Maple Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (100% whole grain and butter-free!)
These cookies are whole grain awesomeness that use coconut oil instead of butter.
Even teenagers enjoy them. I swear!! I have proof!!!
I teach art in a high school, and I have an all-girl advisory consisting of 11 amazing young women. And while I don’t understand their fascination with K-pop (for those of you who don’t interact much with today’s youth, K-Pop stands for Korean Pop Culture. Yes, it is a thing. Their boy bands are our N’Sync and Backstreet Boys- no joke.), we do have one thing in common: our love for food.
This is really great information for me, because if I ever need them to be calm or quiet for an extended period of time, all I have to do is give them snacks! It’s like magic!
I keep them updated about my blog, and every time I show them pictures, it’s always the same: “Ms. Vetne! When are you going to bring us healthy food you make from your blog?!” (they can’t stop using my maiden name.)
So yesterday, I brought them these cookies.
And guess what? Despite them being “healthy” (made with whole wheat flour and coconut oil instead of butter), they loved them! I got to introduce them to new healthy snacks, AND they were quiet and calm! We all won with this.
And so, I present to you, a teenager-friendly approach to whole grain cookies.
This was my first attempt at baking with coconut oil (after making granola with it over the weekend). I use coconut oil every day as a lotion (have you tried this? If you haven’t, it’s time you did!), and don’t worry, I bought a separate jar to use for baking than the one I keep in my bathroom.
I have to say, I may already be hooked! The cookies came out just as moist as with butter, and tasted a bit lighter. Which was great, because that meant I could have more at a time.
…right?
When I made these cookies, I forgot to add the baking soda. To my horror, I realized it only when they were halfway done baking. And you know what? They came out JUST fine! I feel like instead of making a mistake, I made an excellent discovery: that cookies are possible without baking soda or powder!
Better to put it in though, I think. Unless you are in an emergency baking soda situation or you are forgetful, like me.
While this recipe uses whole grains, it does contain cane sugar. It is partially sweetened by maple syrup, however, which substitutes at least part of the refined sugar with a natural sweetener! When I use refined sugar in recipes, I use natural cane sugar. While it is still more processed than natural sweeteners like honey or maple syrup, it at least does not go through bleaching processes like conventional white sugar.
I can’t wait to try more recipes with coconut oil! If you have any good ones, please share them in the comments below! :-)
Maple Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (100% whole grain and butter-free!)
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Ingredients
- 1 cup coconut oil melted
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats
- 1.5 cups white whole wheat flour or spelt flour
- 1 cup raisins
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine melted coconut oil (microwave for about 30 seconds if in solid state), eggs, sugars, vanilla extract, and maple syrup. Mix well.
- Add baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg to the bowl. Mix well to combine.
- Add oats, flour, and raisins; stir to combine.
- Roll into 1-inch balls and place at least 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheet; bake at 350 degrees for 9-12 minutes, or until cookies are just set (they may be only just lightly browned around the edges at this time).
Notes
- These cookies can be frozen for up to 6 months in an airtight container. Just pop in the microwave for 20 seconds when you would like to enjoy one!
- The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
Hi again! My cookies are done. This is my second try making oatmeal raisin cookies using almond flour. Both times, for some reason they just wouldn’t spread. But half way through baking I took a spoon and flattened them a bit. They don’t hold together very well but they’ll do. I just have to send the kids outside with them. But I know this was all because I altered so much. As for the taste, phenomenal! Even if I can’t figure out how to get them to hold together better, I will still bake them again. And probably again and again and again. Very good cookies. Thanks for the recipe.
Hooray! I’m so glad you liked them!
Okay, so I know these are already on the healthier side, but I wanted something with fewer carbs, so I used date sugar and almond flour instead.. I used only a quarter cup of date sugar since it’s supposed to be sweeter. I also added a tiny bit more oats to make up for that missing dry ingredient. I also added about two more table spoons of the maple syrup, don’t know why. It still just seemed a little dry. I’ll let you know how they turn out.
Awesome- I love seeing what other people use to substitute ingredients! Let me know how it works :-)
I tried these and they spread out into one big cookie. The dough was too wet and sticky to roll into balls. I am refrigerating the dough now to see if that helps.
Oh no! Sorry about the unfortunate cookie incident! I think refrigerating should help, and feel free to add a little more flour- that shouldn’t hurt the cookies. Let me know how they came out after refrigerating, and if it works I’ll add it to the notes in the recipe in this post. Thanks!
Same thing. My only change was rum instead of vanilla (I was out of V) and I may have used a bit more than a teaspoon…. Oh well…. I will try again at some point.
I just tried the cookies and they are great! I would maybe add a little less sugar, but other than that, absolutely delicious!!
Thanks, Juanita!! I was actually thinking that next time I made them, I would take away some of the white sugar and just add more maple syrup which would probably make them less sweet. Glad you liked them!
can’t wait to try this! i swap out everything i bake with coconut oil and it’s awwwesome. (also, i really like coconut…) i make these cookies and like them – they’re kind of a hearty jumbler: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/whole-grain-breakfast-cookies/ i just swap out the canola oil for coconut oil and i used peanut butter and craisins since i didn’t have any almond butter or dried cherries on hand.
Those look so tasty!! I love dried fruit in cookies- I made some with figs and apricots at Christmastime. Yum, thanks for the suggestion!