All the delicious chunky, crispy-edged, chocolate chip goodness of oatmeal cookies but paleo without any oats or grains. Easy, one bowl, less than 30 minutes!
I simply set out to make a yummy healthier cookie filled with hemp seeds and almond butter and cacao nibs and things, but they turned out JUST LIKE OATMEAL COOKIES. The texture is freakishly identical with no oats involved. And of course I love every inch of these cookies, but those edges. The gloriously crispy browned edges. The best part ♡
What’s in These Paleo “Oatmeal” Cookies?
- Not an oat, not one single oat.
- Almond flour. These cookies don’t require much flour, but almond keeps them super moist and grain-free.
- Hemp seeds. These are what give them the chunky “oat” texture, plus a little healthy fat and protein and flavor.
- Coconut sugar. For that caramelized “brown sugar” sweetness.
- Flax eggs. Almond flour doesn’t bind much by itself, so this is key for holding the cookies together. I used a little less water than the typical flax egg ratio, so be sure to note that in the recipe. Real eggs will work too.
- Almond butter. This helps bind, keeps them moist, makes them spread – its very essential. Other nut/seed butters will work as well, personally I just love the flavor of AB.
- Coconut oil. I tested an oil-free version with non-dairy milk instead – delicious, but not as crispy and they don’t spread as well.
- Cacao nibs. Instead of chocolate chips, they are crunchier and more bitter which I love since these cookies are quite sweet. Chocolate chips are fine too of course, but I used these sweet cacao nibs from Sunfood which are lightly sweetened with coconut sugar and a perfect in between.
Tips for perfect Cookies
- Bake them the full 15 minutes. Don’t take these babies out early, you want them to be nice and golden on the edges and tops. They will have better taste and texture this way.
- Don’t crowd the pan, these cookies do spread quite a bit.
- Use a very drippy almond butter.
- Measure by weight. I always recommend this, it will save you time in cleanup and be more precise too.
- Eat minimum one spoonful of dough. This is more a happiness tip than a perfect cookie tip I suppose. But still important.
- Freeze them! Not the dough, the finished cookies. If you’ve never had an oatmeal cookie straight from the freezer you’re missing out. This may or may not be the summer 90º+ weather talking too.
I realize these Paleo “Oatmeal” Cookies aren’t nearly as cost effective as a traditional oatmeal cookie, but trust me they are very tastebuds = HAPPY effective. If you are looking for OATmeal cookie options:
- Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies (oat flour + oats)
- Vegan Oatmeal Cream Pies
- Almond Butter Oatmeal Bars (date-sweetened)
Paleo “Oatmeal” Cookies
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 16 cookies 1x
- Category: cookies
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: american
Description
All the delicious chunky, crispy-edged, chocolate chip goodness of oatmeal cookies but without any oats or grains. Easy, one bowl, less than 30 minutes!
Ingredients
- 2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax + 4 tbsp water)
- 1/2 cup (75g) coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) coconut oil*
- 1/3 cup (50g) hemp seeds
- 1/2 cup (125g) almond butter (or nut/seed butter of choice)
- 1/2 cup (60g) almond flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup (40g) cacao nibs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Prepare the flax eggs and set aside to gel for 10 minutes.
- Whisk together the almond flour, hemp seeds, coconut sugar, baking soda, and salt until lump free.
- Add the almond butter, vanilla, flax eggs, and coconut oil.
- Fold in cacao nibs (save a few for on top).
- Scoop onto a lined baking sheet (about 2 tbsp per cookie) leaving space in between because they will spread. No more than 8 cookies per pan.
- Add a few cacao nibs on top of each and press them down lightly.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes at 350ºF.
- Cool for 10 minutes on the pan before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Enjoy warm, or I love them straight from the freezer too!
Notes
*You can sub non-dairy milk to make them oil-free, but they will be less crispy and rich.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 160
- Sugar: 6g
- Sodium: 81mg
- Fat: 11g
- Saturated Fat: 4g
- Carbohydrates: 9g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 3g
Keywords: paleo, chocolate chip, grain free, dairy free, vegan, gluten free, grain free, egg free, healthy, dessert, snack
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Those candied cacao nibs are my fave in/on just about anything! I love how protein-packed these are – it’s been tooo longggg since I included hemp seeds in my diet and cookies are the way to go to show these little seeds some love =)
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Candied cacao nibs is a perfect description haha! They are so good, and so good just straight from the bag too. And yessssss! Hemp seeds in your choc chip cookies is 👌😋
If not using the flax egg, how many eggs for the recipe? 1?
Just one regular egg, yes!
What can I replace the hemp seeds with? I don’t have access to it where I stay. Would pumpkin or sunflower seeds work? Would the cookies still remain crispy with the sunflower or pumpkin seeds? 😁
Thanks
Sure either would work, or sliced almonds would be another similar textured option. All of those are bigger than hemp seeds so I’d recommend chopping them up a bit. And yes they will still be crispy as long as you go with the coconut oil option 🙂
Yummy!!! I love no oat “oat” recipes haha! These look so good Natalie! Oh and loving the new design on your site!!
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Haha didn’t even intend to give oats the boot here, but hemp seeds are just shockingly oat-y in texture when you bake them into a cookie😆 And THANK YOU Anjali!!
These sound awesome! I’ve been cogitating how to make chestnut flour crackers. Just chestnut flour and water, but how and in what ratio to make the dough/batter so it doesn’t crumble but comes out crisp like the ones I can buy (which are half rice flour, but at the moment I’m experimenting with grain-free mostly vegan (as in, I eat pseudo-grains, but not true grains, and as I’m veggie but don’t eat eggs (just as they aren’t from our own birds so I can’t guarantee their happiness, and anyway, they aren’t needed) although I sometimes eat a little raw-milk goat’s cheese), so I wondered if you or another blogger might have any ideas? It’s as chestnut tastes good, whereas buckwheat is weird ( I love it, but it’s weird), millet is a touch bitter, quinoa needs special treatment (due to those saponins), and teff and amaranth are hard to find round here; so chestnut (which is cheap-ish and abundant here in the South of France) is the winner.
Any ideas?
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Well that sounds like a challenging but delicious mission! I’ve honestly never seen chestnut flour here or worked with it, what is the consistency like? Can you compare it to any other flours so I can get an idea and may be offer some suggestions!
Just made these tonight
So good, I scooped out about 2 tbsp of dough, I used a trigger scoop from oxo, rolled out into a ball as the dough is quite oily because of the coconut oil, and flattened them out with my hand, added a few more nibs pressed into the dough.
Baked 350 for exactly 15 min, they spread out nicely.
Don’t forget to leave the cookie in the pan for 10 min or they will break
I used peanut butter as I didn’t have almond butter.
I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to melt the oil or just whisk it in a solid state.
I didn’t melt it.
They came out perfect
I just want to know if I see salt flakes on top of the cookie.
Will definitely make these again.
Thank you
YAY I am so happy you liked them! Yes they definitely need to cool for a bit on the pan before you move them, very fragile when hot. And that is flaky salt on top, optional but looks nice and fancy and I love the sweet/salty contrast. And my coconut oil is melted but I guess its so hot here mine is always in the liquid state so I forget to mention that haha. I appreciate the feedback 🙂
I’m having a couple now with my coffee
So good, wow!
So when do we add the salt?
I’m guessing as soon as they come out of the oven ?
Or just before they cool or else we will have salty cookies.. lol!
Thanks again
I add it after they cool, if they are too warm it will dissolve! Enjoy 🙂
Well, it’s a fine flour round here, and texture-wise I suppose I’d compare it to brown rice flour, approximately.
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Hmm well if its similar to brown rice its pretty dry/crumbly then. Have you tried adding ground flax or flax eggs to help bind maybe? a little salt would also really boost the flavor and oil will help with crispiness if you are open to it!
Hmm, interesting, thanks. I was thinking about replicating the ones I can buy (chestnut flour, water, and salt), but your idea sounds a lot more edible! Haven’t begun yet, but I will next week, or when I remember to.
Keep me updated and good luck 🙂
I just saved this to my bookmarks because it is the PERFECT sneaky snack for late nights 😍 can’t wait to try it! might mess around and dip it in chocolate too 🤤
Oooooh love that dipped cookie idea🍫🍫 Excited for you to try them Marquis!
WOW!!! These cookies are AMAZING! I did make a couple of modifications: I swapped the Flax Eggs for Chia Seed Eggs as I am allergic to Flax. I also swapped the oil for Apple Sauce and used Lily’s No-Sugar Semi-Sweet chips instead of Cacao Nibs as I did not have the Cacao Nibs and also added Coconut Flakes which give a little crunch. I have a slew of ideas to make different flavor versions of these cookies!!! Thank you so much! Not missing the oatmeal at all!!!
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I appreciate you sharing your variations and I am soooooo happy you loved them Suzanne! The coconut + chocolate chip combo sounds delish, I need to try more variations too its such a versatile base😋
Love love love! Made these tonight … DELICIOUS! My only complaint is how hard it is to resist eating them all in one sitting! 🙂
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Hahaha don’t think I can help you there, still haven’t figured that out myself😆 I am so happy you liked them Caroline!
Are you still ‘feasting on fruit’? i got a bit confused cos i’ve always followed you on fof but then realised this also was you!
I rebranded! So still me, same recipes, just a different domain name since Feasting on Fruit doesn’t really fit my style so much anymore. But yes, I am still @feastingonfruit on social media!