These lemon oatmeal cookies are thin and crispy with a zesty lemon flavor. The cookies need just 4 ingredients and don’t require any flour, eggs, refined sugar, dairy, butter or oil. The cookies take just a few minutes to prepare and store well.

These lemon oatmeal cookies have a lemony flavor and a texture like the large oat clusters in granola. They make a great snack or dessert.

Ingredients

  • Lemon
  • Quick oats
  • Maple syrup
  • Coconut oil

Lemon: Lemon juice and zest are used to add lemon flavor to the cookies. Make sure to not use too much lemon juice because that will make the oats too soft. If you want more lemon flavor, you can increase the zest amount or add a few drops of lemon extract.

Quick oats: This recipe works best with quick oats which are rolled oats that have been cut into smaller and thinner pieces. Quick oats bind better.

Maple syrup: Maple syrup is used to sweeten the cookies and bind the oats. I recommend using maple syrup and not honey. Honey retains too much moisture and doesn’t crisp up the cookies as much.

Coconut oil: A little coconut oil is coated around the oats to help them crisp up.

How to Make Lemon Oatmeal Cookies

  • The quick oats are added to a food processor and pulsed for just a few seconds to make the oats into smaller pieces.
  • Add the quick oats to a large mixing bowl. Drizzle coconut oil and stir for about 30 seconds or until all the oats are lightly moistened with coconut oil. Add in the lemon juice and zest and mix again until the lemon juice is fully and evenly incorporated. Finally, drizzle the maple syrup and mix until the oats are evenly coated. The mixture should start to clump together.
  • Use a 1 tbsp cookie scoop to scoop and pack the mixture in the scoop. Release it onto your prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining mixture.
  • Lightly wet the back of a metal spoon and use it to help flatten and shape the cookies into thin round disks, about 1/4 inch thick.
  • Bake the cookies for about 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned on the surface. Let the cookies cool fully on the baking sheet before attempting to remove them. They will initially be soft but will firm up as they cool and set.
  • Once fully cooled, the cookies are ready to eat. You can also sprinkle some additional lemon zest or add coarse salt before eating.

Expert Tips

  • If you want more lemon flavor, you can add more lemon zest. Do not add more lemon juice because the oats will become too soft.
  • The cookies are lightly sweet. You can add a little more syrup if you prefer them to be sweeter.


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4 Ingredient Lemon Oatmeal Cookies

These lemon oatmeal cookies are thin and crispy. They need just 4 ingredients and don't require any flour, eggs, refined sugar, dairy, butter or oil.
Servings: 11 cookies
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
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Ingredients

  • 1 cup (88g) quick oats
  • 2 Tbsp (30ml) melted coconut oil
  • 1 Tbsp (15ml) lemon juice + 1 tsp lemon zest
  • 4.5-5 Tbsp (66-74ml) maple syrup

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  • Add quick oats to a small food processor. Pulse a few seconds (about 5 seconds) or just until the oats are about half the size as they were. I don't recommend using a blender because it will blend the oats into flour too quickly. Transfer the oats to a large mixing bowl.
  • Drizzle melted coconut oil evenly across. Using a spatula, stir the mixture briskly for about 20-30 seconds, stopping a few times to scrape the sides of your bowl, until all of the oats look slightly moistened with coconut oil.
  • Add in the lemon juice and zest. Stir until evenly mixed in. Add in the maple syrup. Mix with your spatula until the oats are evenly coated in syrup and the mixture start to get clumpy. Taste, and if needed, you can add one more tablespoon syrup or more lemon zest. Avoid adding more lemon juice because that can soften the oats too much.
  • Using a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop, pack 1 tablespoon of oat mixture into your cookie scoop. Release onto your prepared baking sheet. The mixture should mostly hold its scoop form though it may be a little loose. Repeat with remaining mixture, spacing each cookie about 1.5 inches apart. Lightly wet the back of a metal spoon and use it to press, compact and shape the mixture until it becomes a thin round disk (about 1/4 inch thick). The oats need to be compacted together and touching so they bind during baking and should be shaped into a round cookie shape. The cookies will not change shape during baking so you want to shape them how you want the final outcomes to be. I find that the metal spoon for shaping starts to get very sticky with syrup after a few cookies, so it will help to fully clean the spoon after a few cookies and rewet it again so that the mixture is not sticking to the spoon.
  • Bake the cookies for about 15-18 minutes or until the surface is lightly browned. The longer you bake, the crispier the cookies will be but you do want to make sure the edges don't get too dark.
  • Remove cookies from the oven but don't attempt to move them from the baking sheet until they are fully cooled and set. If you try to remove them while they are still warm, the cookies will fall apart. The cookies will initially still feel soft when they come out of the oven, this is normal. Once they are cooled, the cookies should be firm and should peel off the parchment paper easily. Store any uneaten cookies in an airtight container within a few hours of them setting to prevent them from softening. You can store cookies for around 1 day at room temperature or around 3-4 days in the fridge. If desired, you can garnish the cookies with additional lemon zest or coarse salt before serving.

Notes

Serving: 1cookie, Calories: 74kcal, Carbohydrates: 11g, Protein: 0.005g, Fat: 3g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Sodium: 0.01mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 5g, NET CARBS: 10
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. This is not a comprehensive list of all the nutrients in the recipe (i.e., does not include vitamins, cholesterol, etc). I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
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