Healthy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies (no eggs, no butter)

These Healthy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies are the perfect healthier alternative to more regular oatmeal cookie recipes. There's no eggs, no butter and no flour included, yet they are soft, chewy and absolutely delicious!

These flourless peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are made with a few simple ingredients that you probably already have at home. They include natural peanut butter, oats and almond meal and will satisfy any peanut butter fans out there who are looking for a healthier cookie recipe.

The best part is that there's no special equipment needed- all you'll need is a large bowl. For more peanut butter cookie recipes check out 3 Ingredient Peanutbutter Cookies or 2 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies.

Ingredients & Substitution Notes

• Almond Meal: These chewy peanut butter oatmeal cookies are made with ground almonds instead of flour. For best results, we recommend using store-bought ground almonds. You could use ground hazelnuts instead.
• Rolled Oats: Together with the ground almonds they form the base. We highly recommend using large flaked old-fashioned oats since they add a lovely texture. For a less chewy cookie texture, you could try using quick oats (but we haven't tested this recipe using quick oats!). For gluten-free peanut butter oatmeal cookies, use gluten-free oats.
• Chocolate Chips: We went for vegan dark chocolate chips but you could use any chocolate of choice. You can either use chocolate chips or chop up some chocolate. Just know that depending on the size of your chunks, the texture of these cookies might change slightly. Use semi-sweet chocolate chips for a recipe that's lower in sugar.
• Peanut Butter: Adds the nice peanut flavors we're after and acts as a binder. Since the recipe doesn't include (flax) eggs, butter or oil, we need peanut butter to produce a sticky dough. For the recipe to turn out perfect, use peanut butter that consists of 100% peanuts and nothing else (except for a pinch of salt maybe, then you won’t need to add it afterward). Make sure there are no added oils or other additives included. We used smooth, creamy peanut butter but the recipe works just as well with chunky peanut butter. If you don't have peanut butter on hand you could use almond butter or cashew butter instead, but this will result in slightly different flavors.
• (Plant) Milk: To make vegan peanut butter cookies we recommend using unsweetened plant milk. In this recipe, I used oat milk because it's naturally on the sweeter side. You could use any milk of choice though such as almond milk, soy milk or cashew milk. Whole milk would also work if you don't need this recipe to be dairy-free or vegan.
• Peanuts: They add even more peanut butter flavor as well as some texture to these cookies. You could omit them if you don't have them on hand but we highly recommend adding them.
• Brown Sugar: Could be replaced by coconut sugar or regular white granulated sugar.

How to Make Healthy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

This healthy cookie recipe includes 9 simple ingredients and comes together in less than 30 minutes! There's no special equipment needed, you'll only need one bowl! 

Step 1: Mix together dry ingredients

In a large mixing bowl, combine all dry cookie ingredients (ground almonds, oats, sugar, pinch of salt and baking powder). Stir until well combined.

Step 2: Ad wet ingredients

Add peanut butter and milk of choice and give it a good stir as well. Use your hands to gently knead the dough so that the peanut butter gets mixed in properly and a sticky mass forms. If you feel that the dough doesn't stick together properly add 1-2 more tablespoon of milk.

Add peanuts and chocolate chips and stir again.

Step 3: Bake

Divide the dough into 15 cookies using a cookie scoop. Use your hands to firmly press together the dough forming round-shaped cookies. Repeat with the remaining dough. Don't try to form the dough into cookie balls like with regular cookies.

Place them onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake cookies for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and let baked cookies cool completely on a wire rack. Serve alongside some vegan Oat Milk Hot Chocolate or homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Top Tips

• Baking time: We found that 15 minutes of baking time results in the perfect texture. However, this can slightly vary depending on your oven and preferred texture. Generally speaking, less time in the oven results in softer cookies. Feel free to leave them in the oven for another 1-2 minutes for a crispier texture. Make sure to not overbake though or you'll end up with dry cookies.
• Peanut Butter: Regular peanut butter often includes additives like palm oil or sugar. For these oatmeal peanut butter cookies to turn out perfect, make sure to use peanut butter without any additives. Smooth and chunky peanut butter both work fine.
• Dough Texture: Make sure to really mix in the peanut butter well using your hands so that you end up with a sticky cookie dough. The same accounts for shaping the cookies. Form round- shaped cookies by pressing them together tightly.
• Damp Hands: Working with damp hands will facilitate shaping the cookies!
• Vanilla Extract: Is optional but for some subtle vanilla flavors you could add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
• Sea salt: Sprinkle the cookies with some sea salt for some extra sweet and salty flavors.
• Chocolate + Caramel: Instead of sea salt, you could sprinkle them with some melted chocolate or homemade 2 ingredient caramel sauce.

Storage

• Fridge: Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days or up to 1 week in the fridge.
• Freezer: I image they could also be frozen in an airtight container or ziplock bag. Defrost on the counter the night before. We have never tried freezing them however.

FAQs