One summer while I was in high school, my mom pulled out an old, yellowing recipe card from her manila folder collection. Handwritten in my grandma’s tidy cursive, it neatly spelled out the ingredients and instructions for her special peach pie. With half a dozen humongous ripe peaches sitting on our counter, we immediately started peeling and slicing to make the dessert.
Because I had grown up on just apple, pecan and pumpkin—all made with a classic single crust and nothing on top—Grandma’s recipe for peach pie looked a little different. She called for a special no-roll crust, where we simply patted the dough into the pie plate, and…
A streusel topping. Big, buttery crumbs generously sprinkled all over the fresh fruit, baked until slightly crunchy—the perfect texture complement to the soft, juicy peaches underneath.
Until that day, I had never had anything like it… And I never want to eat a peach pie made any other way. It’s literally the best peach pie I’ve ever tasted in my entire life. My four-member family managed to finish it off—the entire 9” pie—in a single night! We may or may not have skipped dinner that evening…
And ever since then, we’ve baked grandma’s peach pie nearly every week during the following summers.
But because that’s my grandma’s secret recipe (and definitely not healthy!), I created a different treat with the same addictive flavors to share with you instead: these Peach Pie Oatmeal Cookies! Full of juicy fruit, warm cinnamon, and one of Grandma’s special ingredients, I can practically guarantee that these cookies will disappear just as quickly as that first peach pie my family made!
I started with my favorite clean-eating oatmeal cookie base. Have you tried any of my oatmeal cookies yet? They’re the most popular recipes on my blog (especially this carrot cake version!)… And for a good reason! They’re supremely chewy, extra soft, and full of healthy good-for-you ingredients.
The cookies start with whole wheat flour and instant oats. It’s very important that you measure these ingredients correctly, using either the spoon-and-level method or a kitchen scale. I highly recommend a kitchen scale if you have one! (I own and love this one.) They’re fairly inexpensive and are worth their weight in gold. I use mine for every baking recipe I make!
Why is it so important to measure the flour and oats correctly? Because too much of either will dry out your cookies, making them taste cakey or crumbly. That’s especially true of the oats! They act like little sponges and soak up all of the moisture in the cookie dough. So pretty, pretty please, measure these ingredients correctly!
These cookies are sweetened with honey because I love that flavor pairing with peaches. Then again, I also adore maple syrup with peaches too… So that would make a great substitution! As would agave, or brown sugar and milk. Just use whatever you usually stash in your pantry—no need for a special trip to the grocery store!
And now for my grandma’s special ingredient… Almond extract! We’ll only add a little bit because the peaches are the true star of the show, but almond extract’s slightly sweet and sophisticated flavor provides the perfect backdrop for these treats.
We’ll use fresh peaches for these cookies (although canned in 100% juice and thoroughly drained will work too!). Because of the moisture in the juicy fruit and liquid honey, you must chill the cookie dough. Chilling helps thicken the cookie dough and allows the oats time to soak up that moisture. But remember—if you chill the dough for more than an hour or two, the cookies won’t spread as much while baking!
If you’re impatient (like me) and want your cookies ASAP, drop the cookie dough into rounded scoops onto the baking sheet after just 30 minutes of chilling. The dough will still be slightly sticky, so use a spatula! I own these adorable piggy ones, and their small size is perfect for shaping the dough into rounded circles.
Then bake, cool, eat, and repeat!
So much easier than pie, don’t you think?
| Peach Pie Oatmeal Cookies | | Print |
- 1 cup (100g) instant oats (gluten-free if necessary and measured correctly)
- ¾ cup (90g) whole wheat or gluten-free* flour (measured correctly)
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp (28g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tsp almond extract
- ½ cup honey
- ½ cup (100g) diced peaches
- Whisk together the oats, flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil or butter, egg, and almond extract. Stir in the honey. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Fold in the peaches. Chill for at least 45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Using a spoon and spatula, drop the cookie dough into 15 rounded scoops onto the prepared sheet, ensuring that the mounds are as tall as they are wide. Bake at 325°F for 11-14 minutes. Cool on the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
Vanilla extract may be substituted in place of the almond extract.
Peaches that are fresh, frozen and thawed completely, or canned in 100% juice and thoroughly drained will all work.
For all other questions regarding the recipe, including ingredient substitutions, please see my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ + Video page.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
I only have old fashioned oats so I processed them a little. I used 1-to-1 gf flour. Everything else is the same. (I love almond extract)
They just came out of the oven smelling heavenly. I’ll be taking them to a get- together this evening.
I better try one too make this review complete!
Wonderful!
I’m so glad you enjoyed these cookies, Beth! Thank you for taking the time to let me know. It really means a lot! I’m honored that you wanted to share them with others at your get-together tonight too. I hope everyone there liked them as well! 🙂
Can these be frozen?
Yes! These oatmeal cookies freeze and thaw really well. (My favorite way to thaw is to place individual cookies in the microwave on 30% power until warmed through, around 20-30 seconds depending on the wattage of your microwave. They almost taste freshly baked that way!)
I’d love to hear what you think if you try making them, Robin!
That is awesome to hear! I plan to make them for a family 4th of July celebration. I have almost 80 fresh Fredricksburg, Texas Free Stone Peaches. I plan to use a bunch of them to put your recipe to the test. I’ll be back in touch once I’ve made them.
Oh my goodness — I’m honored, Robin!! It really means a lot that you’d consider making these for your family’s 4th of July celebration. I can’t wait to hear what everyone thinks of them! Those fresh peaches sound amazing too. It’s hard to beat juicy summer peaches, isn’t it? 🙂
Couldn’t agree more.
Can you share grandma’s recipe for the pie 😁
I’m still working on perfecting a healthier version of her recipe, but as soon as I do, I’ll share it here on my blog! If you’ve signed up for my email updates, you’ll be the first to know. 🙂
What are your thoughts on a flax or chia egg in this recipe?
I haven’t tried flax or chia eggs, but other readers have told me they’ve used those with great success!
My favorite egg replacer is actually Ener-G. It’s a flavorless, shelf-stable powder that keeps for ages. It works perfectly as an egg replacer in nearly all of my recipes, including this one! For my recipes, use 1 ½ teaspoons Ener-G + 2 tablespoons warm water for each egg white, and you’ll need an additional ½ tablespoon of butter or coconut oil {or Earth Balance, if you’re vegan!} for each egg yolk.
I can’t wait to hear what you think of these oatmeal cookies, Amanda!
Thank you, Amy!
You’re welcome, Amanda! I’m happy to help! 🙂
I made these today with just a few changes, awesome! I’m not very much of a honey person so I did 1/2 honey and 1/2 maple syrup also used vanilla instead of almond extract. They turned out wonderful, can’t wait to enjoy one with a nice cup of coffee in the morning. 😋
I’m so glad you enjoyed these cookies, Lynn! Thank you for taking the time to let me know. It means a lot! 🙂 I hope you enjoy them just as much with your coffee in the mornings too!
hi! The recipe was really great – I loved the way it tasted especially with maple syrup. However, after I scooped each one with a cookie scoop, I was hoping it would flatten out like yours but mine just stayed round and tall… I only put it in the fridge for 45 minutes. Do you know why this happened?
I’m so glad you enjoyed these cookies, Lilian! I’m happy to help solve that mystery. In order to do so, I have some questions for you!
Did you make any substitutions or modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section?
Did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups/spoons for all of the ingredients, especially the oats, flour, and maple syrup?
I’m assuming you substituted pure maple syrup for the honey, correct? (Not pancake syrup or sugar-free syrup!) And you used the full amount?
Were your peaches fresh, frozen/thawed, or canned? How thoroughly did you drain the juice?
What was the texture of your cookie dough like before and after chilling? (If you watch my video here, you can see what the texture should look like at both stages of the recipe!)
What was the texture of your fully baked and cookies like? Soft, chewy, cakey, bready, dry, moist, etc?
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! 🙂
Hi Amy! I did make modifications – instead of 1/2 cup of pure maple syrup, I used just a little less. I used fresh peaches. I did not use a scale but I did use measuring cups carefully – and I didn’t have whole wheat flour so I used AP. The texture of the dough before chilling was soft, and after chilling seemed a little harder. Then when I baked them, they were soft, cakey, and kind of moist.
Thanks for sharing, Lilian! Here are a few follow-up questions for you, based on what you’ve shared…
How much maple syrup did you omit? (One tablespoon, two, three, etc!)
When you used your measuring cups to measure the flour and oats, did you use the fork method that I describe on my Baking Basics page? (I linked to my Baking Basics page via the pink “measured correctly” text in the Ingredients list! My links are the pink colored font. I know it can be easy to miss that detail!)
If you did use that fork method, did you shake the measuring cup back and forth at all while filling it with flour and/or oats?
How thoroughly did you drain the juice from your peaches? (I don’t seem to see that info, but I apologize if missed your answer!)
Hi Amy!
No I didn’t see the fork method, and I didn’t drain the juice from the peaches – there weren’t much to begin with so I didn’t think of doing that. Perhaps that’s what it is then?
Thanks!
Thanks for sharing Lilian! If you DID drain the peach juice, that would’ve (a) made your cookies even cakier and drier and (b) prevented them from spreading even more — so it’s not that! 😉
How much maple syrup did you omit? (I didn’t see your answer — this is actually really important!)
If you didn’t use the fork method, then how did you use your measuring cups to measure the flour and oats? Did you dip them directly into each container, by any chance?
If not, can you describe in more detail how you used them to measure? (This is really important too! It’s why I’ve asked so many questions about the measuring technique that you used. 🙂 )
Hi!
I didn’t omit that much maple syrup. probably just about 1 tablespoon. As for the measuring, I scooped teh flour into the cups.
Thanks for sharing this too, Lilian! Did you use a spoon to scoop the flour from your flour container into the measuring cup? Did you shake the measuring cup back and forth while filling it at all? And finally, did you measure the oats the exact same way as the flour — or did you dip your measuring cup directly into the container of oats and use that to scoop them out?
I have a really good idea of what happened… But once I know your answers to all of those questions above, it’ll confirm the culprit! 🙂
Hi –
I followed the recipe to a T (something I don’t often do – but, I wanted to get it right). This makes a nicely flavored cookie with the almond extract and the cinnamon. However, I got no ‘peach’ at all. I used fully ripe peaches from a neighbor’s tree and wanted to give her back some of what she gave me. Unfortunately, what came out of my oven did not taste like peach cookies. They aren’t bad tasting, just not what I had hoped for. Were I to make again, the almond extract and cinnamon would be cut in half at least or the peaches eliminated completely.
Thank you for sharing!
It means a lot that you tried my recipe, Sarah! That sounds disappointing and not like how these cookies are supposed to turn out at all. I’d love to help figure out why that was! In order to do so, I have some questions for you. 🙂
Did you make any substitutions or modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section?
Did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups/spoons to measure all of the ingredients, especially the oats, flour, honey, and peaches?
You used 1 teaspoon of almond extract, correct? Not 1 tablespoon? (It’s happened with other readers before, which is why I ask!)
Did you use the full amount of peaches, and did you measure after dicing them, rather than before? (I’m assuming you did, but not everybody does!)
About what size were your peach pieces? For example, the size of chocolate chips, the size of raspberries, etc. (Just to give me a frame of reference!)
What type of peaches does your neighbor grow? How sweet and strong were the peaches’ flavor prior to baking?
What was the texture of your cookie dough like before and after chilling?
Did your cookies spread at all while baking?
What was the texture of your cookies like after baking and cooling? Soft, chewy, cakey, bready, etc?
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!
By instant oatmeal, do you mean quick oats or the stuff in individual pouches?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Darlene! I’ve actually answered this exact question on my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ Page, and there’s a link to that FAQ Page in the bottom of 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 of these oatmeal cookies if you try making them!