Easy healthy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies made with 6 basic ingredients. These flourless, dairy-free, refined sugar-free vegan oatmeal cookies are perfectly chewy and so easy to make!
This recipe for chewy, delicious healthy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies is inspired by the Healthy 6-Ingredient Apple Oatmeal Cookies I posted a few weeks ago.
The apple version came together so easily that I figured it would be fun to make a healthy oatmeal raisin cookie recipe using the same methodology.
Made with six healthy ingredients: overripe bananas, unsweetened almond butter, pure maple syrup, oats, cinnamon, and raisins, this easy to customize recipe is a true canvas for creativity.
They turn out chewy, moist, and positively packed with cinnamon raisin goodness.
In fact, this recipe is so delicious and simple that I believe it’s my new go-to for chewy oatmeal raisin cookies.
They are gluten-free, refined sugar-free, egg-free, vegan, and dairy-free but they taste so dreamy!
No all-purpose flour, butter, or fancy equipment needed!
Don’t worry if you live in a house of raisin haters – there are plenty of ways to customize this versatile homemade cookies.
Let’s discuss the simple ingredients needed to make the best oatmeal cookies recipe ever!
Ingredients For Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies:
Ripe Bananas: The secret ingredient! Making up the majority of the sweetness and also creating moisture content and volume, overripe bananas play a leading role in making these cookies taste absolutely wonderful while being lower in added sugar.
If you’re allergic to bananas, you can replace them with ⅔ cup of applesauce.
Unsweetened Almond Butter: Almond butter acts as the fat content (flavor) as well as a sticky substance to hold everything together.
The correct combination of almond butter with mashed banana and oats ensures the cookies turn out nice and chewy and hold together well without the need for flour or leavening agents. It takes the place of unsalted butter and eggs in a classic oatmeal raisin cookies recipe.
Pure Maple Syrup: To add more sweetness to the cookies, we use pure maple syrup. You can adjust the amount down if you prefer your cookies to be less sweet or if you prefer little to no added sweetener. Replace it with more mashed banana to make these cookies entirely refined sugar-free.
Rolled Oats: Old-fashioned oats give us that nutty flavor and delicious oat essence that is simply irreplaceable. Oats are full of dietary fiber and a great source of complex carbohydrates.
For the best results, stick with rolled oats rather than quick oats, instant oats, or steel cut oats. I use sprouted gluten-free oats that are glyphosate-free.
Ground Cinnamon: In my opinion, cinnamon belongs in every cookie, but especially in oatmeal cookies! This delightful spice brings warm flavor to give the cookie a great deal of depth.
Salt: Enhancing all of the individual flavors, a little salt brings out the boldness of these delicious healthy cookies.
Raisins: The co-star of these easy oatmeal raisin cookies is raisins. Raisins make the cookies taste even sweeter and bring a fun squishy texture. You can sue regular raisins or golden raisins. Pro Tip: if your raisins are all dried up, soak them in hot water for 10 minutes, then drain them before adding the plump raisins to the oatmeal raisin cookie dough.
Optional Customizations:
- Swap out the raisins for dried cranberries, dried blueberries, chocolate chips, or white chocolate chips.
- Add in ½ to 1 cup of chopped nuts such as pecans or walnuts.
- If you have vanilla extract on hand, add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
- Love peanut butter? Use peanut butter instead of almond butter for these cookies.
- If you prefer making your oatmeal cookie recipes with granulated sweetener, use light or dark brown sugar instead of the pure maple syrup.
Can you taste the banana in these cookies? Yes, you can, but the flavor is very subtle.
Overall, the cookies taste sweet and cinnamony with hints of almond butter and banana with the sweet raisins.
The chewy texture is absolutely divine!
So much so that I humbly consider this to be the best oatmeal raisin cookie recipe for health nuts like me.
Now that we’ve discussed the basic ingredients, let’s make some delicious chewy oatmeal cookies!
How to Make Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Mash the bananas in a large bowl until creamy.
Note: If you have a stand mixer, you can use it with the paddle attachment and mix everything on low speed if you’d like.
Add in the almond butter and the pure maple syrup to the mixing bowl and stir everything together until it is well-combined (wet ingredients).
Note: if your almond butter is cold from being in the refrigerator, microwave it for 15 to 30 seconds, or until it is easy to stir.
Pour the rolled oats, ground cinnamon and salt (dry ingredients) into the mixing bowl and stir until everything is combined.
Add in the raisins and stir them into the batter. The result will be a very sticky dough – this is normal.
Drop spoonfuls of dough onto the prepared cookie sheet, forming any size cookies you like. I make 9 large cookies, but you can go with any size. They won’t spread much while they are baking, so be sure to make the end shapes you’re going for before putting them into the oven.
Bake for 11 to 15 minutes, or until the cookies have completely set up and the crispy edges are slightly golden brown. Smaller cookies will need about 11 minutes, whereas larger cookies will need 12 to 15.
Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. After 10 minutes, you can transfer them to a wire rack to cool the rest of the way if you’d like.
The cookies can be left at room temperature covered in plastic wrap for up to 3 days. Store cookies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. You can also store the cookies in a zip lock bag in the freezer for up to 3 months.
That’s all, folks!
A remarkably easy recipe for oatmeal cookies that can be made on a whim using wholesome ingredients. No white flour, no eggs, butter, or refined sugar, and the perfect oatmeal raisin cookies for those who have a sweet tooth but love a healthier treat.
Make these the next time you’re craving a chewy cookie with benefits!
If you love healthier banana-sweetened treats or recipes with oats, also check out these healthy dessert recipes.
More Recipes With Oats:
- Apple Baked Oatmeal Cups
- Banana Blended Baked Oats
- Carrot Cake Overnight Oats
- Healthy Pear Oatmeal Crumb Bars
- Chocolate Oatmeal Banana Bread
- Oatmeal Banana Zucchini Muffins
Enjoy the best oatmeal raisin cookies with your loved ones!
Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 large ripe bananas
- 2/3 cup unsweetened almond butter
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup*
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp sea salt
- ⅔ cup raisins**
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mash the bananas in a large bowl until creamy.
- Add in the almond butter and the pure maple syrup to the mixing bowl and stir everything together until it is well-combined (wet ingredients). Note: if your almond butter is cold from being in the refrigerator, microwave it for 15 to 30 seconds, or until it is easy to stir.
- Pour the rolled oats, ground cinnamon and salt (dry ingredients) into the mixing bowl and stir until everything is combined.
- Add in the raisins and stir them into the batter. The result will be a very sticky dough – this is normal.
- Drop spoonfuls of dough onto the prepared cookie sheet, forming any size cookies you like. I make 9 large cookies, but you can go with any size. They won’t spread much while they are baking, so be sure to make the end shapes you’re going for before putting them into the oven.
- Bake for 11 to 15 minutes, or until the cookies have completely set up and the crispy edges are slightly golden brown. Smaller cookies will need about 11 minutes, whereas larger cookies will need 12 to 15.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. After 10 minutes, you can transfer them to a wire rack to cool the rest of the way if you'd like.
Notes
Nutrition
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Made these today as per the recipe, added 1/2 pumpkin seeds because why not?
They were excellent.
When I want some sort of raisiny, pumpkin seeded goodness, this scratches the itch.
It’s going to be a go-to recipe, I can already feel it. 🙂
I love that, Lauren! I’ll try pumpkin seeds the next time I make the cookies too – sounds great! xo
Have a banana allergy in my home, maybe applesauce or pumpkin as a substitute?
I’ve tested applesauce in place of banana and it works great! I haven’t tried it with pureed pumpkin, but I’m guessing it will work too 🙂 Enjoy! xo
Julia,
These oatmeal cookies sound delicious!
Can pumpkin seed butter be used instead of almond butter?
Blessings!
Hi Lori! Any nut or seed butter will work as long as it is well-stirred and sticky. That said, I actually have never used pumpkin seed butter, so I’m not sure what the consistency is like. If it is similar to almond butter (which I assume it is), it will work great!! Hope you enjoy the cookies! xoxo
Healthy and delicious. Thank you for sharing.
My pleasure! So happy you like them! xoxo
These look AMAZING and I really appreciate the suggested substitutions! Do you think swapping the 1/4 cup maple syrup with 1/3 cup date paste would work? Thanks VERY much!
Hi Deb! OOh, I love the idea of using date paste! I actually have zero experience baking with it, but I believe it would work great since it is nice and sticky. Hope you enjoy! xo