Make a batch of these Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies to share with the family. They’re a perfect dessert or special snack for kids and adults!
These are my best version of a chocolate chip cookie that’s chock-full of add-ins for the best chewy texture—with a little less sweetness than most other cookies for kids.
Quick Look: Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Serving: 15
- Flavor Profile: Vanilla chocolate flavor with chewy oatmeal cookie texture
- Difficulty: Easy enough for baking with kids or holiday baking
- Why to Make: It’s a quick, lower sugar way to enjoy cookies with kids
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Table of Contents
- Quick Look: Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Why This Recipe Works
- Ingredients You Need
- Featured Review⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Ingredient Substitutions
- How to Make Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies FAQs
- How to Store
- Best Tips for Success
- Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Loaded with dried fruit, oats, chocolate, and coconut, these are our very favorite. (Well, right up there with Healthy Oatmeal Cookies and my Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake.) Plus, they get bonus points because they are easy to make and store SO well.
Why This Recipe Works
The range of add-ins in this easy recipe helps the cookies have a really awesome texture, without the need to rely solely on sugar for chewiness. It’s such a great mix!
We love to bake year-round, they are a great Christmas cookie for kids and an easy recipe for kids to cook.
(You may also like my Oatmeal Carrot Cookies and Healthy Banana Cookies.)
Ingredients You Need
To make these Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, you’ll need some pantry staples including the following ingredients.
- Butter: You’ll want to soften this at room temperature so it’s ready to be blended. I prefer to bake with unsalted butter to have more control over the total amount of salt.
- Sugar: I use a combination of granulated and brown sugar for the best chewy texture here.
- Baking soda: This helps the cookies spread and rise nicely.
- Egg: An egg helps the cookie batter bind together.
- Vanilla extract: This helps the cookies have the classic chocolate chip cookie flavor we want.
- Flour: I use whole wheat flour here for a little extra flavor.
- Oats: Rolled or “old-fashioned” oats work well. You can use quick oats, too, if that’s what you have.
- Coconut: Shredded unsweetened coconut adds nice texture and flavor.
- Dried fruit: I prefer dried cherries and cranberries, but there are a lot of options. You can also do all chocolate chips.
- Chocolate chips: You can use semisweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips here—or try chocolate chunks.
Featured Review⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Thank you so much! We are obsessed with these cookies and I make them weekly with my 3 year old. (Although I only use half the amount of sugar and swap it for coconut sugar).” —Talia
Ingredient Substitutions
- If you aren’t a fan of coconut, you can use additional oats, dried fruit, or chocolate instead.
- For the dried fruit you can use cherries, cranberries, raisins (regular or golden), cut-up dried apricots, or cut-up dried apples.
- Use coconut sugar in place of the brown and granulated sugars if you prefer.
- Dairy-free: Use a vegan butter or melted coconut oil in place of the butter.
- Gluten-free: Use a 1:1 style of gluten-free baking mix for the whole wheat flour.
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How to Make Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Here’s a look at the process involved in making these Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full information.
Step 1. In a large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer until it’s nice and fluffy.
Step 2. Add the egg and vanilla and beat smooth.
Step 3. Add the dry ingredients.
Step 4. Stir together well.
Step 5. Scoop out balls of cookie dough and place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten and bake.
TIP: The baked texture on these is best if you press the balls flat before you bake them. It helps the cookies have crisp edges and a chewy middle.
Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies FAQs
You can make these cookies ahead of time and freeze them in a zip top freezer bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge or at room temperature. Or, make them 3-5 days ahead and store them in an airtight container at room temperature.
Or make the dough ahead and store it in a zip top bag for up to 5 days in the fridge. Let sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before baking so it softens.
I love using this King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten-free flour blend so that’s what I would suggest you use to make these cookies gluten-free.
It depends on your definition of healthy. I use the term here to signify that these cookies have less added sugars and contain rolled oats and fruit. They are a great option if you love a classic chocolate chip cookie!
How to Store
Store Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Freeze cooled cookies in a freezer bag, with as much air removed as possible, for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
Best Tips for Success
- You can make the dough ahead of time if you prefer. Store it in a storage bag, with as much air removed as possible, in the fridge for up to 5 days. Let sit at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes before rolling into balls so it softens.
- Gluten-free: Use a gluten-free flour blend instead of the wheat flour.
- Use all chocolate chips or a mix of chocolate chips and dried fruit.
- If you don’t love coconut, you can use additional dried fruit, finely chopped nuts, or chocolate chips.
- Explore more of my healthy cookie recipes to share with the kids.
More Cookies for Kids
I’d love to hear what your family thinks of this recipe if you try it, so please comment below!
Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ¼ cup unsalted butter (softened at room temperature)
- ⅓ cup packed brown sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup whole wheat flour
- ¾ cup rolled oats
- ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips
- ½ cup snipped dried cranberries, cherries, or raisins
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds.
- Add the sugars, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt and beat until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Beat in egg and vanilla to combine.
- Beat in flour.
- Stir in oats, coconut, chocolate chips, and dried fruit.
- Scoop out teaspoon-size balls and place onto a baking sheet 2 inches apart. Press down slightly.
- Bake about 10 minutes or just until edges are set. Cool on pan for 1 minute, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Equipment
Notes
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freeze cooled cookies in a freezer bag, with as much air removed as possible, for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
- You can make the dough ahead of time if you prefer. Store it in a storage bag, with as much air removed as possible, in the fridge for up to about 5 days. Let sit at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes before rolling into balls so it softens.
- Use 1 tablespoon per cookie to make them a little larger.
- Gluten-free: Use gluten-free flour blend instead of the wheat flour.
- Use all chocolate chips or a mix of chocolate chips and dried fruit.
- If you don’t love coconut, you can use additional dried fruit or chocolate chips.
- Add a dash of cinnamon if desired.
Nutrition
This post was first published December 2018.
Hi Amy – is it possible to sub maple syrup for the sugar?
Hi- I haven’t tested it that way and they may wind up softer in texture. So I think it will work, but they may be more cakey than the crisp/chewy texture they are with sugar.
Thank you so much for this recipe! I just made some amazing cookies. I used milk chocolate chips and cranberries. A delicious alternative to the usual ones we make. Look forward to experimenting with different variations.
I only used 1/4 cup brown sugar and no white. They were still sweet enough for us. No coconut or fruit because we didn’t have it. I just used 1/2 cup more oats instead. Tasty
Thank you so much! We are obsessed with these cookies and I make them weekly with my 3 year old. (Although I only use half the amount of sugar and swap it for coconut sugar).
Great recipe!! Thank you. I also halfed the sugar.
These were delicious! I found the recipe through an online search. I used coconut oil instead of butter since that’s what I had and I omitted the dried cranberries since I had just made something else with them. But otherwise, I made the recipe as outlined, mixing by hand since I didn’t have an electric mixer. I’ll definitely make them again.
We loved this recipe a lot! I loved fruitcake, still do, but I don’t like all the ingredients in it. My mom used to make fruitcake cookies. They were yummy but she used those weird green and red candied cherries. Lol So I made this recipe, doubled the batch and added dried currents, cherries, apricots and raisins, pecans and fresh chopped cranberries. I used both cinnamon and cardamom for the spice and omitted the coconut and chocolate chips. I used a medium cookie scoop and ended up needing to bake them 14 minutes. They are absolutely delicious. Crispy edges, chewy center. I’m going to add coconut next time and decrease the sugar by half.
These fluffy chocolate muffins were a huge hit in our house! They were so yummy, and all three of my kids absolutely loved them. I sent them as school snacks this week, and they were a perfect treat. I made the full-size muffins this time, but I can’t wait to try mini muffins next! I also appreciated that the recipe made a manageable amount—just enough to last us through the week without any going to waste. This recipe is definitely going into our regular rotation!
Same comment as the others, great recipe but only half the sugar needed. Way too sweet imo for my toddler especially. Might just bake another batch with half the sugar and eat these myself.
These came out so tasty!
I used half the sugar listed (I only used brown – didn’t add any white granulated) and they were still nice and sweet. Could probably add even less without noticing to be honest.
I used raisins and white choc and milk choc chips in mine 😊
Thank you for the recipe.
Made these a few times with only 1/2 the sugar and they are still so delicious! They don’t need the dried fruit or nuts either but always a nice addition if you have them!
Can we make these without the dried fruit or will they be too wet?
Delicious recipe! We used coconut sugar instead of regular brown sugar as well as gluten free flour instead of whole wheat and they turned out perfectly. The cinnamon added a lot of tasty flavor! Thanks for a healthier and yummy cookie recipe!
Overall, very good texture and flavor combo! I like the coconut addition and added a little almond extract to my batter for an Almond Joy vibe.
My only issue with this recipe is its wayyyy too sweet for our taste! I’ll probably halve the sugars next time. (For context, we are a dark chocolate and unsweetened coffee/matcha kind of family.)
These Are SO TASTY . I make them for myself. I’m not usually a coconut person but the ones in these oatmeal taste so good. I would say this recipe would be a little harder to do together w a young one just cus it involves a machine n my little one is impatient.