When I was nine years old, my grandma moved from Ohio to California to live in the same town as my parents so we could see her more often. As she settled into her new house, I was giddy with joy. Before, she only visited once or twice a year, but she always brought baked goodies like zucchini or banana bread. With her only 10 minutes away, I thought she’d make those for us at least once a week!
My mom quickly explained that no, it was not Grandma’s job to feed us, but Grandma would still bring over homemade goodies every so often. The one I looked forward to the most was — without a single question or doubt — her apple pie.
She always made a double-crusted apple pie with the flakiest texture on both the top and bottom. The crusts were perfectly golden, without a dark or burned patch in sight, and concealed the soft fruit hiding inside.
Grandma generally chose tart Granny Smiths, the traditional option she grew up using. She thoroughly doused them in cinnamon and sugar, then baked the pie until the fruit slices were supremely tender and nearly falling apart.
She usually brought over one of her apple pies on the 4th of July and around my dad’s birthday in September, and sometimes when I asked nicely, she would bake one around my birthday too.
This past week, in an effort to get back on the healthy track after the holidays, I bought a big bag of apples, but as I stared at them, willing myself to snack on a crisp and juicy one, all I could think of were Grandma’s pies. Because I didn’t have the patience for crusts or waiting for hours while it baked and cooled…
I made these healthy apple pie oatmeal cookies instead! They’re really soft and chewy, and just like my grandma’s pies, they’re full of sweet fruit and cozy cinnamon. However, they’re much faster and easier to make!
Over the past few years, I’ve realized just how much you love cookies. They were your top three choices in last year’s Readers’ Favorite Recipes! So a new clean-eating recipe for “Healthy January” sounded perfect. Diets should not be about deprivation, after all!
KEY INGREDIENTS TO MAKE HEALTHY APPLE PIE OATMEAL COOKIES
Let’s go over what you’ll need to make these healthy apple oatmeal cookies!
Like my other clean eating oatmeal cookies, these ones are made with whole wheat flour and lots of instant oats. They’re also called “quick-cooking” or “one-minute” oats, and they’re sold in big canisters next to the old-fashioned oats. (They are not the ones in the little flavored packets for breakfast!)
Tip: If you’d like to make your healthy apple oatmeal cookies gluten-free, then see the Notes section of the recipe! I’ve included my top flour recommendations there. For the oats, certified gluten-free instant oats also work perfectly!
I love my oatmeal cookies to be chock-full of oats, so I actually use more oats than flour. Be sure to use the instant kind, rather than old-fashioned rolled oats! Instant oats are smaller and thinner, so they soften faster and provide a better chewy texture.
For the sweetener, you’ll use agave instead of refined granulated sugar, but honey and pure maple syrup also work equally well. Stay away from sugar-free maple syrup though! It’s often water-based, and that also makes oatmeal cookies bready and cakey. It prevents them from spreading properly while baking too.
Tip: I included even more sweetener options in the Notes section of the recipe, as well as on my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ Page!
Of course, we can’t forget the stars of this oatmeal cookie show… The apples and cinnamon! I love using red Fuji apples because they’re naturally sweet and very flavorful. They’re usually easy to find at the grocery store too!
Tip: I highly recommend using Saigon cinnamon. It’s my favorite kind, and it’s practically the only variety I now use in my baking! It’s sweeter, richer, and a bit stronger than regular cinnamon. I buy it online here, and it’s really affordable!
HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY APPLE PIE OATMEAL COOKIES
Now let’s quickly cover how to make the best apple oatmeal cookies! This recipe is simple to whip up, but I still have some tips to make sure your cookies turn out beautifully.
Measure correctly. This is incredibly important, especially for the flour and oats! Use this method (yes, for both ingredients!) or a kitchen scale (← that’s the one I own!). Too much of either ingredient will yield cookies that are much drier. This is especially true of the oats! They act like little sponges and soak up lots of moisture from the cookie dough, so too many oats will dry out your cookies and make them bready or cakey, rather than soft and chewy.
Prep the apples. Because these cookies don’t take very long to bake, it’s important to finely dice the apples. Yes, finely! I cut mine into ⅛” bits. If they’re too big or thick, the apples won’t soften while baking, so you’ll end up with slices that are still crisp and crunchy.
And because someone always asks… I leave the skin on. (Partially because I’m lazy!) You’re more than welcome to peel your apples, if you’d like though! It’s entirely up to you.
Chill the cookie dough. Because of the liquid sweetener, chilling is mandatory! If all of the ingredients were measured correctly, the cookie dough should almost look like thick muffin batter. Chilling helps stiffen the cookie dough, which then prevents the cookies from spreading into thin, flat discs on the baking sheet.
Do not overbake. This is one of my #1 tricks to the best soft and chewy oatmeal cookies! These apple cinnamon oatmeal cookies are ready to come out of the oven when the centers still feel a little bit soft and underdone. The heat from the warm baking sheet will cook those centers all the way through while you let the freshly baked cookies rest for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire cooling rack… And yield lovely, beautifully, perfectly soft and chewy oatmeal cookies!
If you waited until the centers felt firm to pull them from the oven, the heat from the baking sheet would end up overbaking the cookies — thus resulting in a cakey, bready, or dry texture. Yet if you remove them a teensy bit sooner, just a minute or two earlier, you’ll be rewarded with the best apple oatmeal cookies!
Ready to bake your own? And when you do, 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 apple pie oatmeal cookies!
Healthy Apple Pie Oatmeal 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 baking powder
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp (28g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120mL) agave (see Notes!)
- 1 cup (125g) finely diced red apple (about 1 medium – and 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 or butter, egg, and vanilla. Stir in the agave. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Fold in the apple. Chill 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 using a spoon and spatula, and flatten slightly. Bake at 325°F for 11-14 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…
♡ Raspberry Oatmeal Cookies
♡ Banana Oatmeal Cookies
♡ Zucchini Oatmeal Cookies
♡ Peach Pie Oatmeal Cookies
♡ Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies
♡ Ultimate Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
♡ Apple Pie Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
♡ …and the rest of Amy’s healthy oatmeal cookie recipes!
Could you make these with old fashioned oats? If so how long should I bake them for?
I’ve actually covered this exact question on my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ Page, and there’s a link to that FAQ Page in the Notes section of the recipe (located directly underneath the Instructions). I know it can be easy to miss! 😉 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cookies Lucero!
Hi Amy! These are so delicious! Me and my family make them all the time! They are one of our favorite recipes ever. 🙂
Oh my goodness — that means SO much to me, Julia!! I’m truly honored that this is one of your family’s favorite recipes and that you make them all the time. That’s the sweetest and best kind of compliment! 🙂 Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know!!
Can you swap the agave for honey? I was hoping to just use what’s in my pantry, instead of buying more. But I will buy it, if honey will mess up the whole recipe.
I’m honored that you’d like to try my recipe, Lena! I’ve actually answered this exact question on my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ Page, and there’s a link to that FAQ Page 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!
I didn’t have agave either, and mixed half golden syrup with half maple syrup. The flavors actually worked beautifully! I used less cinnamon to let the syrup flavors come though and it was a great balance. Very warm and comforting, so I think honey could work just as well. I wonder though, if you might need slightly less than the recipe calls for, with honey having a strong flavor? I used less syrup overall for that reason.
Do the apples tenderize in that baking time or stay crunchy ?
As long as you’ve diced them to be very small (aim for the size of miniature chocolate chips!), they soften in the oven! If you only chop them, where they’re larger in size, they don’t always soften completely. Does that make sense? 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of these cookies if you try making them, Nancy!
These are our new favorite cookie! Thank you SO much!
Oh my goodness — that means SO much to me that you’d call these cookies your new favorite, Linda! Thank you for taking the time to let me know. You made my entire day! 🙂
These are soooo good!!! I made them using half golden syrup and half maple syrup, as that’s what I had on hand, and the flavors worked beautifully with with apples fresh from a local orchard. I dialed back the cinnamon to 1tsp to allow the syrup flavors to come through and the balance was great. I also left the skin on the apples for more fiber. I actually forgot to flatten the balls on the baking sheet, so ended up with cookie-cake bites, cakey in the middle and crisp on top/bottom. We’ve called them “cakies” and I may just keep them that way, since the kids loved them so much! I also plan on trying a vegan version with a flax-egg and triple filtered coconut oil. Either way, I’ll need to double the recipe, as my family devoured these in a single weekend!
Oh my goodness, Niblet!! I’m SO excited that everyone in your family loved these! It truly means a lot that you’d already want to make them again — and a double batch too! That’s the best kind of compliment there is. Thank you for taking the time to let me know! 🙂 And I love your “cakies” idea and description. That sounds so fun! I’ll have to try that sometime too!
Is there a way to make this dairy free for those of us that have dairy allergies?
Yes! If you use the coconut oil option, these cookies are dairy-free. If you have a coconut allergy as well, then stick-style vegan butter would be the next best option. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of them if you try making this recipe, Sandy!
Can these be made sugar free with a substitute instead?
I’m honored that you’d like to try my recipe, Soniya! What’s the exact sugar-free sweetener that you’d like to use instead?
Liquid stevia, splenda or coconut sugar?
Out of those three options, coconut sugar will yield the best taste and texture, so if you’d like to use coconut sugar, then I’ve actually covered how to substitute that on my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ Page already! There’s a link to that FAQ Page in the Notes section (located directly underneath the Instructions!). I know it can be easy to miss! 😉 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these cookies, Soniya!
Can you use nature sugar instead of agave?
I’m honored by your interest in my recipe, Rebecca! I’m not quite sure what you mean by nature sugar. Would that be turbinado sugar, coconut sugar, or something similar? If so, then I’ve actually covered whether these types of sweeteners will work on my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ Page! There’s a link to that FAQ Page in the Notes section of this recipe (located directly underneath the Instructions). I know it can be easy to miss! 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of these cookies if you try making them!
OMG!!!!!! These cookies are AMAZING!!! I took pictures just so I could post it on your blog. Amy I will email my pictures I just took. Do you have a email you use for folks who LOVE your recipes? I used the gluten free flour blend recommendation, an I really wanted these a lil sweeter so I added your recommended amount of brown sugar, an it just felt a lil light on the liquid so I added another egg, and the texture is I’m not kidding you I have never baked a cookie like this in my life!!! Thank you Amy!!!
Oh my goodness, Crystal!! You’re just the sweetest! ♡ It means SO much that you loved these cookies and took pictures of them just to share with me! That’s the best kind of compliment there is. Thank you so, SO much!! 🙂 I’ve shared the best email address to send me pictures here. I’m so excited to see them!!