These low sugar oatmeal raisin cookies are a delicious treat for anyone, particularly those watching their sugar intake. They're also egg-free, gluten-free, and nut-free.
Hang on to your hats, I'm about to tell you something crazy pants.
My favorite cookie is oatmeal raisin! Yes, shocking, particularly to chocolate chip lovers, but what are ya gonna do?
Though I do have a more traditional recipe on the blog, this version is even more cleaned up in terms of added sweeteners.
I've actually been making this recipe for years now, but only recently perfected it to post.
These make a great afternoon treat and the raisins can be substituted with chocolate chips, if you prefer (which I sometimes do!).
Ingredients and substitutions
- Oat flour and oats - These two ingredients provide the base of this cookie. Quick oats are a better choice, as far as texture goes, but rolled oats will work.
- Sugar
- Baking powder - I like baking powder the best for both taste and texture. If you're averse to it, you can also use 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda in place of the baking powder.
- Salt, cinnamon, and vanilla - All for flavor! I love the combination of cinnamon and vanilla in just about all of my treats, but they're especially nice when paired with oats and raisins.
- Coconut oil - You can also use butter.
- Milk - Any milk you like will work. Technically, you could also use water, though the flavor may suffer a bit.
And of course you need some raisins for these!
How to make low sugar oatmeal raisin cookies
First, stir together the dry ingredients, including the sugar.
Next, add in the oil, vanilla, milk, and raisins. Add enough milk that the batter is well-moistened, but not too 'wet'.
Stir in the raisins last.
I like to form small balls of dough, but using a drop method (just dropping spoonfuls of batter onto the baking sheet) works as well.
Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden. Don't overbake or they will dry out.
Recipe notes
The amount of milk can vary depending on how you measure your flour or which type of oat is used (rolled or quick).
My Homemade Coconut Milk or Homemade Walnut Milk are both delicious in this recipe. The walnuts add a nice hint of complementary flavor!
Take a peek at this tutorial for how you can make your own oat flour from oats.
Other healthy cookies you might like
Barley Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
Low Sugar Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Video
Ingredients
- ½ cup oat flour
- ¾ cup oats quick work best, but rolled will also work
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
- 2 Tablespoons melted coconut oil
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4-6 Tablespoons warm milk as needed
- 3 Tablespoons raisins
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix dry ingredients (flour, oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, sugar).
- Stir in oil, vanilla, raisins, and milk, adding enough milk to moisten the flour and oats and make a dough that sticks together, but isn't overly wet.
- Form balls with the dough (about eight). You can also just drop the batter onto your baking sheet.
- Place the balls of dough onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and press down on the tops a bit with your fingers.
- Bake 8-10 minutes until firm to the touch.
- Cool and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
If you have a chance to try this recipe, please leave a star rating and a comment below letting me know how you liked it!
Heidi
Oatmeal raisin cookies are my favorite cookie too! I have yet to find a good one that is healthy and allergen free! Super excited to try this recipe out as I have all the ingredients!
Lauren
Thanks Heidi! I hope you enjoy these if you do try them (let me know!). 🙂
Mary Ellen @ VNutrition
These cookies look delicious (and healthy!). Oats and oat flour are so great for people with most allergies.
That is so cool to take off on Halloween - great idea. And I haven't seen 7 Brides for 7 Brothers but I remember loving it as a kid!
Mary Ellen @ VNutrition
Sorry, forgot to mention we love having you link up with us for #HealthyVeganFridays! I’m Pinning and sharing!
Lauren
Thanks Mary Ellen! I love HVF, there's always so many creative recipes. Have a great weekend!
kimmythevegan
"Halloween is my and my husband’s absolute favorite holiday."
Us too! I've gone crazy for Halloween since I was a kid - it's seriously the best holiday. I've also had my costume picked out for months and months. I can't wait to see pictures of yours =)
These cookies sound great! I'm doing Mary Ellen's Healthy Eating Challenge and I totally think these would be approved!
Marsha
I love a good oatmeal cookie. cookies are one of my favorite treats, but they need to be ooey gooey and chewy!
Evi @ greenevi
These cookies are so pretty and I bet totally delicious too. I really love oatmeal cookies, nowadays, so I'm definitely making these soonish too 🙂
Raia T.
I already can see my kids going crazy over these! And they really make me wish I could tolerate oats. 🙁 Thank you so much for sharing them at Allergy Free Thursdays, Lauren!
Jennifer
I made these for my Mom who eats low-fat and loves Oatmeal Raisin cookies. I'm not a big fan but really liked these. I will make these for myself from now on. I can't wait until Mom comes over today and tries them! Kept it in Infinity Jars which will keep the freshness. https://infinityjars.com/collections/screw-top-jars
Susan
My kids LOVE these!!!!! Your blog makes my day!!!!! You go girl!!
Celina
I love love love oats, and I love love love oatmeal cookies. This is such a tasty recipe! I subbed out raisins for mini chocolate chips and crushed candy canes because 'tis the season 🙂
Alice
These cookies were such a blessed saver for our sudden, unusual late night craving for choco-chip no-wheat cookies. (I used choco chips instead of raisins.) Within 20 mins we were munching on these delicious treats, such a quick recipe, thank you Lauren for posting! I am sure the raisin version tastes as great so I will remember to try that as well, especially that it's so quick and easy to make. On the side note: Lauren, I truly appreciate your low-sugar approach to life and sharing this kind of recipes. Someone commented under a different recipe of yours how many blogs avoid processed sugar but still use a lot of coconut sugar or maple syrup/honey, which in my opinion makes no difference at all; sugar is sugar. Your recipes and blog are such a blessed change and help. Thank you so much and may you be rewarded well for this!
Lauren
Thank you Alice! I couldn't agree more, and I appreciate you recognizing my effort in this way. 🙂
Alice.
Hello again Lauren, I just wanted to report to you that I tried this recipe in a bit different ratio: my husband requested less oats in them, so I used 1c. oat flour and 1/4c. oats and it worked well, except I needed to add a bit more milk, about 6-8T. in total. One time I also had 1/3c. leftover ground quinoa (from making your quinoa cookies:) and I used that in place of oat flour, so it was: 1/3 c. quinoa flour, 2/3c, out flour and 1/4c. oats, also adding about 6-8T. milk in total. This worked well too, adding a subtle quinoa flavor to the cookies. 🙂
Lauren
Ooo, that sounds delicious Alice, I'm happy you found another way to enjoy them. This is one of my favorite recipes!
Alice.
Hey Lauren, I just wanted to report to you that I tried this recipe in a bit different ratio: my husband requested less oats in them, so I used 1c. oat flour and 1/4c. oats and it worked well, except I needed to add a bit more milk, about 6-8T. in total. One time I also had 1/3c. leftover ground quinoa (from making your quinoa cookies:) and I used that in place of oat flour, so it was: 1/3 c. quinoa flour, 2/3c, out flour and 1/4c. oats, also adding about 6-8T. milk in total. This worked well too, adding a subtle quinoa flavor to the cookies. 🙂
Kathleen
These are very good, but I'm having difficulty getting the dough to stick together when I try to form cookies. More milk doesn't help, as the dough just gets too wet. I added 2 heaping tablespoons of wholewheat flour (GF is not an issue for me) and that made a cohesive dough. Oherwise this is a great recipe. Good with nuts instead of raisins to make them even lower in sugar. Thank you.
Lauren
Hi Kathleen,
I'm not certain what's happening with your pre-baked dough, as it should hold together with enough added milk. The post-baked cookie, however, will be a bit more crumbly than regular cookies, as there is no gluten or egg present here. I'm glad you found a way to enjoy them though!
Lyf
Hi Lauren, this is one of my favourite cookie recipes. I love how you focus on minimising sugar in your cooking and baking, it's so difficult to find bloggers that think like you. Thank you for all the effort you put in to your site!
Jo
what kind of oats are required in this recipe?
rolled, instant or quick oats?
Lauren
Rolled or quick 🙂
Eva
These are amazing! Thank you!
Michelle Lavinio
Hi
Can I use other flour instead of oat? What would you recommend please?
Mahalo
Lauren
Hi Michelle,
I think spelt would work well. I've substituted it for oat before, and it worked well. If you can't have gluten, a GF blend might work too.