These healthy oatmeal raisin cookies are soft and chewy and so easy to make. The cookies are eggless, flourless, butterless, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free. It’s an easy one-bowl cookie recipe and is ready in less than 30 minutes.

I love oatmeal raisin cookies, but I don’t like that they are often full of sugar, butter, and flour, making them not much healthier than any other cookie. So, I came up with this healthy oatmeal raisin cookie recipe.

I had so much fun testing these cookies that I came up with two variations that I love and want to share. Both are equally easy to make, and both produce soft and chewy cookies. The main difference is the ingredients. The version in the photos above contain nut butter and rolled oats. I also made a version that is nut butter free and uses quick oats.

Nut Butter Version

The nut butter version (which is the one in the pictures) comes out a little nicer looking and has an added nutty taste to the cookies. If you want a more pure oatmeal flavor, you may want to try the other version. This version also uses rolled oats so there is a little more texture to these cookies.

Unsweetened applesauce
Maple syrup
Unsweetened natural creamy almond butter
Ground cinnamon
Rolled oats
Raisins

Version without Nut Butter

The nut butter-free version is mainly oats and raisins. The cookies don’t brown, and the oats are finely chopped, so they don’t look as much like oatmeal cookies. If you’re trying to save some calories or are avoiding nut butter, I recommend trying this one.

Unsweetened applesauce
Maple syrup
Cinnamon
Quick oats
Raisins

Depending on which version you are making, you have some options or possible substitutions you can try.

Almond butter: Only one version of the cookies uses almond butter. The almond butter acts as a binding agent. You can substitute it with other nut butters like peanut butter or cashew butter. I chose almond butter because it has a mild taste, and I didn’t want the nut butter flavor to overpower the oat flavor. Make sure to use natural nut butter (where the only ingredients are nuts and salt), which has a thinner consistency than nut butters processed with oils.

Maple syrup: Maple syrup is used to sweeten the cookies. If you don’t like maple syrup, you can substitute it with other syrups.

Applesauce: You can substitute with mashed banana, but keep in mind that your oatmeal cookies will have a banana flavor to them. If you use bananas, it is a 1:1 substitution, so if the recipe calls for 1/2 cup of applesauce, then you will need 1/2 cup of mashed bananas. Also, make sure you mash your bananas very thoroughly until they have a puree-like consistency (like applesauce).

Cinnamon: Classic oatmeal raisin cookies have a hint of cinnamon. If you don’t like cinnamon, you can leave it out. If you like a lot of cinnamon, feel free to add a little more. You can taste your batter to decide if it needs more before baking.

Oats: One version of the recipe calls for rolled oats. The other version calls for quick oats. Please make sure to use the right kind of oats for whichever version you’re making.

Raisins: You can add other dried fruit in addition to raisins (I used dried cranberries) or you can substitute other dried fruit for raisins.

Recipe Tips

Whichever version you make, the recipe is very easy. You only need one large mixing bowl and a spoon or spatula to mix the cookie dough.

For even-sized cookies, I like to use a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop. Using this size will give you 12 oatmeal cookies with nut butter or 8 cookies if you opt for the other option.

The cookies don’t spread when you bake them, so be sure to flatten and shape them before you bake them.

If you make the version without nut butter, the cookies will not brown much at all in the oven compared to the almond butter version.

Either type of cookie will keep for a couple of days at room temperature. Or, you can store them in the refrigerator for up to four days.

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