These healthier apple pie oatmeal cookies taste like apple pie in oatmeal cookie form. The cookies need just 4 ingredients and don’t contain any flour, eggs, refined sugar, dairy, butter or oil. The cookies store well and can be made ahead of time.
Apple Pie Oatmeal Cookies on a wood serving board

These apple pie oatmeal cookies satisfy my cravings for apple pie while still being a healthier treat. The cookie base is firm and buttery and the center is filled with soft, sweet cooked apple pieces.

Ingredients

  • Apples
  • Quick oats
  • Peanut butter
  • Maple syrup

Apples: Apples are peeled and chopped into small pieces to make the apple pie filling. I recommend using a sweet apple variety such as Fuji, Pink Lady, Envy or Honeycrisp.

Quick oats: Quick oats are pulsed through a food processor until they become part flour and part oats. This finer consistency will help create a firm oatmeal cookie base.

Peanut butter: Make sure to use natural peanut butter with no added oils. The recipe does not work with peanut butter with added oils. You can substitute peanut butter with almond butter with no added oils or cashew butter with no added oils. Peanut butter gives the cookies a rich, buttery flavor.

Maple syrup: Maple syrup is used to thicken the cookie dough and also used to help sweeten the apple pie filling. This recipe works best with maple syrup and does not work well with honey as a substitute.

How to Make Apple Pie Oatmeal Cookies

  • The chopped apples and maple syrup are first cooked in a saucepan until the apples are partially cooked.
  • The quick oats are pulsed in a food processor for about 20-30 seconds until they become smaller pieces with about half of the oats turning into a flour consistency.
  • Add the pulsed oats, peanut butter and maple syrup to a large mixing bowl. Stir and mix until you have a thick cookie dough consistency.
  • Use a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the cookie dough. Roll it into a smooth ball and then flatten the dough ball into a disk about 1/2 inch thick. Use your thumb to make a large indent in the center for the filling. Repeat with the remaining dough.Oats pulsed in a food processor and cookie dough scooped onto a baking sheet with a large indent in the center
  • Scoop about a heaping 1/2 tbsp of apple filling into each cookie.
  • Bake cookies for about 10-12 minutes or until the edges are golden.
  • Allow the cookies to cool and set fully before removing from the baking sheet and serving.

Texture

The cookies have a sweet apple filling. The apple pie filling will not be as sticky and sweet as classic apple pie filling but the apples do have a light sweet coating. The base of the cookies is a firm oatmeal cookie with a buttery, crumbly texture.
Apple Pie Oatmeal Cookies with apple filling

Expert Tips

  • You can make a sweeter apple filling by adding more sugar or syrup. For a stickier, richer apple pie filling, you would also need to add a little butter.
  • I like my apple pieces to still have some slight crispness to them so they are not fully soft or mushy. If you prefer very soft apples in your filling, you can cook the apples on the stove until they are fork tender.

Three Apple Pie Oatmeal Cookies on a white plate

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4.63 from 8 votes

4 Ingredient Healthier Apple Pie Oatmeal Cookies

These healthier apple pie oatmeal cookies will satisfy your apple pie cravings while still being a healthier treat. The recipe needs just 4 ingredients and doesn't contain any flour, eggs, refined sugar, dairy, butter or oil.
Servings: 8 cookies
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
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Ingredients

  • 88 g (1 cup - 2 tbsp) finely chopped peeled apples, cut into 1/8 to 1/4 inch pieces
  • 1 1/2 tbsp (22ml) + 3 tbsp (44ml) maple syrup, divided
  • 3/4 cup - 1 tbsp (64g) quick oats
  • 6 tbsp (96g) unsweetened natural peanut butter with no added oils

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Add chopped apples and 1.5 tbsp maple syrup to a small saucepan. Cook on medium heat, stirring often so that the maple syrup or apples do not burn or get stuck to the pan, until the apples release their juices and are lightly cooked, about 3-5 minutes. The maple syrup and apple juices should also be mostly evaporated, leaving you with sticky cooked apples. Let cool.
  • 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 30 seconds.
  • Add oats, 3 tbsp maple syrup and peanut butter to a large mixing bowl. Mix with a spatula until the ingredients are fully and evenly incorporated and the mixture becomes thick like a cookie dough. If your mixture seems too dry or crumbly, add a little more peanut butter or maple syrup.
  • Using a 1.5 tbsp cookie scoop, scoop dough onto the cookie sheet, spacing the dough balls about 2 inches apart. Roll a dough ball between palms until it forms a smooth round ball. Place back onto cookie sheet and press down on the dough ball with the palm of your hand to flatten the ball until it becomes a round disk about 1/2 inch thick. Repeat with the remaining dough. Use your thumb to create a large indent into the center of each disk.
  • Add a heaping 1/2 tbsp of apple filling to the center of each cookie.
  • Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Let cookies cool completely on the baking sheet before removing and serving them. The cookies will continue to set and firm up as they cool. Uneaten cookies can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.

Notes

  • If desired, you can add 1/4 tsp of cinnamon or apple pie spice to the apple mixture.
  • Try to use a sweet variety of apples like Fuji, Honeycrisp or Pink Lady.
  • You can double the recipe to make more cookies.
  • Make sure to use peanut butter with no added oils. The dough will not thicken to the right consistency if you use peanut butter with added oils.
  • I used Happy Belly Quick Oats* and  Kirkland natural peanut butter* to make this recipe.
  • *These product links are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
  • Honey is not a good substitute for maple syrup for this recipe.
Serving: 1cookie, Calories: 130kcal, Carbohydrates: 16g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 6g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 24mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 8g, NET CARBS: 14
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.
Did you make this recipe?Please leave a star rating and review below!