These healthy peanut butter oatmeal cookies are thin and crispy. They are just 3 ingredients and healthier than traditional crispy oatmeal cookies. They don’t contain any wheat flour, refined sugar, eggs, dairy or butter. The cookies can be made ahead of time and store well.
These are the most popular oatmeal cookie recipe in my house. We love the crispy texture. They remind me of biscuit cookies but not quite as firm so they are easier to bite and eat.
Ingredients
- Quick Oats
- Peanut Butter
- Maple Syrup
Quick oats: The cookies are made with quick oats. The key to the crispy texture is processing the quick oats until they are even finer and smaller. You will need to pulse the oats in a food processor. You can use rolled oats in place of quick oats but you will need to pulse them longer.
Peanut butter: These cookies need natural peanut butter. This is peanut butter that does not contain any added oils. The recipe will not work if you use regular peanut butter or any peanut butter that contains added oils. Peanut butter gives these cookies their peanut butter flavor. Peanut butter also acts as a binding agent and helps replace eggs and butter. Peanut butter can be substituted with natural almond butter.
Maple syrup: The cookies are lightly sweetened with pure maple syrup. When the maple syrup is mixed with the peanut butter it also causes the peanut butter to thicken up and turn it into a dough consistency. Please make sure to use maple syrup and not honey. Honey will prevent the cookies from crisping up.
How to Make Crispy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
The quick oats are first pulsed in a food processor until they are very fine and start to resemble a flour consistency. They should not be completely turned into flour, but the pieces should be very small with some of the oats already like a powder.
The oats are then mixed with peanut butter and maple syrup until the ingredients are all evenly mixed and a thick dough forms. You can add them to the food processor and let it mix the dough or you can add them into a bowl and mix by hand. It’s a little faster adding them directly into the food processor but I find the clean-up is easier if I mix everything in a bowl.
Use a 1 tbsp cookie scoop to scoop out the dough and place onto a baking pan lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Use a spoon to flatten the cookie dough and shape into a flat round disk, about 3/16 inch thick. You want the cookies to be thin because the thinner they are, the crispier they will be.
The cookies are then baked for about 11-12 minutes or until done.
Cookie Texture
The cookies have a crispy and crunchy texture but they are not hard or firm. They are lightly sweetened, similar to biscuit cookies.
More Oatmeal Cookie Recipes
- 3 Ingredient Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
- 3 Ingredient Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
- 3 Ingredient No Bake Lemon Oatmeal Cookies
3 Ingredient Crispy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (70 g) quick oats
- 6 tbsp (96 g) unsweetened natural peanut butter
- 3 tbsp (44 ml) pure maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Add quick oats to a food processor. Pulse oats until they become very small and fine and start to partially become flour consistency. See photo in post for reference. I pulsed mine on high for about 50-60 seconds. If you are unsure if your oats are fine enough, it's better to pulse them a little longer. The smaller they are, the crispier the cookies will be.
- Add oats, peanut butter and maple syrup to a large mixing bowl. Mix with a spatula until the ingredients are fully and evenly incorporated and dough thickens to the consistency of cookie dough. At this point you can taste the dough and if desired, you can add another 1 tbsp of maple syrup if you prefer sweeter cookies. Instead of mixing by hand, you can also add the ingredients directly into your food processor and pulse a few times until everything is mixed and a dough forms.
- Using a 1 tbsp cookie scoop, scoop dough onto the cookie sheet, spacing the dough balls about 2 inches apart. Use the back of a metal spoon to flatten the dough balls into round disks. You want the cookies to be fairly thin, about 3/16 inch thick (I would not go thicker than this. If it's a little thinner than that, that will also work). The cookies do not spread much during baking, so shape them as you want the final outcome to be. I usually flatten the cookies first and then smooth around the edges to make the cookies round.
- Bake cookies for 11-12 minutes or until the surface looks done and the edges start to turn a light brown. The surface of the cookies should still feel a little soft if you touch them, that is normal. They will crisp up as they cool. Let cookies cool completely on the baking sheet before removing them. Uneaten cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days or can be stored in the freezer for longer.
Notes
- Make sure to use natural peanut butter. This is peanut butter that has no added oils. Only peanuts and salt should be listed in the ingredients.
- Make sure to use pure maple syrup. There may be other sweeteners you can use like a sugar-free maple syrup substitute if it has a thin watery consistency. But thick liquid sweeteners like honey will not work and will prevent the cookies from crisping up.
- I used Kirkland's creamy peanut butter, Happy Belly quick oats* and Maple Grove Farms maple syrup.*
- *This product link is an affiliate link. This means I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
What, if any, is the advantage to using quick oats? I would use rolled oats because they’re less processed.
The key to the crispy texture is processing the quick oats until they are even finer and smaller. You can use rolled oats in place of quick oats but you will need to pulse them longer!
Best cookies I’ve had/made in a long while!!!
That’s great! So glad you enjoyed them.
I divided the cookie dough in half and baked half as written and added 1/4 tsp kosher salt to the other half. Everyone loved the salted cookies, but all the cookies disappeared in a flash. I’d recommend adding 1/2 tsp salt to the full recipe to bring out the sweetness in the maple syrup. A little salt in baked recipes enhances flavor. Thank you so much for such an easy and healthier recipe. Love your website and recipes! Will try the lemon ones next with a cup of tea to welcome spring.
Glad you enjoyed them!
Great cookies! Can vanilla extract be added?
Thank you
Glad you like them! I think that should be fine
Like your take. Use your genius to create recipes using dates and date “sugar”. ?
Thanks!
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Another recipe where a key ingredient isn’t easily obtained, namely peanut butter without added oils …
What is an easily obtained ingredient is going to vary depending on where you are located. For me, natural peanut butter is easy to obtain. It is at nearly every local grocery store and is a pantry staple for many around me. I don’t know where you are located so I don’t know if natural peanut butter is easy for you to get. However, there are many recipes online that share how to make natural peanut butter and so you could make your own. Also, it may be that your local stores do carry it and you might not be aware? It’s not always advertised on the front of the package as “no added oils.” The one I use is just called Creamy peanut butter on the front of the label and I only know that it doesn’t have added oils from reading the nutrition label.
Hi, is there any alternative to the maple syrup? Not a common ingredient in my area. Thanks
Sorry I don’t have a substitute for maple syrup at this time.
LOOKING FORWARD TO THE RECIPES. THANK YOU! THANK YO FOR NOT SHARING MY EMAIL ADDRESS.
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These sound delicious! Would mashed banana work in place of applesauce?
Did you mean to comment on a different recipe? This recipe doesn’t have applesauce as an ingredient.
Thanks for sharing these simple cooking tips
We hope you try the recipe soon!
Very good. But what is the secret to flattening without sticking to glass or fork? (I added cinnamon sugar to some, salt to some and chopped chocolate to others and left some plain… The salted were probably the best of the four.)
I usually just use my palm or the back of a metal spoon and haven’t had issue with it sticking.