Chewy and thick, these applesauce oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips make a great breakfast or snack! This easy one-bowl recipe is ready in 20 minutes, and you can customize it to your liking.
Love oatmeal cookies? Check out my steel-cut oat cookies or vegan protein cookies instead!
I love using applesauce to substitute eggs and butter in baked goods. In the past, I have experimented with recipes like applesauce baked oats, applesauce carrot muffins, and eggless coffee cake. These oatmeal cookies are my current favorite!
I usually bake a batch on the weekends to ensure that I have something nutritious to grab for breakfast throughout the week. Paired with my protein hot chocolate or protein iced coffee, it makes a simple yet satisfying meal.
🍎Why use applesauce in cookies
Applesauce is commonly used in vegan or eggless recipes to substitute eggs as a binding agent.
It also adds moisture to baked goods and cookies and is widely used as a replacer for butter and oil. It helps keep low-fat cookies moist and chewy.
Applesauce also has natural sweetness, and you can reduce the amount of added sugar used in the recipe.
🌾What you will need
📃Ingredients notes and substitutions
- Oat flour - If you do not have it on hand, make your own by blending some oats in a high-speed blender or food processor until it turns into flour. Do not use steel cut oats in this recipe; save it for my steel cut oats cookies instead.
- Oats - Both rolled, or quick oats will work. Rolled oats will yield a chunkier cookie compared to quick oats.
- Unsweetened applesauce - Both store-bought and homemade will work. Make sure it is unsweetened to prevent cookies from turning out to be too sweet.
- Nut butter - I am using almond butter, but feel free to substitute it with peanut butter, cashew butter, or tahini.
- Maple syrup - This can be substituted with other liquid sweeteners such as agave syrup, sugar-free syrup, or honey.
- Chocolate chips - An optional add-in. You can also substitute it with raisins to make oatmeal raisin applesauce cookies!
🔪How to make
- Step 1: In a mixing bowl, add all wet ingredients and mix well.
- Step 2: Next, add all dry ingredients and mix until a dough forms.
💡Tip
The cookie dough will be slightly sticky. Hence, wetting your utensils and hands before handling the dough is recommended.
- Step 3: Using a large cookie dough scoop or spoon, scoop out 3-4 tablespoons of batter per cookie on a baking tray. Flatten them using the back of a spoon.
- Step 4: Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are brown on the edges. Allow applesauce oatmeal cookies to cool down slightly before digging in!
✔Helpful tips
- Flatten cookies before baking - These applesauce cookies are made without butter, so they will not spread much after baking.
- Do not overbake cookies - This recipe is lower in fat and tends to dry out when overbaked. Pull them out of the oven once cookies appear set with lightly golden edges.
- Adjust sweetness to liking - After mixing, taste the cookie dough, adding more sweetener if needed. (As this is an eggless recipe, the dough is safe to be consumed!)
- Switch up the mix-ins - Replace chocolate chips with raisins to make oatmeal raisin cookies. Or, add some chopped walnuts/pecans and spices such as pumpkin spice, allspice, and nutmeg.
- Make it gluten-free - Use certified gluten-free oat flour and oats.
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❄️Storing suggestions
Fridge - You can refrigerate cookies in an airtight container for 4-5 days.
Freezer - Freeze cookies in zip-top bags or containers for up to 3 months. You can reheat them straight from frozen.
Reheating - Heat applesauce oatmeal cookies in an oven preheated to 180C/350F for 3-5 minutes or until warm. Alternatively, heat them in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. Be careful not to overheat, as they will turn hard.
💚Why you will love this recipe
- Thick, chunky, and absolutely delicious
- An eggless and dairy-free recipe that is naturally vegan (and gluten-free!)
- Easy to make - no mixer required
- Freezer-friendly, making it great for meal prep
❔Commonly asked questions
If your applesauce oatmeal cookies turned out dry, you have likely overbaked them. As this is a healthier recipe that is low in fat, cookies tend to dry out quickly when overbaked. Once cookies are set with slightly browned edges, they are ready to be pulled out of the oven.
Another possibility is that you used too much dry ingredients, mainly oat flour, in this recipe. Use a kitchen scale for the best results (1 cup oat flour = 90g).
If using the spoon and level method, spoon flour into the cup instead of scoping it directly from the bag. You will also want to avoid packing the flour into the measuring cup.
You can replace applesauce with an equal volume of mashed bananas to make these applesauce oatmeal cookies.
📖 Recipe
Healthy Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
Wet ingredients
- ½ cup applesauce unsweetened
- ¼ cup almond butter or other nut/seed butter
- ⅓ cup maple syrup or other liquid sweetener
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dry ingredients
- 1 ½ cup oat flour use gluten-free if needed*
- 1 cup rolled oats use gluten-free if needed (or quick oats)
- ½ cup chocolate chips optional
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, add in all wet ingredients and mix well.½ cup applesauce, ¼ cup almond butter, ⅓ cup maple syrup
- Next, add in all dry ingredients. Stir until everything is well incorporated. The batter will be on the stickier side.1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 ½ cup oat flour, 1 cup rolled oats, ½ cup chocolate chips
- Using a large trigger cookie dough scoop or spoon, scoop out 3-4 tablespoons of batter onto a baking tray, leaving some space between them. You should get about 8-9 cookies. Gently flatten them out using the back of a spoon.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are slightly brown and the cookies appear set. Let them cool down slightly before digging into your applesauce oatmeal cookies!
Notes
- Handling sticky cookie dough - The cookie dough will be slightly sticky. Hence, wetting your utensils and hands before handling the dough is recommended.
- Do not overbake cookies - This recipe is lower in fat and tends to dry out when overbaked. Pull them out of the oven once cookies appear set with lightly golden edges.
- Adjust sweetness to liking - After mixing, taste the cookie dough, adding more sweetener if needed. (As this is an eggless recipe, the dough is safe to be consumed!)
- Switch up the mix-ins - Replace chocolate chips with raisins to make oatmeal raisin cookies. Or, add some chopped walnuts/pecans and spices such as pumpkin spice, allspice, and nutmeg.
Save this recipe!
Email yourself a link to this page and come back later.
Also get a FREE high-protein vegan recipe eBook + weekly new recipes! Unsubscribe anytime.
Nutrition
Nutrition info calculated is just a rough estimate and is provided as a courtesy. Bear in mind that value will vary based on variables like specific brand or type of product used. To obtain the most accurate representation, it is highly recommended that you calculate it on your own with the actual amount and type of ingredient used.
SandyP says
These cookies are wonderful! I made another batch today because it's an absolutely perfect cookie recipe. If you haven't tried it, you must.
Thanks for your recipe and all the good eats.
Marilea Johnson says
These tasted very good. They weren’t too sweet but they were enough to satisfy my sweet snacky need. They did not together for me. I wondered if they might fall apart. No biggie. Making GFV is a tough thing to do, it’s a real science experiment. Hats off to those who stand up in the kitchen for hours coming up with these recipes. Next time I make them I will try adding another kind of binder. Maybe a tapioca flour, or flax egg. I leaning toward tapioca, that works well for me in other cookies and my oat flour waffles. Real good taste though! It’s worth hacking it to make my own and to make it work for me. Thanks for sharing!
Jim Mee Sha says
Thanks for your kind comment! Yes, do experiment around and update us, we would love to know how it turns out 😉
Amelia says
Could these work replacing the almond butter with reconstituted pb2?
Jim Mee Sha says
I have yet to try it, but I think it will work!
Janine Fabro says
Would I be able to sub the maple syrup for more apple sauce?
Meesha says
You can try, but your cookies will be significantly less sweeter.😁
Effney Gardea says
Hi, can I add nuts and cranberries
Meesha says
Sure! Just make sure that you are not adding in too much or your cookies might turn out crumbly.😁
Monika Cate says
A new favorite, hubby loves them too!
Meesha says
Happy to heat that.😁
Keren says
These are incredible!!! I am working on reducing my refined sugar (and overall sugar) intake and eating more whole, unprocessed foods. These cookies are a perfect sweet treat for me!!! I chopped the dark chocolate chips rather fine, which means I get little bits of dark chocolate in every bite. I can't overstate how much I enjoy these cookies!
Zuzanna says
Love that recipe, the cookies turned out to be delicious❤️. I like that it's quick, so including cleaning, making your own oat flour, and preparing everything you can be done with them in less than an hour.
Carol says
These are PERFECT!