Soft and chewy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies made healthier with wholesome ingredients, zero butter or refined sugar, and delicious chunks of chocolate in every bite! 

Okay you guys.  These might seriously be the best cookies…EVER.  I mean what’s not to love when they’re essentially three of my favorite cookies all rolled into ONE!  These peanut butter oatmeal cookies are loaded with delicious creamy peanut butter and made healthier with wholesome oats, coconut oil taking the place of butter, maple syrup instead of refined sugar, and Lily’s chocolate chips which are gluten-free, vegan and sweetened with stevia.  You could also easily swap out the chocolate chips for raisins, dried cranberries or even nuts, if you preferred!

These peanut butter oatmeal cookies are soft, deliciously chewy and literally one of my favorite cookies to snack on.  They’re also super easy to throw together in a pinch!  My daughter not only loved eating these, but she had so much fun making them with me!

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Rolled oats – wholesome whole grain old fashioned oats (I used gluten-free) make these cookies deliciously chewy!  You can also use quick-cooking oats if that’s all you have on hand, but they won’t have that great chewy texture that we love in a cookie
• Whole wheat pastry flour – I highly recommend using whole wheat pastry flour in these cookies to help make them soft and more cake-like with more nutrition than regular all-purpose flour, but you could also sub regular whole wheat flour, oat flour, gluten-free 1 to 1 baking flour, or all-purpose flour
• Baking powder – this acts as a leavening agent to help these cookies bake up nicely and are chewy
• Peanut butter – I used natural creamy peanut butter without any added sugar, but you could use chunky peanut butter or any nut butter you prefer
• Coconut oil – this takes place of the butter in these cookies, just make sure to melt the coconut oil first before adding it to the batter
• Maple syrup – I love baking with maple syrup because not only does it act as a delicious sweetener, but it also helps make the edges of these cookies nice and crispy. You can also use coconut sugar, brown sugar or even honey if you aren’t vegan.
• Vanilla extract – gives these cookies a boost of flavor!
• Cinnamon + salt – the cinnamon adds a warm, cozy flavor to these cookies while the salt punches up the taste
• Chocolate chips – I used Lily’s chocolate chips which are gluten-free, vegan and sweetened with stevia making the sugar content really low and they taste delicious!  You could also of course use regular chocolate chips, but the sugar content will be much higher.  Other mix-ins include raisins, dried cranberries, white chocolate chips or nuts!

How to Make Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

This particular recipe makes about 20 regular sized cookies or you could make 12 large cookies, like I did with these oatmeal cookie ice cream sandwiches.  You’ll just want to adjust the baking time for the larger ones.  Here’s how to make them!

1. Preheat oven and mix ingredients.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  In a large bowl, whisk together the oats, whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  In a smaller bowl, mix together the coconut oil, peanut butter, maple syrup, and vanilla until well combined. Then pour the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients and mix until just combined, folding in the chocolate chips at the end.
2. Assemble cookies.  Using a small cookie scoop (or medium-sized cookie scoop if you’re making larger cookies), drop 1-inch cookie dough balls onto a prepared baking sheet and flatten the tops a bit with the back end of a spoon, making sure the cookies are still intact.  You should end up with about 20 small cookies or 12 larger cookies.
3. BAKE!  Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes until cookies are golden and set, or a bit longer if you like a more crispy cookie, then let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.  If baking larger cookies, bake them at 350 for about 12 to 13 minutes.

Please note the cookies will look really soft coming out of the oven, but they will firm up and set as they cool!  You don’t want to over-bake these cookies.

How to Store Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

To store these cookies, make sure they are completely cool and transfer them to an airtight container for up to 3 to 4 days.  For longer storage, you can keep these in the fridge for up to a week or freeze them for up to 3 months.  When ready to eat the cookies, simply thaw out at room temperature and enjoy!

More Oatmeal Recipes to Try