These healthy oatmeal peanut butter cookies are a delicious, high protein treat! NO oil or flour needed!
I love peanut butter!
Creamy, crunchy, I don’t care….just give it to me without sugar.
Laura Scudder’s is my all-time fave brand, one of the reasons being that I grew up eating it. Another reason is that it’s one of the few natural peanut butters that you can still buy in a glass jar.
These cookies came about as a result of wanting peanut butter, as well as something relatively low in effort.
They make great lunchbox snacks and after-school treats, and they come together very quick!
Ingredients needed
Recipe steps
Mix the wet ingredients together with the coconut sugar, then add in the oats, egg, and baking soda.
Mix everything to form a batter, then form the cookies.
Lowering the sugar
As this recipe is from 2014, I’ve since tried a few lower sugar variations.
The best changes to make are lowering the six tablespoons of coconut sugar to 1/4 cup (or four tablespoons) and lowering the baking soda from 1/2 teaspoon to 1/4 teaspoon.
FAQs
You can, but the quick oats work a bit better, texture-wise. If need be, you can pulse the whole oats in a food processor to break them up a bit.
I don’t find I need extra salt if I use a salted peanut butter, but if you use unsalted, you would need about 1/4 teaspoon. Creamy and crunchy both work great! Just be sure your kids enjoy the crunchy, as my son does not enjoy the texture of these when made with crunchy peanut butter.
Tips and tricks
Increasing the size on these (AKA making fewer, larger cookies) will also increase the baking time.
Do not skip the flattening step! It really compacts the cookie, lending a better texture and taste…crispy edges with a chewy center, mmm!
A semi-related trick, if you can even call it that, is to pour off the top layer of separated peanut oil and replace it with an equal amount of olive oil. I feel like it just makes the peanut butter a little bit healthier.
Try my Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookie for One if you’d like a smaller serving!
Healthy Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup natural peanut butter salted
- 6 Tablespoons coconut sugar see Lower the Sugar Notes in post
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup quick oats
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Begin with room temperature ingredients, as this facilitates mixing.
- Beat or vigorously stir together the peanut butter, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon together just until combined.
- Beat or vigorously stir in the egg and baking soda, again just until combined.
- Stir in the oats; the mixture will be very thick at this point.
- Divide the dough into 10 equal-sized balls and flatten them onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.
- Bake the cookies for 9-12 minutes, or until golden.
- Once out of the oven, gently press down on the tops with a fork (see above image) to decrease air and compact the cookie for best texture/taste.
- 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!
Hi Lauren. I would love to make these but…I can’t have any grains. What about almonds coursely ground? Any suggestions? I also have a ton of allergies. 3 months ago I started a supplement called D-Hist by Ortho Molecular. This product has been a huge blessing because I used to have constant itching all over my body. I am living with Candidia for life due to a low immune system and also have celiac. God bless you.
Thank you Cyndy, I’ll have to look into the D-Hist! I think ground almonds would work…or maybe quinoa flakes? Good luck and let me know how they come out if you try them another way. 🙂
Sounds delish! I can’t imagine not being able to eat peanut butter. It’s been a staple, like an everyday staple, for me forever. Have fun with it! Looking forward to many peanut buttery recipes. 🙂
I love that you always look at the glass half-full. Enjoy this allergy-feel period of your life. And big congrats on your pregnancy!
Thanks so much Mike! 🙂
Of course, I meant ‘allergy-free period of your life’…what would an allergy-feel btw? :/ 😉
The cookies turned out great! I made two batches the first day. Thankfully I bought a bag of coconut sugar a few days prior (first time).
That’s great, thanks for the feedback! 🙂
Have you looked into helminthic therapy as a treatment for your allergies? Here’s a link to some information (not endorsing the company, but it provides some decent general info): http://www.wormtherapy.com/theory.html
Thanks Kat, I’ll definitely read up on it!
That’s so exciting you can indulge in things you wouldn’t normally be able to! I’m jumping up and down on your behalf! These look like a great way to pack maximum peanut butter into your life!
Thanks Gabby! Hope you’re doing well girl! 🙂
That’s an interesting fact! I didn’t know the immune system is lowered during pregnancy (I don’t have that experience yet). I’m really glad I found this post and thanks for sharing it, Lauren! 🙂 I tried the cookies, they came out super yummy! And flattening them at the end really does improve the texture, I agree. I wasn’t sure about those 6 T of sugar (these days you usually use 1-2 T plus sometimes stevia, but this is an older post), so I risked and used heaping 3.5 T but the cookies turned out just right for me. I’ll be making them again! Thank you Lauren 🙂
Hi Alice,
Glad you enjoyed these, yes, they are from my ‘pre-low sugar’ days, lol, but it’s good to hear they worked with less! The immune system thing is very interesting. I had no idea before I got pregnant with my first, and all of the sudden, I could eat foods I normally couldn’t! When I asked my naturopath, he explained that the immune system relaxes so as to avoid ‘attacking’ the baby. The downside is that pregnant women tend to get sick easier! 🙂
Made but subbed Splenda for baking for the coconut sugar so they actually are sugar free!!! Delicious!!