Whole-Wheat Oatmeal Cookies (with Raisins and Chocolate Chips)
These cookies are easy enough to mix together in mere minutes, packed with enough wholesome ingredients to be delightfully healthful, and delicious enough to be a pretty perfect oatmeal cookie. With whole-wheat flour, olive oil, and less sugar than most cookies, it’s a better-for-you cookie that makes a crave-worthy after-school snack. And, some might argue, it is just healthful enough for breakfast (when rounded out with a bowl of yogurt or a glass of milk for added protein). With oats and dried fruit, it’s basically granola in a portable cookie form, like those “breakfast cookies” that are all the rage these days on the ‘gram.
VEGETARIAN, DAIRY-FREE
Yield: Approximately 24 cookies.
VEGETARIAN, DAIRY-FREE
Yield: Approximately 24 cookies.
Author: Wholesome Family Kitchen
Ingredients
- • 1 cup packed light brown sugar (or less, if you prefer; see notes below *)
- • ½ cup (4 oz.) unsweetened applesauce
- • ¼ cup light-tasting extra-virgin olive oil **
- • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- • ½ cup raisins
- • 1½ cups white whole-wheat flour ***
- • 1 teaspoon baking soda
- • ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- • 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- • ½ cup bittersweet chocolate chips ****
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F and line 2 large rimmed sheet pans with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, applesauce, olive oil, vanilla, and egg until smooth and well combined. Stir in the raisins.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt until well combined. Whisk in the oats, then stir in the chocolate chips.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, stirring with a rubber spatula until just combined and no streaks of flour remain.
- Using a spoon or—my preference—a cookie scoop, scoop the dough into mounds about 2 tablespoons each and place them on the parchment-lined sheet pans, leaving some space between the cookies to allow for some spreading.
- Bake the cookies one pan at a time on the middle rack of the oven until they’re set yet still slightly soft in the centers and just starting to brown around the edges, about 10 to 14 minutes. (Rotate the pan halfway through the baking time to help ensure even baking.)
- Remove the pan from the oven, and let the cookies cool on the pan for about 5 minutes before using a spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely (or cool just enough for eating). The cookies are at their best the day they’re made, especially still warm from the oven. But stored in an airtight container at room temperature, they’ll remain fresh for about 3 to 4 days (although they will soften and lose some of their crispness at the edges). For longer storage, or to help prolong their freshness, I recommend storing leftover cookies in the freezer. See notes below for tips on freezing and reheating.
Notes
* I’ve tested these cookies with varying amounts of sugar to determine the least amount of sugar I could add without compromising taste or texture. With the full cup of (packed) brown sugar, these cookies are at their best: soft and chewy with crisp edges, a definite treat! (They also keep fresher longer.) However, if you want to further reduce the sugar in these cookies to perhaps justify serving them as a “breakfast cookie” or in lieu of, say, a granola bar, or you just like your cookies less sweet, I’ve found that you can safely reduce the sugar to ¾ cup packed brown sugar. The reduced-sugar cookies are still delicious, although they do have more of a cake-y texture inside—still appealing, but less like a traditional oatmeal cookie. They also don’t keep quite as long as the cookies made with the full cup of sugar, but if this is a concern, I’d recommend storing the cookies in the freezer and thawing and reheating them as needed. (See instructions below.)
** I use olive oil in a lot of my baked goods because I really like the depth of flavor it brings, and it’s good for you too! (My favorite olive oil to use for baking is California Olive Ranch Mild and Buttery Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, as it’s relatively mild-tasting and lends a buttery flavor without any actual butter.) You can certainly use canola oil or another neutral-flavored oil instead of olive oil in this recipe, if you prefer.
*** If you’ve followed my blog long enough, you probably know that white whole-wheat flour is my favorite flour to use when baking more-nutritious baked goods. King Arthur Flour makes a white whole-wheat flour that is pretty widely available these days. However, if you have trouble finding it, you can substitute traditional whole-wheat flour or all-purpose flour (or a combination of the two) and get similar results.
**** When it comes to chocolate, I personally believe that the darker the chocolate, the better the flavor (and the better for you too: darker, more bittersweet varieties of chocolate have less sugar and more antioxidants than semi-sweet and milk chocolate varieties). For these cookies, I prefer bittersweet chocolate chips with 60 to 70% cacao, but feel free to use your favorite chocolate chips (or your favorite bar of chocolate, chopped into chip-sized pieces) in this recipe.
GET CREATIVE:
You can use this basic recipe as a vehicle for your favorite cookie add-ins (to equal about 1 cup total):
• Swap out the raisins for other dried fruit (e.g., dried cranberries or dried cherries).
• Add different spices or flavorings (e.g., ginger, nutmeg, finely grated orange zest).
• Swap out the chocolate chips for nuts (e.g., chopped walnuts or almonds).
• Leave out the raisins and use all chocolate chips (my personal favorite!).
TO FREEZE AND REHEAT:
Allow the cookies to cool completely at room temperature, then place them in a resealable plastic freezer bag and store in the freezer. When a cookie craving strikes, remove a frozen cookie from the bag and reheat it in the microwave, a toaster oven, or a regular oven. Usually I just pop the frozen cookie onto a microwave-safe plate and microwave it on high power for 25 to 30 seconds. (Keep in mind though that my microwave is quite old and has less power than most, so your microwave time might vary.) If I also want to bring back the cookie’s crispy edges, I’ll microwave the frozen cookie for about 20 seconds first, then pop it in my toaster oven for about a minute on the lowest setting (watching carefully): Nearly as good as freshly baked!
** I use olive oil in a lot of my baked goods because I really like the depth of flavor it brings, and it’s good for you too! (My favorite olive oil to use for baking is California Olive Ranch Mild and Buttery Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, as it’s relatively mild-tasting and lends a buttery flavor without any actual butter.) You can certainly use canola oil or another neutral-flavored oil instead of olive oil in this recipe, if you prefer.
*** If you’ve followed my blog long enough, you probably know that white whole-wheat flour is my favorite flour to use when baking more-nutritious baked goods. King Arthur Flour makes a white whole-wheat flour that is pretty widely available these days. However, if you have trouble finding it, you can substitute traditional whole-wheat flour or all-purpose flour (or a combination of the two) and get similar results.
**** When it comes to chocolate, I personally believe that the darker the chocolate, the better the flavor (and the better for you too: darker, more bittersweet varieties of chocolate have less sugar and more antioxidants than semi-sweet and milk chocolate varieties). For these cookies, I prefer bittersweet chocolate chips with 60 to 70% cacao, but feel free to use your favorite chocolate chips (or your favorite bar of chocolate, chopped into chip-sized pieces) in this recipe.
GET CREATIVE:
You can use this basic recipe as a vehicle for your favorite cookie add-ins (to equal about 1 cup total):
• Swap out the raisins for other dried fruit (e.g., dried cranberries or dried cherries).
• Add different spices or flavorings (e.g., ginger, nutmeg, finely grated orange zest).
• Swap out the chocolate chips for nuts (e.g., chopped walnuts or almonds).
• Leave out the raisins and use all chocolate chips (my personal favorite!).
TO FREEZE AND REHEAT:
Allow the cookies to cool completely at room temperature, then place them in a resealable plastic freezer bag and store in the freezer. When a cookie craving strikes, remove a frozen cookie from the bag and reheat it in the microwave, a toaster oven, or a regular oven. Usually I just pop the frozen cookie onto a microwave-safe plate and microwave it on high power for 25 to 30 seconds. (Keep in mind though that my microwave is quite old and has less power than most, so your microwave time might vary.) If I also want to bring back the cookie’s crispy edges, I’ll microwave the frozen cookie for about 20 seconds first, then pop it in my toaster oven for about a minute on the lowest setting (watching carefully): Nearly as good as freshly baked!
Recipe by Wholesome Family Kitchen at https://www.wholesomefamilykitchen.com/recipe-whole-wheat-oatmeal-cookies-raisins-chocolate-chips/