There’s nothing like a warm homemade cookie, fresh out of the oven. But years ago, after learning how sugar affects my body, I basically stopped baking. After a while, I didn’t even miss it, but the idea to make a healthy oatmeal raisin cookies kept coming back to me.
I mean, I do pretty good with keeping sugar to a minimum right now, but every once in awhile it’s nice to have a treat! Especially when we’re headed to a family function or friend gathering and there is a table of desserts – I can bring these and still feel like I’m getting a bit of an indulgence. And for those days I now have a go-to recipe that has NO ADDED SUGAR, not even honey or maple syrup.
These naturally gluten-free, sugar-free oatmeal cookies taste great and are super simple to make. (They do contain natural sugar from the banana, but they are free from all refined and added sugars – and I’m ok with using whole fruits!)
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats old fashioned
- 1 cup coconut flakes unsweetened
- 1/2 cup almond meal
- 1/2 cup almonds finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup raisins or other dried fruit
- 3 ripe bananas mashed
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup melted coconut oil or butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients until well mixed.
- In another bowl, mix together the mashed bananas, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Stir into the dry mixture.
- Place approximately 2 Tbsp of the mixture on the cookie sheet for each cookie and lightly press down as they don't spread when they cook.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, just until they begin to brown.
Notes
These cookies are pretty versatile as well. Swap out the raisins for dried cherries or cranberries or use half the raisins and add a small number of mini dark chocolate chips.
Donielle Baker
The rollercoaster of life after miscarriage
Any ideas for subbing the almond meal? We’ve got severe nut allergies to work around, but these sound amazing!
@Erica, A gluten free flour would work or you could grind up some sunflower seeds if you can get those from an allergy free plant.
What should I sub for the coconut and almond meal? we’re not gluten free, and I don’t have those in the house, but these cookies look great!!
@Theresa, You can use butter instead of coconut oil, just make sure it’s either softened or melted. For almond meal you could try ground almonds if you have those on hand, or I might even try something like almond or peanut butter.
@donielle,
What about the unsweetened coconut flakes? Could I use extra oats or flour? I don’t have any unsweetened coconut – Thanks!
@Theresa,
I’d like to hear a coconut flake substitute too – I’d love a cookie I can feel good about giving my toddler (and the rest of us) but my husband despises coconut. The oil is fine, but the flakes will not go over well 😉
You mention that the almond meal could be replaced with a gluten-free flour – could it also be replaced by a wheat flour? Trying to work with what I have here, and we aren’t gluten-free.
@Ally, I would try and just up the oats or flour if needed. These cookies are moist but not runny before cooking, so just go by how the dough feels, should be somewhat sticky.
Ally – you can use any type of flour in place of the almond meal. 🙂 Wheat flour will work just fine!
Genius! I can hardly wait to try making these!
Sounds yummy!! Just wondering where I can find almond meal?? I’ve never heard of it before
@Trish, It’s basically finely ground almonds – so you could blend up some almonds as well. (though don’t blend to much or it’ll turn to almond butter!)
@Trish,
Almond meal is made with the skins on. Almond flour is made from blanched almonds. I make my own by making almond milk, then drying and grinding the pulp. I get raw organic almonds from a grower in CA, make 4 – 8 cups almond milk about 3x a week. That pulp adds up and is way too good to compost.
It is ridiculously easy to make almond milk. Just soak the almonds overnight or all day, grind in the blender (1 cup almonds to 3 cups water), strain through a nutmilk bag.
Thank you! After Christmas, we could really use some no-sugar treats, to help us detox from it all!
Donielle, these cookies look fantastic! They are made with ingredients I usually have on hand, too. Thanks for sharing the recipe. 🙂
Shirley
These really have no ADDED sugar, as you are getting sugar from the raisins and bananas. I’m going to try them; they look yummy and a good candidate for breakfast bars. Thanks!
What is Almond Meal? Is it a flour?
@mary, Almond meal is basically just ground up almonds. When they are finely ground it’s considered almond flour – both will work with this recipe!
Hey Donielle, I just posted the link to this recipe on my Facebook page and some were asking about the oats, stating that you didn’t note that the oats had to be gluten free. Those of us who live gluten free must use certified gluten-free oats to stay safe, of course. Numerous varieties of “regular” oats have been shown to contain gluten. You might want to add the “certified gluten-free oats” info to your recipe to make sure that everyone knows to use those.
Thanks so much!
Shirley
What a blessing it is to have found your blog! My huband and I have been dealing with infertility for 7 years. For some reason, something has been telling me to try a gluten free diet. I’ve been researching and researching this week and just found you…can’t wait to read up!!
These cookies were amazing! I made two batches and can’t wait to share the new cookies with everyone!
@Carolina, YAY- so glad you liked them!
These sound good! Too bad I can’t tolerate bananas 🙁 Even one little bite stops my digestion. So sad. Maybe I’ll have to make them for my family, though. I’m ready for a serious sugar detox. My daughter and I really need it for mental health.
@Mary, I’ll bet you could easily use applesauce or mashed pears!
@donielle, Maybe I’ll have to try that!
I just made a 1/2 batch of these with subs and they were great!
I left out the coconut flakes, but did use coconut oil. I also used cashews in place of the almonds. I put cashews in my food processor, and that worked great in place of the almond meal!
I made the cookies, they were yummy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rV6k9fei6c
You don’t soak oats for this recipe? Do you think it will work with soaked oats?
No – for this recipe I did not soak them beforehand. To do so, you’ll probably want to soak and then dehydrate, otherwise the dough will be way to wet.
I tried these cookies with pumpkin instead of bananas and dried (fruit juice sweetened) cranberries and raisins. They were so delicious!
I topped them off with chocolate butter. To make this just melt a half a stick of butter (I like salted) and add two blocks (chopped into small slivers) of unsweetened baking chocolate and your desired amount of liquid stevia. I used around a dropper full. Then add a little vanilla and allow to cool.
These cookies are delicious! I must admit though, I used vegan chocolate chips instead of raisins & chopped hazlenuts in place of the almonds. Thanks for this fabulous recipe! Can’t wait to try more of your food 🙂
So happy to find this recipe — thank you!
I replaced the almond meal with flaxseed meal, as my grocery store did not have almond meal in bulk. I also added semi-sweet chocolate chips and walnuts, and a bit of clove, cinnamon and nutmeg for a spicey variety of this. Love it! Great recipe! I just happen to love adding items into my cookies.
Just simply want to stress I am just happy I stumbled on the website.|