A few weeks ago while out grocery shopping, I spotted a big, bright yellow sale sign in the produce section. Posted on a wooden center display, just a few steps away from the floral section overflowing with colorful bouquets of roses, the banner boasted, “$5 for 18-ounce packages of strawberries!”
I picked up the jumbo-sized carton, which held over twice the amount of berries as a stereotypical plastic container, held it up above my head to inspect the fruit at the bottom (that’s where the potentially moldy berries usually end up!), and nestled it into my shopping cart when I decided all of the fruit looked perfectly ripe. My parents and I planned on grilling dinner one night over the upcoming weekend, and I thought those strawberries would be perfect to bring.
A couple days later, during the early afternoon of our backyard barbeque dinner date, Mom dashed out to the grocery store to buy hamburger buns and an assortment of fresh veggies to grill. When she arrived back at the house and opened up the fridge to put things away, she immediately started to laugh.
Without realizing I had already bought strawberries, she had purchased the exact same jumbo-sized package too!
So with over two pounds of strawberries in the fridge, I started testing as many recipes as I could think of to finish off both cartons before they went bad! First this healthy breakfast, another round of this (it’s one of my all-time favorite recipes!), a new dessert that I’ll post next week, and…
These Dark Chocolate Strawberry Oatmeal Cookies! Soft, chewy cookies full of melty chocolate chunks and sweet juicy berries… But no butter, refined flour or sugar… All for just 98 calories.
In other words… The perfect dessert for all those ripe summertime strawberries!
This is the next recipe in my clean eating oatmeal cookies series. ← Have you tried any of those other recipes yet? They’re the most popular recipes on my blog—and for a good reason! They’re just as soft and chewy as traditional cookies {and just as delicious too!} but made with entirely healthy, wholesome ingredients. Like I mentioned, that means no butter, refined flour or sugar!
Just like those other recipes, this one begins with whole wheat flour and instant oats. No, instant oats aren’t the ones sold in those individual brown paper packets! Instant oats are also called “quick cooking” or “one-minute” oats, and they’re smaller and thinner than traditional old-fashioned rolled oats. You can find canisters of them at the grocery store right next to the old-fashioned oats.
It’s extremely important that you measure both the flour and oats correctly, using either a light hand with the spoon and level method or a kitchen scale. I highly recommend the latter! This is the kitchen scale that I own, and it’s the best $20 I’ve ever spent. I use it to make every recipe I post here on Amy’s Healthy Baking because it ensures that my treats turn out with the perfect taste and texture each and every time.
In this recipe, too many oats will quickly dry out your cookies and make them taste cakey or bready. This is because oats at like little sponges and soak up all of the moisture in the cookie dough, so pretty pretty please, measure them correctly!
Instead of refined sugar, you’ll sweeten these cookies with pure maple syrup. Be sure to use the good stuff! Skip the pancake syrups and sugar-free syrups; those contain corn syrup or artificial ingredients, which we’re avoiding in this healthier recipe. The only ingredient on the label should be “pure maple syrup.” At the grocery store, it’s typically sold in thin glass bottles or squat plastic jugs, and I’ve also bought it online!
And now for the best part: the mix-ins! I used fresh strawberries because I had so many in my fridge, but frozen and thawed will work as well. For the chocolate chunks, I chopped up a bar of 72% dark chocolate, but you’re welcome to use the percentage that you prefer. (I actually prefer 85% dark chocolate, but that’s way too dark for my mom! ?) You want the bits of both the strawberries and dark chocolate to be no larger than the size of mini chocolate chips because this helps the cookies bake evenly.
Cookie time! And when you bake them, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees that I’ll see the notification from you! ?) I’d love to see your oatmeal cookies and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Dark Chocolate Strawberry Oatmeal Cookies | | Print |
- 1 cup (100g) instant oats (gluten-free if necessary and measured like this)
- ¾ cup (90g) whole wheat or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ 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) pure maple syrup
- ½ cup (80g) finely diced fresh strawberries
- 2 tbsp (28g) finely chopped 72% dark chocolate, divided
- 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 maple syrup. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Fold in the strawberries and 1 ½ tablespoons of the chopped dark chocolate. 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.
- Drop the cookie dough into 15 rounded scoops onto the prepared sheet, and flatten slightly using a spatula. Gently press the remaining chopped dark chocolate into the tops. Bake at 325°F for 11-14 minutes. Cool on the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.
Instant oats are also known as quick-cooking or minute oats. They come in large canisters, just like old-fashioned oats. They are not the ones in the small flavored packets of oatmeal. To make your own, add the same amount of old-fashioned oats to a food processor, and pulse 10-12 times.
For a gluten-free version, use gluten-free instant oats and the following gluten-free flour blend: ½ cup (60g) millet flour, 2 tablespoons (15g) tapioca flour, 2 tablespoons (17g) brown rice flour, and ½ teaspoon xanthan gum.
It’s important to finely dice both the strawberries and dark chocolate. Both should be no larger than the size of miniature chocolate chips (about half the size of your pinky’s fingernail) to ensure the cookies bake evenly.
Frozen and thawed strawberries may be substituted for the fresh.
Any percentage of dark chocolate may be substituted in place of the 72% dark chocolate. Miniature chocolate chips may also be substituted for the chopped dark chocolate.
For answers to all other questions regarding substitutions and tips, see my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ page.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
View Nutrition Information
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♥ Dark Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
♥ Peach Pie Oatmeal Cookies
♥ Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread Oatmeal Cookies
♥ Raspberry Cheesecake Oatmeal Cookies
♥ Apple Pie Oatmeal Cookies
♥ Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Oatmeal Cookies
I definitely overbuy strawberries, but it’s not really bad because I go through them so quickly. 😉 Yet another amazing cookie recipe Amy!!! You’re the baking queen! 🙂
You’re so sweet Marina — thank you!! 🙂 You probably would’ve had a field day with all of those strawberries in our fridge. We needed help to eat them all!
That’s not a lot of strawberries but there are 5 of us:) Took the girls last week to PYO and picked over 23 lbs. so we are eating multiple times a day and will freeze some. Love that we can pick fresh seasonal fruit here in MA so we tend to immerse ourselves in the fruit of the month.
Question: what size scoop? Don’t want to make 15 scoops and then scrape it all back in the pan if they aren’t the right size.
Thanks!
My goodness, that sounds like so much fun Tracy! I’ve always wanted to go to fruit orchards like that and pick my own, but the only time I lived close enough to one to justify the trip, it was in a really hot area with temperatures consistently above 100° during the fruit’s season. Yikes! 😉 I don’t actually measure the cookie dough with a scoop. If you watch the videos on my Oatmeal Cookie FAQ page (it’s already linked to in the Notes section as well!), you’ll see that I just use a spoon and spatula, and I eyeball it. If one cookie ends up with more than its neighbor, I’ll adjust as necessary with the spoon and spatula until they’re all about even. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of the cookies!
Ugh, those melty bits of chocolate! That’s too funny about the strawberries…
Thanks lovely!
We ended up going to pick strawberries and I over picked, it was way to much fun. I froze the extra strawberries we have and wanted to use them for some desserts. This looks so yummy, can you use frozen berries for this? and if so should I thaw them first? Measurements the same? Thanks so much! Can’t wait to try.
Strawberry picking sounds like so much fun Tonia! I’ve always wanted to go, but I’ve never gotten around to it. Hopefully someday soon! 🙂 Yes, your frozen strawberries will work just fine. Simply thaw them, pat them dry of any excess moisture left over from thawing, and use the same amount. I’m really excited to hear what you think of the cookies!