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Healthy Cookies

These healthy cookies are full of good-for-you ingredients (like oatmeal) but still taste like a treat! Go on, sneak another.

Imagine: a cookie that’s made of all good-for-you ingredients, but still tastes like a treat. Yes, it’s possible with these Healthy Oatmeal Cookies! The dough for these cookies has no butter, no refined sugar, and no flour. But they taste deliciously satisfying for kids and adults. The magic? Medjool dates bring sweetness, nut butter adds richness, and toasted coconut and mini chocolate chips add nuance and flavor. We’ve tested these on friends and family and they agree: this chewy healthy cookie is a delicious treat…despite it’s wholesome ingredients.

Ingredients in healthy oatmeal cookies

Let’s get one thing straight: there are a lot of recipes called “healthy cookies,” but healthy is a very subjective term. The criteria we used for this healthy cookie? Use as many wholesome ingredients as possible, and add no refined sugar, refined flour or butter in the dough. Here are the ingredients you’ll need to achieve this magic trick:

Old Fashioned oats: do not substitute steel cut!
Shredded coconut
Medjool dates
Cashew butter: or other nut butter; use sunflower butter for nut allergies
Vanilla
Egg
Plain yogurt
Baking soda and salt
Cinnamon
Mini chocolate chips

More about Medjool dates

The key to using no sugar in this recipe? These healthy cookies feature Medjool dates as the sweetener. If you’ve never worked with them before, they’re a deliciously natural way to add sweetness to desserts.

What are Medjool dates? Medjool dates are very large dates with an intense caramel sweet flavor. They’ve become popular for their use in energy bars (like Larabars), and they can be used in many types of recipes to add sweetness.
Fun fact: Medjool dates are fresh fruits (not dried). Medjool dates are harvested from the date palm tree and then packaged immediately. There’s no processing, so they’re not dried.
Where to buy Medjool dates? Look in your grocery in the produce aisle (many times next to the bananas), or near the dried fruits. You can also order them online.
How to store them? Store them at room temperature for 1 to 2 months, in the refrigerator for up to 6 months, and about 1 year frozen. (Source)
Are there any substitutes? Not in this recipe! It’s dependent on this special type of date for just the right sweetness and texture.

Use a food processor to make the dough

For this healthy cookies recipe, you’ll need a food processor. Here’s why it’s necessary here, and some alterative equipment ideas:

Use it once to make oat flour. You’ll grind half the oats into oat flour. If you’d like you can substitute 1 cup oat flour for the half of the oats that you grind.
Use it again to blend the Medjool dates with the nut butter. You’ll need to grind the dates into a paste with the nut butter. The remainder of the dough process is just mixing, so you just need equipment for these tasks.
Don’t have a large food processor? You could do complete these two steps in a small Ninja type blender and make it in batches if necessary. Then mix the remaining dough in a bowl.

Vegan variation on healthy cookies

Want to make these healthy cookies vegan? Simply do the following:

Use 1 flax egg in place of the egg. You can easily make a flax egg using ground flax seed and water.
Use vegan yogurt in place of the yogurt. The yogurt helps the texture of these cookies come together, so it is necessary. Find your favorite vegan yogurt brand!

Mix-ins for healthy cookies

The best mix-in for healthy cookies, of course, is mini chocolate chips! Using a small amount of chocolate here keeps them on the healthy side. But you can add a bit more if you like. Here are some notes on things to add to these delicious oatmeal cookies:

More chocolate if you like (mini is nice). Mini chocolate chips are great for distributing little bits of chocolate throughout. You can use a little more chocolate if you like, or even a chopped dark chocolate bar.
Sea salt. Add a small sprinkle of sea salt to each cookie: yum!
Raisins. Ditch the chocolate and go for a healthy oatmeal raisin cookie.
White chocolate and dried cherries. White chocolate and cherries makes a great combination!
More toasted coconut. Amp the coconut flavor by adding a bit more to the batter.

What else would you add to your healthy cookies? Let us know in the comments below.

Storage instructions

These healthy cookies are soft and chewy, so the storage instructions are important here! Here are two ways to store them:

Room temperature with paper towels for 1 week. Place paper towels in between the layers of cookies to absorb extra moisture.
Refrigerated for 2 weeks. These healthy cookies save well in the refrigerator, and the texture still tastes great! They’ll save this way for 2 weeks.

More healthy desserts

Love sweet treats with a healthy spin? Here are some healthy dessert ideas to keep your sweet tooth happy:

Make a batch of our fan favorite Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars
Mix up single serve Healthy Chocolate Pudding
Try frozen Chocolate Covered Bananas
Grab a jar of Chickpea Cookie Dough

This healthy cookies recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten-free.

Healthy Cookies

Author: Sonja Overhiser
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 20
Diet: Vegetarian

Print Recipe

Description

These healthy cookies are full of good-for-you ingredients (like oatmeal) but still taste like a treat! Go on, sneak another.

Ingredients

¼ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
2 cups Old Fashioned oats
1 cup Medjool dates*
½ cup cashew butter (or other nut butter or sunflower butter)
2 teaspoons vanilla
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg
¼ cup plain or Greek yogurt
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup mini chocolate chips (or more if desired**), plus 1 tablespoon for topping

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Toast the coconut: Place the coconut in a small dry skillet (no oil) over medium heat. Heat, shaking the pan and stirring often with a wooden spoon, until the coconut is fragrant and golden brown, about 3 minutes. Stay at the stove because the coconut can easily burn! Remove immediately from the heat and transfer to a plate to stop the cooking.
Place 1 cup of the Old Fashioned oats in a food processor and process until finely ground into a flour. Remove to a bowl. (If you prefer, you can substitute 1 cup oat flour to eliminate this step.)
Remove the pits from the Medjool dates. Add them to the food processor with the nut butter, vanilla and salt. Process crumbly and fully combined, stopping and scraping the bowl once.
Add the egg and yogurt and pulse until combined.
Add the processed oat flour, remaining 1 cup whole oats, baking soda, and cinnamon and pulse until a thick dough forms. Stir in the toasted coconut and chocolate chips with a spatula.
Make 20 small balls and place them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet: it’s easiest using a 1 ½ tablespoon / size 40 cookie scoop, if you have it. For a flatter cookie, gently press down with your hand (we left them as the domed of the cookie scoop). Gently press in the remaining 1 tablespoon mini chocolate chips to the tops of the cookies.
Bake 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown, rotating the pan after 7 minutes. Allow to cool on a baking rack. To store, place the cookies in a sealed container lined with paper towels between the cookies at room temperature for up to 1 week, or refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Notes

*Make sure to find this large, very sweet variety of date for this recipe: there are no good substitutes here. Medjool dates are easy to find at most grocery stores and are often near the bananas, or in the dried fruit aisle.

**You can use more chocolate if desired for a more decadent cookie, but this level of chocolate tastes great. Make sure to use mini chocolate chips for best chocolate distribution (or consider roughly chopping regular or large chips).

Category: Dessert
Method: Baked
Cuisine: Baked

Keywords: Healthy cookies, healthy oatmeal cookies

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Sprinkle Party Blondies

These blondies are ready to party, chock full of all the fun stuff: chocolate sandwich cookies, both white and dark chocolate chips, and a bevy of colorful rainbow sprinkles.

The saying is true… blondes really do have more fun (when it comes to baked goods at least), and these sprinkle party blondies are quite possibly the funnest.

Squares of sprinkle cookie party blondies on a pink background, with bowl of sprinkles on the side

Talk about cheerful, I dare you to take one look (let alone one bite) of these fun-filled blondies without smiling.

I was torn at what to call these celebratory treats. Double chocolate chip cookies ‘n cream confetti blondies is a mouthful even before you take a bite. They’re definitely more fun than funfetti, more colorful than cookies and cream. Party-something seemed appropriate, but I couldn’t decide between sprinkle party blondies, cookie party blondies, or house party blondies.

These blondies have so much going on you think it would be too much, but in this case… too much of a good thing? Even better.

They truly are a party in every bite.

Stack of three sprinkle party blondies with sandwich cookies, on a pink plate and pink background

The blondie base is very similar to my stuffed nutella blondies, though I reduced the scale since the mix-ins bump up the volume by quite a bit (the first batch I made was downright THICK), and skipped the brown butter since the focus of these blondies is on the flavorful mix-ins more than anything.

That said, you could easily substitute different mix-ins to suit your current cravings; the basic blondie recipe used here is a great foundation for just about any mix-in you can think of, from nuts to dried fruit to bits of chocolate or even toffee.

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Classic Tomato Soup

This classic tomato soup recipe is full of bold flavor: easy to make and perfectly seasoned! Serve with grilled cheese for a cozy meal.

An essential every home cook needs? This classic Tomato Soup recipe! There’s nothing more homey than a big pot bubbling on the stove with its bright garlicky aroma. Add to that a browned, gooey grilled cheese from the griddle and well: it’s basic in all the right ways. Just a like a classic Caesar salad or avocado toast: a great tomato soup is not rocket science but always, always satisfying. This recipe is beyond easy to make and will please everyone in the family (even the picky ones).

Want more soups? Go to Top Healthy Soup Recipes.

What’s in this tomato soup recipe?

Tomato soup is like a good potato salad: everyone has their own family recipe. Here’s our own family favorite: it’s so quick and easy! Here’s what you’ll need:

Olive oil
Garlic
Canned tomatoes: fire roasted if possible
Vegetable broth
Garlic powder and onion powder
Salt
Butter
Optional ingredients: basil, heavy cream

Flavor secret: fire roasted canned tomatoes

The key to the flavor in this tomato soup recipe? Fire roasted tomatoes. This type of tomatoes is roasted over a flame before canning, which makes the flavor sweet and developed right out of the can. You can absolutely taste the difference versus a plain canned tomato, which can taste bitter. Plus, you can cook fire roasted tomatoes for less time since the flavor is good right away (always a plus!).

Where to find fire roasted tomatoes? They should be available at your local grocery store, offered by several brands. If you can’t find them, simply substitute the best quality canned tomatoes you can find. It really makes a difference in this tomato soup!

How to make tomato soup: basic steps

There are lots of ways to make a great tomato soup recipe: here’s our magic formula! The only chopping required is you’ll have to mince some fresh garlic. Other than that, most of the cooking process is just waiting for it to simmer. Here are the basic steps:

Step 1, Chop & sauté: Mince the garlic, then sauté in olive oil for 30 seconds.
Step 2, Simmer: Add the canned tomatoes, broth onion powder, garlic powder, and salt. Simmer 15 to 20 minutes.
Step 3, Blend: Immersion blend or carefully blend the soup (optional).
Step 4, Add butter: Add butter and salt to taste. Voila!

Add-ins: fresh basil or heavy cream

Want to spice up your tomato soup recipe? Here are two simple things you can do to add massive flavor to this simple soup:

Add ½ cup chopped basil while simmering. This adds the best tomato basil flavor!
Add a drizzle of heavy cream to finish. This incorporates a delightful lightly sweet richness and warmth to the texture.

Want more variations? Scroll down for a few more ideas.

Featured pairing: gourmet grilled cheese

This tomato soup recipe is fantastic paired with a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich! Here’s how to take a regular grilled cheese and make it gourmet:

Use sourdough bread or an other artisan loaf.
Spread mayo on the outside of the bread instead of butter. It adds great savory flavor!
Use a combo of shredded smoked gouda and cheddar cheese. The smoked gouda really takes it to gourmet status!
Add jam or a sliced apple inside. The sweet and savory combo makes it! Try it with tomato, fig or apricot jam, or a thinly slice apple or pear.

Sides to serve with tomato soup (grilled cheese and more!)

Of course, no tomato soup recipe is complete without a toasty grilled cheese on the side! But we’ve got a few more ideas to complete the meal as well. Here are a few of our top sides to serve with tomato soup:

Grilled cheese: Try an avocado grilled cheese or spinach artichoke grilled cheese.
Bread: Grab an artisan bread loaf.
Crackers & cheese: Opt for homemade crackers or almond crackers.
Salad: Try goat cheese apple salad, spinach salad, kale salad, or chopped salad.
Muffins: Try classic corn muffins.

Variations: more tomato soup recipes

Want more flavor variations? This one is our classic, but here are our top tomato soup recipes to make on a regular basis:

Try Tomato Basil Soup
Channel cozy with Tomato Artichoke Soup
Add gnocchi for Tomato Basil Gnocchi Soup
Go vegan with Creamy Vegan Tomato Soup

Easy Tomato Basil Soup

Tomato Artichoke Soup

Tomato Basil Gnocchi Soup Recipe

Creamy Vegan Tomato Soup Recipe

This tomato soup recipe is…

Vegetarian and gluten-free.