Recently, my mom and I met up for a girls’ weekend. We booked a room at a hotel partway between our two cities and arranged to arrive in the early afternoon on Friday, giving us enough time to drop off our bags, change clothes, and walk to one of our favorite restaurants in the area. We adore their salads and pizza, and they were also featuring a brand new dessert on the menu we really wanted to try!
That morning, after packing a few last-minute items in my suitcase and triple checking I remembered my toothbrush (unlike last time — whoops!), I loaded it into the trunk of my car. Slipping behind the wheel, I grabbed my sunglasses, reversed out of the garage, and started my drive.
As I navigated the freeway and left town, I thought about the other potential activities on our weekend agenda, my mind wandering through the wide variety of options… Until I spotted a few hand-painted signs off to the right.
“California Strawberries” “U-Pick”
Rows and rows of lush green bushes flew past my car’s windows, people occasionally dotting the acres of fields with some crouched down to pluck their own berries, and I briefly contemplated a quick stop. Fresh, sweet, locally grown strawberries sounded positively irresistible!
But… Then I realized even that short of a detour could easily add an extra hour to my trip. Los Angeles traffic can be brutal! I continued on my way instead and pulled into the hotel’s parking lot merely one minute after my mom (a minor miracle, given that we both had driven hundreds of miles to get there!), yet after our very fun weekend…
That farm inspired me to bake a batch of these healthy strawberry oatmeal breakfast cookies! They’re perfect for busy mornings, grab-and-go meal prep, and even afternoon snacks. (For both kids and adults!)
My mom and I are already planning another girls’ weekend… So maybe I should make more for us to enjoy before leaving town this time!
QUICK OVERVIEW – HEALTHY STRAWBERRY OATMEAL BREAKFAST COOKIES
Difficulty: Fairly easy, including for many beginner bakers.
Taste: Lightly sweetened with bright pops of fruit flavor set against a cozy backdrop of comforting oats and hints of warm cinnamon.
Texture: Supremely soft and chewy with lots of juicy berry morsels throughout.
INGREDIENTS TO MAKE HEALTHY STRAWBERRY OATMEAL BREAKFAST COOKIES
Let’s talk about what you’ll need to make your own batch of these healthy strawberry oatmeal breakfast cookies! Since most are common baking ingredients, there’s a decent chance you have the majority of them in your kitchen already.
Oats. It’s impossible to make oatmeal cookies without them! For this recipe, you’ll need instant oats. They’re also called “quick cooking” and “one minute” oats. Despite what many people think, they’re not the ones sold in individual packets with flavors like apple cinnamon or maple brown sugar!
Just like old-fashioned rolled oats, instant oats consist of one ingredient: oats. The main difference? They’re smaller and thinner than old-fashioned rolled oats. This means they soften faster, which gives your healthy oatmeal breakfast cookies the best soft and chewy texture.
Hint: That’s why I use instant oats to make nearly all of my healthy oatmeal cookie recipes — as well as my healthy oatmeal muffins and healthy oatmeal snack cakes. They yield an incredible texture in all of these baked goods!
Stores typically stock instant oats on the breakfast cereal aisle, right next to the containers of old-fashioned rolled oats. If you don’t see anything labeled “instant oats,” then check for bags or canisters with one of their other names (“quick cooking oats” or “one minute oats”).
Tip: If you’d like to make your healthy strawberry oatmeal breakfast cookies gluten-free, then substitute certified gluten-free instant oats. They work perfectly!
Flour. To make these strawberry breakfast cookies healthier, I opted for whole wheat flour. It has more fiber and micronutrients compared to all-purpose flour, and its subtle nutty undertones add to these cookies’ cozy and comforting flavor.
Tip: If you’d like to make your healthy strawberry oatmeal breakfast cookies gluten-free, then see the Notes section of the recipe. I’ve shared how to do so there!
Cinnamon. It feels taboo to make oatmeal cookies without any cinnamon! I worried about its flavor overpowering the sweet yet delicate strawberries, so I tested batches with various amounts. Ironically enough… Everyone loved the batch with the largest amount of cinnamon the most! It magically strengthened the berries’ fresh fruity notes, and its cozy flavor complemented them perfectly.
Tip: I highly recommend Saigon cinnamon! It has a slightly sweeter, stronger, and richer flavor compared to regular cinnamon. Many stores now offer it, but I generally buy mine online here. It’s really affordable and practically the only kind of cinnamon I now use in my baking!
Baking powder. A common baking staple! Baking powder is the leavening agent in these breakfast cookies. It gives them a teensy lift and helps create their supremely soft and chewy texture.
Salt. Another traditional baking ingredient! Salt enhances the other flavors and balances everything out.
Unsalted butter or coconut oil. Unlike traditional cookie recipes that call for ¼ to ½ cup, you only need 1 tablespoon to make these. That really helps keep your healthy strawberry oatmeal breakfast cookies low calorie and low fat!
Egg. The egg acts like glue and binds together the other ingredients. The yolk also produces a moister and chewier texture.
Vanilla extract. One more standard baking staple! A splash of vanilla boosts the rich and cozy background flavor of these breakfast cookies.
Sweetener. I chose pure maple syrup as the sweetener for this breakfast cookie recipe. It’s the kind that comes directly from maple trees and only includes one ingredient: maple syrup. It often comes in thin glass bottles or squat plastic jugs (like this), and you can usually find it on either the baking aisle or the breakfast aisle at the grocery store.
Tip: I don’t recommend substituting pancake syrup or sugar-free maple syrup. These also include other ingredients, which affects the way they behave in baking recipes. This is particularly true of sugar-free maple syrup! It’s often water-based, which yields a cake-like or bready texture, rather than the familiar soft and chewy consistency of traditional oatmeal cookies.
One important thing to note… Because these are breakfast cookies (not dessert ones!), you’ll only use half the amount of sweetener compared to my regular oatmeal cookie recipes. To compensate for the “missing” other half…
Milk. You’ll add milk to the cookie dough! Nearly any type will work. I reach for nonfat milk and unsweetened vanilla almond milk the most, and both yield delicious results.
Tip: If you use coconut oil and unsweetened vanilla almond milk — or any other non-dairy milk — then your healthy strawberry oatmeal breakfast cookies will be dairy-free!
Strawberries. After driving past that local farm, I opted for fresh strawberries to make these breakfast cookies. They looked so sweet and juicy!
After multiple rounds of testing, I learned that the ripeness of the strawberries greatly impacts the cookies’ overall flavor. If your berries don’t taste very ripe or strong, your cookies end up tasting bland and boring too. Just something to keep in mind when selecting your fresh strawberries… Look for ones that appear exceptionally juicy and ripe for the best results!
HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY STRAWBERRY OATMEAL BREAKFAST COOKIES
With the ingredients now gathered on your kitchen counter, let’s go over how to make the best healthy strawberry oatmeal breakfast cookies. Like I promised earlier, this recipe is easy and straightforward! I also have some tips to ensure your batch turns out wonderfully soft, chewy, and flavorful.
Measure correctly. I could probably recite this bit in my sleep… And I wouldn’t be surprised if I actually do!
It’s extremely important to measure the ingredients correctly. How they’re measured hugely impacts both the taste and texture.
For the oats and flour, use this method or a kitchen scale. (← That’s the one I own!) Do NOT scoop either one directly from the container with your measuring cups. This can result in adding up to 1 ½ times as much as the recipes calls for. Too much of either one yields a stiff dough, which then leads to cakey, bready, or dry cookies. This is especially true of the oats! They act like little sponges and soak up lots of moisture from the dough.
For the sweetener and milk, use regular measuring cups — NOT a kitchen scale! Although many scales offer options for fluid ounces or mL, these only work for liquids with a density of precisely 1.0g/mL (like water). Since pure maple syrup and milk have different densities, you’d need to look up the exact ones of your particular ingredients. Unless you’d like to do that research and the ensuing math to convert them into grams… Measuring cups will be much faster and more accurate too!
So the quick moral of this little baking story? Take the time to measure the ingredients properly, and you’ll be rewarded with the best flavors and textures in your healthy strawberry oatmeal breakfast cookies!
Dice the strawberries. To ensure they’re evenly distributed and every bite contains multiple fruity morsels, I like to cut the strawberries into ⅛” to ¼” cubes. Yup, that small! You’re welcome to slice yours into larger pieces, if you prefer. Just remember that can sometimes affect how your cookies bake.
Room temperature ingredients. To boost the chewy texture, you’ll melt the butter or coconut oil. (I love how this makes these cookies faster and easier to whip up too. No waiting around for butter to soften!) However…
This means it’s very important that your egg, sweetener, and milk are at room temperature. If any of them are cold, they’ll immediately re-solidify the melted butter or coconut oil into teensy tiny little blobs, and it’ll look like you curdled the mixture. You didn’t! It just looks that way. So just make sure they’re at room temperature before you begin!
Chill. Once you’ve stirred together the cookie dough, it’ll be fairly wet and shaggy, so pop it into the fridge to rest and chill. This helps stiffen it and makes it easier to work with.
Drop + shape. The cookie dough will still be sticky after its stint in the fridge, so instead of your hands, grab a spoon and spatula to drop it onto your baking sheet. Then use a spatula to flatten your mounds of cookie dough and gently shape them into discs. They don’t spread while in the oven, so your cookies will look the same before and after baking — just no longer raw.
Hint: Because someone always asks… I don’t use any special tools to make my cookies look so perfectly round and circular! Just a spoon and one of my favorite mini spatulas. They’re really handy and great for smoothing out the edges of cookie dough!
Bake. It’s time! Slide your cookie sheet into the oven, but don’t stray very far. These finish baking rather quickly! They’re ready to come out when the centers still look a little squishy and underdone. The residual heat from the warm pan will cook those centers all the way through without drying out the edges. If you wait to remove them from the oven until the centers feel firm, you’ll end up with cakey, bready, or overbaked cookies. It may sound minor, but this makes a huge difference!
Tip: This is my #1 tip for the best soft and chewy cookies! Pull them out of the oven just a minute or two sooner than you’d expect, when the centers still feel squidgy. Your cookies should stay moist and chewy for an entire week if you do!
Reshape (optional). If you notice any lopsided bits, immediately grab a dinner or butter knife and smooth them back into place to give your cookies a more circular look. The cookie dough is still malleable right when you slip the baking sheet out of the oven, but act fast. It firms up and sets very quickly! (This doesn’t affect their flavor. Only their appearance!)
Cool. Let your freshly baked cookies rest on the metal sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack. Or directly into your mouth… I won’t judge!
Rest (optional). Although not completely mandatory, my taste testers and I noticed that these breakfast cookies tasted even better the next day. Letting them rest allowed the flavors to meld and marry, and the warmth from the cinnamon also tasted a bit stronger and cozier. If you have the patience, I highly recommend waiting!
FAQS ABOUT HEALTHY STRAWBERRY OATMEAL BREAKFAST COOKIES
Are these healthy strawberry oatmeal breakfast cookies gluten-free, low calorie, low fat, clean eating, dairy-free, or nut-free?
Yes — to everything! When baked as written, these breakfast cookies are naturally clean eating, dairy-free, low fat, and low calorie (compared to many traditional recipes). I also included how to make them gluten-free and nut-free in the Notes section of the recipe.
Can I use old-fashioned rolled oats?
In a pinch — but run them through a food processor or blender first! Pulse them a few times until they’re about ⅛ to ¼ of their original size. This makes them closer to the size of instant oats, so your breakfast cookies should have a similar soft and chewy consistency.
What about another type of flour?
Sure! White whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, and all-purpose flour all work really well. Oat flour (gluten-free, if necessary) does too, but be really careful when measuring it because it tends to be more absorbent than wheat-based flours.
Or a different sweetener?
Absolutely! Honey and agave both perform beautifully. I’ve included some other options in the Notes section of the recipe too.
Can I substitute another kind of milk?
Of course! Almost any type will work, so feel free to reach for whatever currently sits in your fridge.
Will frozen strawberries work?
Yes! Thaw them and thoroughly pat them dry with paper towels to remove any excess thawing liquid first. (They can be a bit finicky to dice, but they’ll still yield delicious cookies!)
My cookies turned out cakey or muffin-like, not soft and chewy. Why is that?
There are a few common culprits. The first is too much flour or too many oats. Not enough sweetener or milk will also yield cakey or bready cookies. Make sure you’re measuring all of these ingredients correctly! (See the “Measure correctly” header in the “How to Make Healthy Strawberry Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies” section above for more details.)
Overbaking results in cakey or muffin-like cookies as well. Try pulling them out of the oven a minute or two sooner, and review the “Bake” header in the “How to Make Healthy Strawberry Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies” section above for more visual cues about how to tell when your cookies are done.
Finally, certain ingredient swaps create that cakey or bready consistency. Don’t substitute sugar-free maple syrup or coconut flour! Both greatly alter the texture of your cookies. Stick with one of the other alternatives in the Notes section instead.
The opposite happened to me. Mine were really flimsy and barely held together. Why did that happen?
Too much moisture in the cookie dough causes this. That generally means not enough flour or oats; too much sweetener, milk, or strawberries; or you added diced frozen strawberries directly to the cookie dough without thawing and patting them dry first. You can try baking your cookies a bit longer or letting them cool all the way to room temperature on the baking sheet to help make them firmer.
Is there a way to make them taste sweeter?
You bet! Substitute additional pure maple syrup (or honey or agave) for an equal amount of milk. For example, add another 2 tablespoons or pure maple syrup, and reduce the milk by 2 tablespoons to compensate.
What’s the best way to store these healthy strawberry oatmeal breakfast cookies? And how long will they last?
Store any leftovers in an airtight container. They’ll keep for at least a day or two at room temperature or at least four days (if not closer to a week!) when refrigerated.
Can you freeze them?
Yes! Once fully baked and cooled, these strawberry oatmeal breakfast cookies freeze beautifully. I like to microwave individual frozen cookies on 30% power until they’re warmed all the way through. They practically taste freshly baked when thawed like that. (This warming-in-the-microwave trick also works for making refrigerated cookies taste freshly baked!)
Time for breakfast… And another girls’ trip weekend! Then when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself. (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! 🙂 ) I’d love to see your healthy strawberry oatmeal breakfast cookies!
Healthy Strawberry Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (100g) instant oats (gluten-free if necessary and measured like this)
- ¾ cup (90g) whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon (see Notes!)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly (see Notes!)
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (60mL) pure maple syrup (room temperature)
- 6 tbsp (90mL) unsweetened vanilla almond milk (room temperature)
- ¾ cup (105g) fresh whole strawberries, diced (see Notes!)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter or coconut oil, egg, and vanilla. Stir in the pure maple syrup. Stir in the milk. Add in the oat mixture, and stir until just incorporated. Gentlyfold in the diced strawberries. Chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F, and line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Using a spoon and spatula, drop the cookie dough into 15 rounded scoops onto the prepared sheet. Flatten to ⅜”-thick using a spatula. Bake at 325°F for 8-11 minutes. Cool on the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
Notes
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡ Healthy Raspberry Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
♡ Healthy Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
♡ Healthy Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
♡ Healthy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
♡ Healthy Chocolate Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
♡ Healthy Strawberry Banana Oatmeal Cookies
♡ Healthy Strawberry Protein Overnight Oats
♡ Healthy Strawberry Bran Muffins
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s healthy breakfast recipes and healthy strawberry recipes!
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