I lived in the dorms during my freshman year of college, and with only a small fridge the size of a microwave and no kitchen, I purchased a meal plan and ate most of my lunches and dinners in the dining hall. Although usually somewhat skeptical of the entrées, I could always count on the salad bar for healthier options before stopping by the dessert station for sweet treats. Even then, I needed my daily fix!
Sometimes I felt adventurous and sampled their latest raw vegan carrot cake or tofu chocolate cupcakes, but their cookies were always the best. Chocolate chip, peanut butter, snickerdoodle, tuxedo… Those were the softest and chewiest you’d ever imagine. It was like biting into little circles of heaven!
But with the extra chewy factor and ample amounts of cinnamon, the oatmeal raisin cookies were always the first I’d reach for. I often headed down to dinner with my next door neighbor, who enrolled in many of the same classes and quickly turned into my study buddy. Since oatmeal raisin were his favorite too, we’d grab a plate to nibble on while quizzing each other about mechanisms and equations for our next chemistry and physics midterms.
Thank goodness the rest of the freshmen seemed to avoid that flavor!
So now, quite a few years later, I decided that it was finally time to develop a recipe of my own that rivaled—if not surpassed—those oatmeal raisin cookies. Something incredibly soft, unbelievably chewy, and absolutely irresistible… Exactly the opposite of the boring, bland, or dry reputations oatmeal cookies sometimes attract. And of course, being me and my blog, I wanted to make them healthier.
So… These are it! They’re the Ultimate Healthy Soft & Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. They’re chock full of hearty oats, sweet raisins, and lots of warm cinnamon. They’re also just 100 calories with no refined flour or sugar. Trust me, you’ll never need another recipe ever again!
HOW TO MAKE THE BEST HEALTHY OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES
Now let’s go over how to make these ultimate healthy oatmeal raisin cookies! I’m going to walk you through some important ingredients you’ll need and a few keys steps to help you avoid some of the more common issues. I cover many of these things in the video beneath the recipe too. If you’d rather skip straight to the recipe and start baking, go right ahead!
To start, you’ll need whole wheat flour or gluten-free flour. No refined all-purpose flour in these cookies! You’ll also need instant oats (also called “quick cooking” or “one minute” oats). Instant oats are smaller and thinner than traditional old-fashioned rolled oats. This means they soften faster, which keeps your ultimate healthy oatmeal raisin cookies supremely soft and chewy! You can usually find instant oats in canisters right next to the old-fashioned oats at the grocery store. (And no, they’re NOT the same thing as in those flavored individual brown paper packets!)
It’s extremely important to measure both the oats and flour correctly. Use this method or a kitchen scale if you own one. (I highly recommend the latter! This is the one I own.)
If your cookies turned out dry or failed to spread on the baking sheet, it’s mostly likely because there was too much of either of those dry ingredients, especially the oats. They act like little sponges and soak up moisture, so adding too many will quickly turn the cookies crumbly.
I promise these ultimate healthy oatmeal raisin cookies are worth taking the extra 10 seconds to measure your flour and oats correctly!
Whereas traditional recipes usually call for a full stick (or more!) of butter, you just need 2 tablespoons of coconut oil or butter. That really helps keep your ultimate healthy oatmeal raisin cookies low calorie and low fat, and if you use coconut oil, they’re also dairy-free!
Also unlike traditional recipes that use refined granulated sugar, you’ll actually sweeten your ultimate healthy oatmeal raisin cookies with honey, agave, or pure maple syrup. These are unrefined sweeteners, and they all work equally well!
Then here’s one of my favorite tips for making the best ever healthy oatmeal raisin cookies…
Don’t add your raisins into the cookie dough straight from the package! Instead, hydrate your raisins first. This is super simple to do! Add them to a microwave-safe bowl, cover them with water, and place a lid or plastic wrap on top. Microwave them on high for 1 minute. Let them sit for at least 5 minutes (or while you measure and mix together the rest of the ingredients!). By the time you’re ready to drain them and stir them into the cookie dough, they’ll be exceptionally plump and juicy… Which definitely creates the best healthy oatmeal raisin cookies imaginable!
Now that your cookie dough is all mixed together, chilling is mandatory. Most of the time. If you added the correct amount of oats and flour, the dough should be wet and look more like thick muffin batter. Chilling will help stiffen the dough so it doesn’t spread as much while baking. If your cookie dough is already stiff, skip the chilling and bake it right away.
(The video just above the recipe shows what the textures before and after chilling should look like!)
However, your ultimate healthy oatmeal raisin cookies will only spread some after chilling (not excessively!), so if you want wider, somewhat thinner cookies, make sure you flatten them slightly before baking. Just give them a little pat with a spatula. If you prefer thicker cookies, skip that and bake them right after scooping them onto the baking tray.
Finally, do not overbake these cookies! I always pull mine out slightly early, then let them sit on the warm baking sheet longer. This allows the centers to continue to set without turning the outsides crisp and crunchy. Your ultimate healthy oatmeal raisin cookies will stay soft and chewy for an entire week that way!
These Ultimate Healthy Soft & Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies didn’t stand a chance at my house. Even with just me eating (and sneaking) them, they only lasted four days. I hope you enjoy them just as much!
And when you make your own oatmeal raisin cookies, 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 ultimate healthy oatmeal raisin cookies!
(My Healthier Chocolate Treats cookbook is full of sweet and healthy recipes like these oatmeal cookies! You can see a sneak preview of all of the recipes inside here!)
The Ultimate Healthy Soft & Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (100g) instant oats (measured like this & gluten-free if necessary)
- ¾ cup (90g) whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp (28g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120mL) honey or agave
- ¼ cup (40g) raisins (see Notes!)
Instructions
- Whisk together the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, egg, and vanilla. Stir in the honey or agave. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Fold in the raisins. Chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Drop the cookie dough into 15 rounded scoops onto the prepared sheet, and flatten slightly. Bake at 325°F for 11-14 minutes (see Notes!). Cool on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Notes
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
Here is what the cookie dough should look like just before chilling. It resembles thick muffin batter more than cookie dough!
Here is what the cookies look like before and after baking. They some, but not too much, so be sure to flatten them slightly with a spatula just before popping the baking sheet in the oven.
You may also like Amy’s Other Recipes…
♡ Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
♡ Healthy Almond Joy Oatmeal Cookies
♡ Healthy Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies
♡ Healthy Raspberry Oatmeal Cookies
♡ Healthy Apple Pie Oatmeal Cookies
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s healthy oatmeal cookie recipes!
I added some feijoa pulp with the honey – I used plain flour. These are great. Thank you
I tried to attach a photo but can’t!
I’m so glad you loved these cookies Tania! That means a lot to me — thank you for taking the time to let me know! 🙂 I’d absolutely love to see your photo! You can find my email address here!
I used Almond flour and Maple syrup following your recipe and they came out wonderful. Thank you always challenging to make healthy baked desserts.
I’m so glad you loved these cookies April! That really means a lot to me — I’m so honored that you’d take the time to let me know too! 🙂
Not sure why, but mine came out dry. I used a gluten free baking blend that works in everything, maple syrup as sweetener, and all exactly as recipe states (weighed the flour and oats). Any ideas what I may have done wrong?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Roo! That sounds disappointing and not like how these cookies should turn out, so I’d love to help figure out what happened. 🙂 What’s the name of the gluten-free flour blend that you used? Also, how did you measure the maple syrup? Did you weigh that as well, or did you measure it with measuring cups?
I used a Bob’s gluten free copycat recipe that I use all the time for baking (it’s called Dars Blend and can be found in the files of the plant paradox recipe sharing group on fb). I didn’t weigh the maple syrup, just used a measuring cup (maybe that’s the problem?). I am wondering if maybe it’s the quick oats I used as they were strangely crumbled…will try again.
Thanks for sharing Roo! I tried doing a quick Google search for “Dars Flour Blend,” but nothing turned up. Do you have more information you could share about (a) what’s in this particular gluten-free blend and (b) how many grams per cup it is?
If you used a measuring cup for the maple syrup, then you did the right thing! Don’t measure that by weight; if you do, you’ll end up adding too little… Which would exacerbate the dryness issue. 😉 But I’m completely confident that we can solve this issue! Just to double check, you didn’t make any recipe modifications, including those listed in the Notes section, correct?
These are amazing! I replaced the honey with Silan (date honey) and it got this beautiful rich flavor. Thank u!
I’m so glad you loved these cookies! Thanks for taking the time to let me know — that really means a lot! 🙂
I was wondering if Almond Flour can be used for this recipe?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Jennifer! I’ve actually answered this exact question on my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ Page, and there’s a link to it in the Notes section of the recipe (located directly underneath the Instructions). I know it can be easy to miss! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try making these oatmeal cookies!
Thank you for reply but actually I searched and read through the comments before sending a message. All I see is for gluten free not what I asked. Thanks for your all your help with not answering the question.
It’s the 7th question + answer on my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ Page, which is 2 questions beneath the general gluten-free question. 🙂
I made these using GF flour and baked them for 11min. which was too long. They were overcooked.
The second batch I baked for 9min and they were perfect.! Thank You for a great recipe.I just found your blog, look forward to trying more of your recipes.
I’m so glad your second batch turned out perfectly Julie! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know — that truly means a lot! 🙂 I’m really excited to hear which recipe of mine you decide to try next too!
Being from the UK i’m sometimes hesitant with US recipes as they never come out as perfect as the photos, but these were just AMAZING! Soft, chewy and exactly like the photos! They will be enjoyed tomorrow at a friends flat in London with a cup of tea. Thanks Amy, can’t wait to try more of your recipes 🙂
I’m so honored Anushka!! That means so much to me that you’d trust my recipe — and then say these cookies turned out amazing! Thank you SO much for taking the time to let me know! 🙂 I’m really excited to hear what recipe you decide to try making next too!
Hi there, I loved everything about it except instant oats use…its not as nutritious as old fashioned oats, or may be quick…cant we use quick rolled oats here.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Rajal! I’ve actually gone over this exact question in the Notes section of the recipe (located directly underneath the Instructions), as well as on my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ Page (there’s a link to that FAQ Page in the Notes section as well). I know it can be easy to miss! 😉 Instant oats are also called quick cooking oats or one-minute oats. They’re not the same thing in those brown paper packets with flavors like “apple cinnamon” or “maple brown sugar.” Instant oats are just smaller and thinner than old-fashioned rolled oats, so they have the exact same nutritional benefits. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try making these oatmeal cookies!
12 cookies, although, I made 14
Sorry..I meant 15 cookies, but I made 14
How many cookies does this recipe yield?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Sandra! That information is actually included directly underneath the recipe title in the recipe box. I know it can be easy to miss! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try making these oatmeal cookies!
OMG!!! I can’t stop eating these and I’m on KETO. My Husband asked for healthier oatmeal cookies. He specifically said no butter and no sugar. I thought let me try these…..
These are FANTASTIC!!!!!!!! The flavor is unbelievable. I didn’t have wholewheat flour, so I used Almond Flour
which I’m glad I just bought yesterday. I used HALF Agave and Half Honey…and coconut oil (no butter). These are so good!
The texture is fantastic, but a tad soft. When you pick them up, they basically break. Maybe baking them longer (I baked them for 14 minutes exactly) will prevent that, I’m not sure, but either way, it doesn’t matter!
Healthy or not, I am sticking to these oatmeal cookies. Thank You for a delicious recipe!
I’m so glad you and your husband loved these cookies!! That truly means the world to me that you’d say that you’d stick with this recipe. That’s the best kind of compliment there is — I’m incredibly honored! Thank you SO much for taking the time to let me know! 🙂 Also, I saw your other comment about how you got 14 cookies from this recipe. That would actually influence why your cookies were so soft and fell apart, even after baking them for 14 minutes! When there’s more cookie dough per cookie, they’ll take longer to bake. But you’re exactly right — increasing the baking time by a couple of minutes should solve that!