Almost every year throughout high school, my marching band drove five buses full of kids and chaperones down to Southern California during the week after Christmas. Along with an important event like the Rose Bowl Parade or the Fiesta Bowl Field Show Competition, our director also arranged for us to march down Main Street in Disneyland as part of each trip. Although the former performances were much more prestigious, we always looked forward to Disneyland the most…
Before and after our Disney parade, we got to spend the rest of the day going on rides! And since the park coordinator typically scheduled us in the late afternoon time slot on New Year’s Day, we nearly had all of Disneyland to ourselves in the morning because most of the world was sleeping in from staying up until midnight and ushering in the new year.
To prevent the trip from becoming too expensive, our band director booked a huge block of rooms at a budget-friendly hotel about a mile away from Disneyland. As part of the package, he and the hotel manager set up a big buffet-style breakfast for us in a cavernous meeting room, rather than the hotel’s restaurant. With 250+ students and parent volunteers, we would’ve scared off the rest of the hotel patrons from the lobby’s tiny dining area!
Back then, I rarely thought about healthy New Year’s Resolutions (unlike this year, when I started this program! I hope you join me!), so I actually treated that buffet breakfast as a special occasion and loaded my plate with some of my favorite treats like waffles, French toast, donuts, or mini muffins… Plus a side of fruit, just to be safe!
When I stopped by a Starbucks near Disneyland last week to meet this super sweet friend, those high school marching band memories came rushing back, and I seriously contemplated grabbing an extra chocolaty muffin or chocolate frosted donut as a result…
But instead, I decided to compromise with these Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Cookies! They’re made with entirely wholesome ingredients and just as chewy as traditional cookies, but they’re just 82 calories!
Making it perfectly reasonable to sneak a second, right? ?
These cookies are the next installment in my series of clean eating oatmeal cookie recipes! ← Have you tried any of the others yet? They all taste just like traditional cookies, yet they contain absolutely no butter, refined flour or sugar! (The apple pie and carrot cake versions are two of my most popular recipes!)
Just like the others, this recipe starts with whole wheat flour (or gluten-free!) and instant oats. Instant oats are also called “quick-cooking” or “one-minute” oats, and they’re sold in canisters right next to the regular old-fashioned oats at the grocery store.
It’s extremely important to measure the flour and oats correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. The oats act like little sponges and soak up moisture from your cookie dough, so too many will make your cookies taste cakey or dry!
That’s why I highly recommend a kitchen scale. This is the one I own, and it has been the best $20 I’ve ever spent! I use it to make every recipe I publish here on my blog because it ensures they turn out with the perfect taste and texture every time.
Instead of refined sugar, you’ll sweeten these cookies with pure maple syrup. Make sure you buy the good kind! Avoid pancake syrups or sugar-free syrups because those contain corn syrup or artificial ingredients, which we’re avoiding in this healthier recipe. The only ingredient on the label should be “maple syrup.” It generally comes in thin glass bottles or squat plastic jugs, and you can also buy it here for a slightly discounted price!
Since you’ll use about half as much sweetener as typical cookies, you’ll also add in milk to compensate for the missing volume. (Less sweetener = why they’re healthy enough for breakfast!) Any type of milk will do!
Then after mixing up and chilling the cookie dough, transferring it to your baking sheet, and popping that in the oven…
Time for a healthy breakfast! ? And when you make your own, 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 cookies and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Breakfast Cookies | | Print |
- 1 cup (100g) instant oats (measured like this and gluten-free if necessary)
- ¾ cup (90g) whole wheat or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ 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
- ¼ cup (60mL) pure maple syrup, room temperature
- ¼ cup (60mL) nonfat milk, room temperature
- ¼ cup (40g) raisins
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, egg, and vanilla. Stir in the maple syrup and milk. Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated. Gently fold in the raisins. 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 to the desired thickness and width with a spatula. Bake at 325°F for 10-13 minutes. Cool on the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to 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 (15g) brown rice flour, and ½ teaspoon xanthan gum. Most store-bought gluten-free blends will work as well, if measured like this.
Any milk will work in place of the non-fat milk.
For more tips and answers to all other questions, including substitutions and videos, 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…
♥ The Ultimate Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
♥ Loaded Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies
♥ Lemon Poppy Seed Protein Cookies
♥ Chocolate Chip Protein Cookies
♥ Morning Glory Bran Muffins
♥ …and all of Amy’s healthy oatmeal cookie recipes!
Just baked these and for the first go these they turned out okay! I’ll definitely be baking these again and the other variations of the oatmeal cookie recipes that you have up!
P.S. I have tagged you in my ig post, I hope you don’t mind!
I absolutely LOVED seeing your Instagram post today!! You’re so sweet to share in your Instagram comment that you’re “the anonymous foodie” that’s been commenting on my blog. I love being able to put photos and comments together! 🙂 I’m really glad you liked these cookies, and thank you so much for taking the time to let me know here and on Instagram too!
I followed the recipe exactly excited to try these cookies, but after I baked them they had a strong bitter taste. I’m not sure what it was😫
Oh no!! That sounds really disappointing and not like how these cookies should turn out at all, so I’d love to help figure out what happened, Lee! 🙂 How was the texture — did that turn out soft and chewy? Did you make any modifications to the recipe, including those listed in the Notes section? Which flour option did you use? Did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups to measure the oats and flour? How fresh were your oats, flour, milk, and raisins? How long did you bake your cookies?
I know I just asked a LOT of questions, but once I know your answers to all of them, I should have a much better idea of the potential culprit!
Can these be frozen in air tight container?
Yes! These breakfast cookies freeze really well. My favorite way to freeze them is to line a baking sheet with foil (for easy clean-up!). Arrange the fully cooled cookies in a single layer on the foil. Place that in the freezer for 2 hours or until fully frozen. Transfer the frozen cookies to a zip-topped bag, and if you can fit two layers of cookies into your bag, slide a paper towel in between the two layers (to prevent them from sticking to each other and to soak up moisture if you thaw them in the fridge!). Then squeeze out as much air as you can before sealing the bag and placing it in the freezer. Does that make sense? 🙂
I’d love to hear what you think of these breakfast cookies if you try making them, Zaz!
Thank you so much for replying. I did make these yesterday and recently posted on my Instagram that I made them, (you replied to my tagged post on my recovery account which was really cool!!). Anyway I made them and I LOOOVE THE FLAVOUR, they are literally soooo delicious, like if anyone has the ingredients I highly recommend this recipe. I want to try finding a granola recipe similar to this because I absolutely love the cinnamon flavour! Thanks for this recipe and tips on how to freeze these, as I’ll definitely be making these more than once!.
Ps for anyone wondering I used honey instead of maple syrup and extra virgin coconut oil instead of Butter 🙂
I was actually wondering if you were the same person! I’m SO honored that you’d take the time to share your photo on Instagram, tag me, AND leave a blog comment here too! That’s the best kind of compliment if you already think you’ll make these again. That truly means a lot to me Zaz — thank you for taking the time to let me know!! 🙂
A classic cinnamon granola recipe is at the top of my to do list (great minds must think alike!), but if you modify this granola recipe of mine to use 2-3 teaspoons of cinnamon and raisins instead of sliced almonds, that should get you a pretty similar flavor as these breakfast cookies. I’d love to hear what you think if you decide to try making that granola too!
No worries its my pleasure! And thank you for the granola recipe, I’ll definitely be trying it out soon! 🙂
And once again THANK YOU FOR THIS AMAZING RECIPE I AM LITERALLY OBSESSED haha, will definitely be trying many of your other recipes, (I’ve got my I on the Oatmeal peach cookies haha )
Anyway cheers !
You’re welcome! You’re just making my day all over again — I’m so honored that you’re obsessed with these cookies!! My heart is about to burst… That means the world to me! 🙂 I actually like the peach version even more than these, so I’ve got my fingers crossed that you enjoy them too! 😉
Hi!, just wondering if we can skip raisins or swap them out for Chopped up dried apricots or fresh/frozen chopped up strawberries ??, also I was wondering could I replace the honey with banana? The recipe is amazing as it is but I’m just curious if I can do other variations to switch it up a little. Thank you, all the best 💓💓
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Zaz! I actually have 12 other oatmeal breakfast cookie recipes here (with more to come in the future too!). They all have the same texture as these, so if you’re interested in trying different flavor variations, I’d recommend going through those other recipes to start. 🙂
Then to answer your specific questions, you can definitely substitute chopped dried apricots for the raisins! If you’d like to try using diced strawberries, then I recommend using my peach oatmeal breakfast cookies recipe (here) or my raspberry chocolate chip oatmeal breakfast cookie recipe (here) as your base instead since both of those already call for fresh fruit, which would make it the strawberry substitution a tiny bit easier and more straightforward.
However, I don’t recommend using banana in place of the honey. It isn’t nearly as sweet, so your breakfast cookies would taste fairly bland (more like ever so slightly sweet sandwich bread than their current sweetness level!). Mashed banana also isn’t as thin in consistency, so their texture wouldn’t be the same either. I do have a banana breakfast cookie recipe though, which you can find in that link to the 12 other recipes I included above, if you’re interested!
Does all of that make sense? 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of any other oatmeal breakfast cookie recipes of mine that you decide to try too!
Hi there, I’ve made these a few times and they are amazing!
The first time they were perfect
The second time they were dry but it’s because I let the coconut oil solidify and it clumped up
The third time was really yummy but I added too much honey
And today I made them once more as I make them around every 2-3 weeks and I did everything correctly but the coconut oil clumped again after I put the honey and milk in so I wanted to ask you can I heat up the milk first and if I don’t heat up the honey will it still work? Thank you 🙂
For anyone wondering I skip the raisins and I use 20ml of extra virgin coconut oil which is 1 Australian tablespoon and it always comes out great!
I’m so honored that you’ve made these breakfast cookies so many times, Helen! That’s the best kind of compliment that there is! 🙂
Yes, just like it says in the Ingredients list, your liquid sweetener (maple syrup or honey!) and milk need to be at room temperature before you add them to the bowl! If they’re not (ie if they’re used straight from the refrigerator), then they’ll immediately resolidify the melted coconut oil since coconut oil has such a low melting/solidification point. However, you don’t want them to be TOO warm (or else they’ll start to cook the egg!), but if they’re at room temperature, you should have the best results. Does that make sense? 🙂
Yes thank you so much, my kids absolutely love these cookies. I will try heating the milk in the microwave for around 40 sec to get it a little warm but not hot, hopefully this will work, I’m not sure if the honey should be heated up as it sits in out cabinet and not fridge, but I’ll do some research, anyway thank you for this recipe, can’t wait to try your other recipes.
Also..
This is a random question but I recently bought almond flour that’s quite rough in texture and I used a recipe from a website (I won’t name it) to make cookies and they turned out terrible and burnt, however I noticed you have a few recipes with almond flour, so I was wondering if you have any favourite recipes that you’d like to suggest on your website, as my almond flour is going to expire soon and I am so indecisive as you have quite a few almond flour recipes. Thank you! Have a lovely day!
It’s my pleasure, Helen! I’m happy to help! 🙂 If you honey sits in your cabinet, then that should be fine to use without warming it up. For me, I’ve found that just 15-20 seconds in my microwave gets the milk up to room temperature, so I’d probably recommend around that much time to start. If your milk still feels cold, then you can easily pop it back in for a bit longer!
I’m honored that you’d like to try more of my recipes too! You could actually use your almond flour to make these cookies, if you’d like. Almond flour should work in just about all of my cookie and brownie recipes! I’m really indecisive too, but these brownies are really easy to make, and these chocolate chip cookies are also simple. I don’t know if either of those are flavors that you enjoy… But like I said, almond flour should work in just about all of my cookie and brownie recipes, so if you’re craving something in particular, then just use the Search Bar (located on the right side, if you’re viewing on a computer, or the bottom of my blog, if you’re viewing on a mobile device) to find it! 🙂
I’m so excited to hear what other recipes of mine you decide to try!
Hi just wondering can I substitute date syrup instead of using honey?
I think that should be fine, Riley! I’d love to hear what you think of these cookies if you try making them!
Haven’t tried this recipe yet but wondering….Can you add pumpkin seeds to the raisins in this recipe?
Yes! I think anywhere from 2-4 tablespoons of pumpkin seeds should be fine to add along with the raisins. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of these breakfast cookies if you try making them, Mara!
after reading the recipe, I remembered that the only raisins I have are inside a bottle of rum. Going to use these. SHOULD TASTE REA GOOD.
Oh my goodness… That would make for one very unique breakfast cookie! 😉 I’d love to hear what you thought of them if you tried making this recipe, Dianne!
I made these today but subbed the raisins for milk chocolate chips (it’s all I had in!) and they came out great. The second batch I left in the oven maybe 2-3 mins longer for a crispier top. I could eat the whole lot in one go, please hide them from me.
Oh my goodness! That’s the BEST kind of compliment there is, if you’re tempted to eat the whole batch yourself. 😉 Thank you for taking the time to let me know. It truly means a lot, Sarah!
(And as a huge chocoholic, I love your swap of chocolate chips for raisins — yum!!)