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!
Can I add protein powder in place of some of the flour?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe! Many brands and exact protein powder products behave differently in baking recipes, so it’s hard to predict the results of substituting one in a recipe and what might need to be modified. However, I had great luck using this exact protein powder from PEScience as a 1-for-1 substitute for flour in one of my other oatmeal cookie recipes, so if your protein powder has a similar nutrition information label and ingredients list, that might be a decent starting place to consider. I also have a dedicated Protein Powder FAQ Page that might be useful before you try experimenting!
In case it’s helpful, I have a selection of recipes here that call for protein powder as an ingredient. Perhaps some of those might be of interest as well?
I’d love to hear what you think of these oatmeal cookies if you try making them — whether as written or with protein powder! 🙂
Hi Amy, I was wondering if I can add chocolate chips to the recipe? I really like your recipe. I plan to bake these this week, but I was thinking of adding the chocolate chips with it. I appreciate the recipe it’s pretty simple. Can I replace the butter to lactose free butter?
It means a lot that you’re enjoying my recipe, Meg! Thank you for taking the time to let me know. I’m honored! ♡
Yes to both! As long as it’s stick-style lactose-free butter, it should work equally well in place of the unsalted butter or coconut oil. I’m a big chocolate fan, so I love your idea of adding chocolate chips! You can add up to ½ cup total of mix-ins without modifying any of the instructions, so as long as your combination of raisins and chocolate chips is ½ cup or less, you should be able to follow the recipe without any other adaptations.
If you do end up making them this week, I really hope you love your batch of these oatmeal cookies!
Hi Amy! I ended up baking the cookies the other day, with the chocolate chips and the lactose free butter and they came on great! I will definitely be checking out more of your recipes!
Thank you the assistance.
Meg
I’m thrilled to hear that, Meg! It’s my pleasure. Thank you for taking the time to share how your cookies turned out and rate the recipe too. It truly means a lot — and I’m honored that you’d consider checking out more of my recipes! ♡ I’m excited to hear which one you pick to try next!
Have you ever weighed out the dough of each cookie before baking? Or about how many tbsp is eat dough ball? How big is the cookie (inches) ones baked!?
Thank you!! Looking fwd to trying these cookies!
We’re thrilled to hear that you’re planning to try this recipe, Lexi! Amy actually has a video within this blog post, shortly before you get to the recipe box. I know it can be easy to miss! In that video, you can watch her scoop these onto the baking sheet, so hopefully that will help give you an idea on how big they are!
If you’d like your cookies to be exactly the same size and you have a kitchen scale, then weigh the second bowl (the one in which you’ll whisk the eggs) prior to adding any ingredients. After chilling the cookie dough, weigh it again. Subtract the second number from the first number, then divide the result by 15. That will give you the number of grams of cookie dough you’ll need to use per cookie!
We’d love to hear what you think of these cookies!
I searched for a sugar free recipe and was excited to find one with so many 5 star ratings. I was extremely disappointed to read the recipe and yes, find it to be technically “sugar free”, but how can you call it that with 1/2 cup of honey?
We appreciate your interest in this recipe, Terry! A lot of our readers are looking for recipes that are free from refined sugars, so we use honey as a sweetener since it is made with natural sugars and usually accessible to most. If you’re looking for other options to sweeten these cookies, there are several alternatives listed in the Notes section, directly below the recipe and even more mentioned in the Oatmeal Cookie FAQ page, which is linked in the sweetener section of the notes. I know it can be easy to miss! We do our best to leave modifications below each recipe to reach the dietary needs of as many people as possible! 😉
If you’re interested, we have several low sugar and sugar-free recipes that use alternatives to refined sugar that most baking recipes call for (and/or list substitutions in the notes section below each recipe).
I hope that’s helpful! We’d love to hear if you decide to try any of these recipes or would like us to help come up with a plan to modify one of our recipes with your sweetener of choice! 😉
Thanks so much!
I’m happy to help! 🙂
I did go back to your notes, and all the alternatives are still a lot of sugar, even tho not refined.
I use monk fruit mostly and while the flavor is good, it really doesn’t translate to using granulated sugar in the finished cookies. I’ve been searching for years for a good cookie that intentionally uses a true non-sugar substitute, not maple syrup or coconut sugar, etc.
Thanks, again!
I definitely understand! It’s a challenge to find a good cookie recipe that uses a true non-sugar substitute. Fortunately, we do have some experience using monk fruit in some of our cookie recipes as substitutes, so that might work here! Could you let me know the exact brand + product name that you’d like to substitute? We’re happy to look into it and see if it’s possible to modify this recipe to use that.
Our coconut macaroons and peppermint bark cookie cups were developed using monk fruit as the sweetener, so perhaps those recipes might be of interest too?
Instead of using the microwave (which some people find objectionable), I just plug in the kittle and use hot water added to raisins in a pyrex measuring cup to reconstitute the raisins a bit. Also like to add chocolate chips, walnuts, and a bit of orange extract. so they are closer to the oatmeal cookies my mother used to make. Shredded coconut is also nice.
That’s a great tip about the kettle and hot water, Julia! Thanks so much for sharing. I always love hearing about tricks that work like that! Your mother’s oatmeal cookies sound divine too. What a wonderful combination of flavors and textures!
Can stevia granulated sweetener be used in your recipes?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipes, Belle! It typically depends on the recipe, as well as the exact brand and stevia product. Many stevia brands and products have different sweetness levels, and because they often behave differently in recipes as well, whether the one you have will work — and any additional modifications you might need to make — depends on both the recipe and exact stevia product. As a result, there’s no “one-size fits all” approach to substituting stevia in all of my recipes, although I wish that weren’t the case! It’d be much easier if it were. 😉
So if you’d like to substitute stevia in my recipes, just leave a comment on that exact recipe, and include the exact brand and stevia product that you’d like to use. With that information, I’ll be able to look into it and have a much better idea!
Also, in case it’s helpful, I’ve shared 260+ recipes (and counting!) that use stevia as a sweetener. You can find those here! Perhaps some of those might be of interest? 🙂
This recipe is really good! I admit I threw in a little extra raisins (because I love them), went half and half with honey and maple syrup (because I didn’t have enough honey), and added a small pinch of nutmeg. They turned out perfect! I love the chewy texture. I will save this recipe to make again.
I’m so happy you enjoyed these cookies, Jen! That’s the best compliment there is, if you already think that you’ll make them again. Thank you for taking the time to share and rate the recipe as well — it truly means a lot! 🙂 I appreciate you including your modifications too. I always love hearing about what recipe tweaks work out!
Could I potentially make a larger batch of these and freeze them? Thank you!
We really appreciate your interest in this recipe, Jules! The fully baked cookies freeze really well. We love to thaw individual cookies in the microwave on 30% power until they’re warmed all the way through. We think they almost taste freshly baked when reheated like that! 😉
Not to be a hater, but these ”cookies’ are hardlt that, more like clumps of unsweetened, flavored dough, I had high hopes for them and made (2) batches. Let them cool on sheet and rack. Both turned out as expected. Not dry, or crispy around edges. However, they are just bland and would benefit from some cocnut sugar or perhaps a light brown sugar. But, if we are going ‘super healthy’, any sugar would have no place in this recipe.
I give it 3 stars because these probably set out to do what they’re meant to do, be a placebo for a REAL cookie, while omitting the calories and sugars, so for that, I can’t hate on them just because they differ from my expectations.
The one positive thing here, (and NOT to be insulting), the 2 batches I made will be EXCELLENT dog treats.
(I wouldn’t expect this review to be posted, because as of this writing, the recipe has 5 stars on 434 votes). If it does geet posted and you are reading this, first, kudos to the OP for being unbiased and understand, this is just my UNBIASED opinion as well. YMMV.
It means a lot that you tried my recipe! That sounds disappointing and not like how these cookies should turn out. They should taste soft, chewy, and just as sweet as “regular” cookies! I’d love to help figure out what happened with your batches. I have an idea about the potential culprits, and these questions should narrow it down!
Did you make any substitutions or modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section?
Did you use measuring cups or a kitchen scale for the oats, flour, and sweetener?
Did you use regular whole wheat flour or the homemade gluten-free blend I shared in the Notes section?
Did you use honey or agave?
Was your cookie dough’s consistency the same as what you see in my video above the recipe? (You can see what mine looks like upon initially stirring everything together at 1:53 and then what it looks like after chilling at 2:12.)
Did your cookies spread at all while baking?
Could you taste the cinnamon? (Since you said they tasted bland, I wanted to double check and confirm it was just the sweetness that was lacking in your batches!)
I know I just asked a lot of questions, but I’ll have a much better idea of the culprit once I know your answers to all of them! 🙂 I also know it’s frustrating to waste your time and ingredients. I hope your dogs at least enjoyed their unexpected treats!
For some reason, I’ve made this recipe twice, and both times my cookies came out kind of “scone-like”. They were cakey and fluffy on the inside like a scone. They were more crumbly than chewy. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong because I followed the recipe to a T minus the method of measuring included in the link because I just couldn’t figure out what the measuring instructions were asking me to. 🙁
It means a lot that you tried my recipe, Ree! That sounds disappointing and not like how these cookies are supposed to turn out. They should be soft and chewy, not cakey or fluffy, so I’m happy to help figure out what happened with your batches!
The most common culprits are too many oats and too much flour. As crazy as it may sound, the way these two ingredients are measured makes a big difference in the consistency of the dough as well as the texture of the cookies!
Did you happen to scoop either one of these straight from the container with a measuring cup? Or gently nudge the measuring cup back and forth while filling it? If so, that would probably be why your cookies turned out cakey and scone-like! Measuring like this results in adding 1 ½ times as much of these ingredients as called for in the recipe. Instead of using 1 cup of oats and ¾ cup of flour, your cookie dough would’ve had 1 ½ cups of oats and 1 cup + 2 tablespoons of flour. The extra flour and oats would’ve thrown off the ratio of wet and dry ingredients, leading to that crumbly texture.
If you visit my Baking Basics page (the same one in this recipe box’s measuring links), I’ve outlined how to measure these in the “Measurements” section under #1 (“Flours” — and oats are measured the same way!). I realize that my Baking Basics page contains a lot of information and is quite dense, so I know it can be easy to miss that! 😉 If you read through those measuring tips and still aren’t sure what to do, please let me know. I’m happy to clarify anything that’s confusing!
Another culprit is substituting coconut flour as the gluten-free flour. It’s about three times as absorbent as almost every other flour, so using ¾ cup of that yields a very dry and crumbly cookie texture. (The cookies will sometimes barely hold together, if not completely crumble apart, when made with coconut flour!)
If you think the flour and oats were measured properly and not the issue, and if you didn’t substitute coconut flour either, then I have some other ideas of potential culprits. Just let me know — I’m happy to solve this mystery so any future batches turn out perfectly soft and chewy, just like they’re meant to be! 🙂