Soft, healthy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies studded with dark chocolate chips throughout are a personal favorite of mine. After all, does it get any better than peanut butter, oats, and dark chocolate?!
Are you a huge peanut butter fan?
I am! It’s salty, smooth, and sweet. I think it’s rare to have a day go by where no one has used peanut butter in my house at least once.
But, what’s even better than just peanut butter? Peanut butter with oats and dark chocolate chips. These soft, Healthy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies are just that.
They’re:
- Made with simple ingredients
- Sweetened naturally with maple syrup
- Filled with peanut butter for a little protein (each cookie has 4 grams!)
- Loaded with oats for some extra fiber (plus they’re flourless!)
- And topped off with dark chocolate chips for good measure 🙂
These healthier cookies are also quick and easy to make. And since they’re made with peanut butter, my kids love them!
If you need a healthier treat recipe for your family, these are a great place to start.
Let’s chat about all things oatmeal cookies before you start baking.
First, to make these Healthy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies gluten-free be sure to use certified gluten-free quick cooking oats. If you don’t need them to be gluten-free, just use regular quick cooking oats.
To make these cookies dairy-free, use coconut oil (or a dairy-free butter stick alternative, like Earth Balance) and dairy-free chocolate chips.
One of the most important ingredients in these is the peanut butter.
So let’s talk about what kind to use. I recommend using a classic jar of Jif or Skippy, not a natural peanut butter. Real natural peanut butter’s tend to be more oily and runny, which will give you inconsistent results when baking. It’s much more reliable to use a thick, creamy peanut butter instead. I like to use Skippy “Natural” Peanut Butter.
I also recommend using quick cooking oats and NOT regular rolled oats. Rolled oats will give these cookies a different texture and make them more crumbly.
Only have rolled oats? You can very briefly blend them (in a food processor or blender) to make them a little finer and then use them.
Last but not least: dark chocolate chips.
They’re my favorite (I use them in almost every recipe with chocolate chips!). But, you can use whatever kind you’d like. Peanut Butter baking chips would be delicious in these. It would really make the peanut butter flavor pop! Milk, semi-sweet, and any other baking chips would be delicious too.
You should be left with soft, healthier, loaded Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies that are hard to resist! One batch is gone within a couple days here.
After you make them, let me know what you think. Leave a comment and rating below, and/or find me on Instagram and tag me in your picture. I love to see them!
And before you go, you may want to check out recipes for Peanut Butter Muffins, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Breakfast Cookies, and Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal. Peanut butter lovers, unite! 😉
- 1/4 cup butter, softened (or coconut oil, for dairy-free)
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter (NOT natural peanut butter)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 cups quick cooking/instant oats (certified gluten-free, if necessary)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (or your favorite chocolate chips, or dairy-free chips)
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To begin, preheat your oven to 350. Spray a pan with non-stick spray (or line with parchment paper).
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To a large mixing bowl, add your butter and maple syrup and whisk them together. Add your peanut butter and vanilla and whisk again till smooth. Then add your egg and briefly whisk it in.
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To the same bowl, add your oats, baking soda and salt and stir everything together till you have a consistent cookie dough batter. Add your chocolate chips and fold them into your batter.
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Using a large cookie scoop, scoop 12 cookies and evenly space them apart on your pan. Bake for 10-13 minutes, or till the edges and tops of the cookies are set.
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Let them cool entirely, then devour!
These cookies will get even softer as they sit. I recommend storing them in an airtight container on the counter for 1-3 days. Or, in the fridge where they will last about a week.
These cookies are amazing. And so easy to make!!
My family loves peanut butter cookies so I’m always looking for new simple delicious and healthy recipes. This one did not disappoint! It was so easy to make and the cookies were delicious. Thanks for this, its a keeper!