: 28 1x
• Category: Dessert
• Method: Blend and bake
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale

• ½ cup almond butter
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup almond flour
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ cup dark chocolate chips (70% cocoa or greater)

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper (I use and LOVE these baking sheets) or with re-usable Silpat mats (I have these mats).
2. Add the wet ingredients to the food processor: almond butter, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and egg. Process until everything is well combined and smooth.
3. Add the wet ingredients: oats, almond flour, salt, and baking soda. Pulse until the oats are broken up and the ingredients are blended together about 10 to 15 pulses.
4. Fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Using a cookie scoop, drop the dough onto the cookie sheets, leaving about ½” space between the cookies.
6. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to brown on the edges. Cool completely on wire racks.

Keywords: Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies