4 Ingredient Lemon Oatmeal Cookies (No Wheat Flour, Eggs, Refined Sugar, Dairy, Butter or Oil)

These lemon oatmeal cookies are full of zesty lemon flavor. The cookies need just 4 ingredients and don’t require any wheat flour, eggs, refined sugar, dairy, butter or oil. The cookies take only a few minutes to prepare and you don’t even need a mixer to make them.

These lemon oatmeal cookies are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. They have a texture like regular oatmeal cookies but are made with healthier ingredients.

Ingredients

• Quick oats
• Almond flour
• Maple syrup
• Lemon

Quick oats: Make sure to use quick oats which will cook better than regular rolled oats. Quick oats are rolled oats that are smaller and thinner pieces. Quick oats need less liquid to soften and less time to cook which makes them ideal for these cookies. If you use rolled oats they may not soften enough.

Almond flour: The cookies are made with superfine almond flour which melts into the dough better and acts similar to wheat flour. Make sure to use superfine almond flour and not regular almond flour which is not fine enough.

Maple syrup: Maple syrup is used to sweeten the dough and bind it together. This recipe works best with maple syrup and not honey. Maple syrup will crisp up the oats. Honey retains too much moisture and will prevent the oats from getting crispy.

Lemon: Lemon juice and zest are used to flavor the cookies. Make sure you don’t leave out the lemon zest because it adds a lot of lemon flavor to the cookies.

How to Make Lemon Oatmeal Cookies

• The quick oats, almond flour, maple syrup, lemon juice and zest are all mixed together until a soft dough forms. The dough may not fully stick together but if you pinch some of it, it should stick.
• Use a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the dough. Release it onto your prepared baking sheet.
• Flatten each dough ball with the back of a metal spoon until they become round disks about 1/4 inch thick.
• Bake the cookies until they are golden brown around the edges and lightly browned on the surface.
• If desired, you can also add icing on top of the cookies. I prefer eating them plain with a little extra zest sprinkled on top, but when I serve them to guests, I will add a lemon icing for decoration.

Texture

The cookies have a crispy exterior from the crisped up oats and a soft center. The cookies are lightly sweet.

Expert Tips

• If you don’t have quick oats on hand, you can add rolled oats to a food processor and pulse them for a few seconds until they become the size of quick oats.
• This recipe works best with maple syrup as the sweetener. The oats get crispy from being coated in maple syrup and the oil released from the almond flour, similar to the crispy oats you’ll find in crunchy granola. Honey retains too much moisture and will prevent the cookies from crisping up.
• If you prefer more lemon flavor, add lemon zest rather than lemon juice. Adding too much lemon juice can affect the texture of the cookies. You can also add the optional lemon icing for more lemon flavor.

More Lemon Recipes

• 3 Ingredient No Bake Lemon Balls
• 4 Ingredient Lemon Yogurt Cheesecake
• 4 Ingredient Lemon Oatmeal Bars

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5 from 5 votes

4 Ingredient Lemon Oatmeal Cookies

These lemon oatmeal cookies are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. They need just 4 ingredients and don't require any wheat flour, eggs, refined sugar, dairy, butter or oil.

Servings: 18 cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

Total Time: 25 minutes mins

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Ingredients

• ▢ 1 1/2 cups (151g) superfine almond flour, see note before starting
• ▢ 1 cup + 2 tbsp (108g) quick oats
• ▢ 1/2 cup (120ml) maple syrup
• ▢ 3 tbsp (45ml) lemon juice plus 1.5 tsp lemon zest

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
• Add almond flour, quick oats, maple syrup, lemon juice and zest to a large mixing bowl. Stir with a spatula until evenly mixed. The mixture should form a soft dough. While the dough may not fully stick together, if you pinch some of it, it should stick.
• Use a 1.5 tbsp cookie scoop to scoop out the cookie dough. Release the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing the dough balls about 1.5 inches apart. (I did 12 cookies on one sheet and 6 on the second sheet). Use the back of a metal spoon to press down on each cookie dough ball so that it forms a thick round disk, about 1/4 inch thick. Smooth the sides of the cookie disks as needed to make them more round. The cookies will not spread during baking so you want to shape the cookies to how you want the final outcome to be.
• Bake the cookies for about 15-20 minutes or until the edges are golden brown and the surface is lightly browned (mine took close to 20 minutes). While the cookies will look done and set before they are browned on the surface, you do want to bake the cookies a little longer until they are lightly browned on the surface because that ensures the oats get crispy. Let the cookies cool fully before removing from the cookie sheet.
• The cookies can be enjoyed as soon as they are cooled. If desired, you can top them with a lemon icing before serving. The optional lemon icing is provided in the notes. The icing does soften the cookies a little, so if you want to add it, I recommend adding it right before serving. Store uneaten cookies in an airtight container. Cookies without icing can be stored for 1-2 days at room temperature and longer in the fridge or freezer.

Notes

• Almond flour note: It is best to measure the almond flour with a scale. If you are measuring the almond flour with measuring cups, make sure to fluff up the almond flour in the bag first with a spoon. Then spoon it into your measuring cup and level off the surface with a spoon. If you don't fluff up the flour first or you directly scoop the flour with your measuring cup, you will end up with too much almond flour for this recipe. I used Kirkland superfine almond flour.*
• I used Amazon Grocery Quick Oats.* I recommend using quick oats and not rolled oats because the rolled oats don't soften enough in the dough. If you only have rolled oats, you can pulse them in a food processor until they become the consistency of quick oats.
• *These product links are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
• If you want a stronger lemon flavor, I recommend adding more zest rather than more lemon juice. Adding too much lemon juice will alter the texture of the cookies and lemon zest adds a more concentrated lemon flavor.
• Optional lemon icing. Please note this is not a healthy lemon icing as it is made with powdered sugar but I did want to offer a simple lemon icing for these cookies for those who prefer icing for their oatmeal cookies.
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1-2 tablespoon lemon juice
  • Whisk together the powdered sugar and 1 tbsp lemon juice until smooth. Add more lemon juice as needed. Drizzle over the cookies. You can also garnish with lemon zest.
• Estimated nutrition does not include optional icing.
• Recipe slightly adapted from The Conscious Plant Kitchen

Serving: 1cookie, Calories: 98kcal, Carbohydrates: 11g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 0.3g, Sodium: 0.02mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 6g, 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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