Healthy Flourless Triple Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

 
For our flight from Arizona to California on Christmas Eve day, we arrived at the airport right at lunchtime with just over an hour before the plane left. Mom dropped off the rental car while the rest of us stood in the security line, yet because of Mom’s TSA PreCheck status, she skipped to the front of the line and still passed through to the other side before the rest of us.  

As soon as everyone else had laced up their shoes, my family split in three different directions. Dad and I headed for the restrooms right next to our flight’s gate, but Mom and my brother rushed over to the food stalls in search of lunch. Nearly everyone was starving!
 

 
Mom returned shortly after with water bottles, a ham and Brie sandwich for Dad, and a box with fruit, cheese, and crackers for herself. My brother arrived a few minutes later, right before we lined up to board the plane, but because of his many food allergies, he only found snacks instead of a full meal.

However… His snacks still looked delicious! Roasted peanuts, crunchy crackers, and a large double chocolate cookie. As a huge chocoholic, I was incredibly tempted to run over and buy one of those treats for myself too, but the gate agent’s voice came over the loudspeaker at that moment, inviting the first group of passengers (including us!) to board.
 

 
So instead, I baked these Healthy Flourless Triple Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies back at home to satisfy my chocolate cravings! They’re supremely rich and decadent, with a similar fudgy texture as brownies. Yet unlike the airport cookie, these contain no flour (fairly obvious, from the recipe title!) or refined sugar, and they’re just 79 calories!

Definitely pure chocolate cookie bliss in my book!
 

 
Let’s go over how to make these healthy flourless triple chocolate cookies!

You’ll start with oats, as I’m sure you’ve already guessed… But not just any oats! You need instant oats, which are also called “quick cooking” or “one minute” oats. They’re smaller and thinner than traditional old-fashioned rolled oats. (And no, they’re not the same thing as what’s in those individual flavored brown paper packets!) Because of their size, instant oats make your healthy flourless triple chocolate oatmeal cookies extremely soft and chewy.

Next, you’ll skip the flour and measure out cocoa powder instead. It’s the first chocolate component in these healthy flourless triple chocolate oatmeal cookies! I recommend using regular unsweetened cocoa powder, like this, rather than Dutched or special dark. Despite the name, those latter two actually make the cookies taste less rich or dark or chocolaty because they have a more muted flavor compared to regular unsweetened cocoa powder. Since you’re adding ¾ cup, your cookies will definitely taste super rich and chocolaty with regular unsweetened cocoa powder!
 

 
Just remember, it’s extremely important to measure the oats and cocoa powder correctly, using this method or a kitchen scale. Too much of either ingredient will dry out your cookie dough, making your cookies turn out cakey or bready! This is especially true of the oats because they act like little sponges and soak up lots of moisture from the cookie dough. Also, too much cocoa powder will make your cookies taste bitter, instead of rich and decadent.

So the moral of the [measuring] story? I promise it’s worth the few extra seconds to measure your ingredients correctly to get the best healthy flourless triple chocolate oatmeal cookies possible!

Rolling right along…
 

 
Unlike traditional cookie recipes that call for a full stick or two of butter, this one only requires 1 tablespoon. Yes, that’s it! That definitely helps keep these healthy flourless triple chocolate oatmeal cookies low fat and low calorie. You’ll also melt the butter because (a) it creates a more soft and chewy texture and (b) it’s easier than remembering to set out butter to soften ahead of time. Definitely a win-win!

You’ll skip the refined sugar and sweeten your healthy flourless triple chocolate oatmeal cookies with pure maple syrup instead. It should be the kind that comes directly from maple trees! The only ingredient on the bottle should be “maple syrup,” and it’s generally sold in thin glass bottles or squat plastic jugs (like this!).
 

 
Time for more chocolate! You’ll add both dark chocolate chips and mini chocolate chips to your cookie dough. I love the big burst of chocolate that comes from the dark chocolate chips, and mixing in mini ones ensures that every bite contains at least one morsel of chocolate. And when you bite into those gooey melty pockets of chocolate when you eat one of these healthy flourless triple chocolate oatmeal cookies warm from the oven…

Oh. My. Goodness.
 

 
But wait! I’m getting ahead of myself. You still need to chill the cookie dough before baking! It’ll be a little sticky when you initially mix it up, but chilling stiffens the cookie dough so it’s easier to work with.

After 30 minutes, you can drop the cookie dough onto your baking sheet. I just use a spoon and spatula to do this! Then flatten the cookie dough to your desired thickness and width. These cookies don’t spread at all while baking, so they’ll look exactly the same before and after baking… Just a little firmer and with those perfectly melty chocolate chips!
 

 
How irresistible do these look?? 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 healthy flourless triple chocolate oatmeal cookies!

View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
 
 
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♡  Healthy Flourless Chocolate Cowboy Cookies
♡  Healthy Flourless Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Protein Cookies
♡  Healthy Practically Flourless Chocolate Chip Cookies
♡  Healthy Practically Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
♡  Healthy Fudgy Triple Chocolate Cookies
♡  …and the rest of Amy’s healthy cookie recipes!