This post may contain affiliate links, please see our privacy policy for details.
Giant Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. These may be healthier, but trust me, these are some of the best cookies! Made with almond flour, browned butter, sweet maple syrup, and a secret ingredient that really makes these cookies better than the rest. Every bite is soft and chewy and so DELICIOUS. Absolutely nothing not to love about these chewy chocolate chunk oatmeal cookies. Perfect with a touch of sea salt.
Half Baked Harvest At Home
20+ new recipes for wholesome comfort food made with everyday ingredients. Pre-order today! HBH At Home will be released on Tuesday, February 23rd!
Everyone loves a weekend that starts with cookies! And you guys, these are some of my family’s favorite. My mom loves them, my dad loves them. Even Asher, who’s pretty picky about her chocolate chip cookies, is loving them too!
When I originally set out to make these, I wanted to make a chewy oatmeal cookie. Nothing fancy, just the classic made better. Or at least that’s what I was attempting.
But then, I wondered, as I often tend to do (big time overthinker here), if there was a way to make the classic cookie in a more wholesome way.
My mom is really big on low sugar right now and has cut back on her nightly desserts (she’s subbed in her goatmilk cacao/cocoa mix). So I set out to make a cookie that she’d happily enjoy after dinner.
If it works, amazing! If not, I’ll try something else.
Well, to my surprise that first batch was honestly perfect. I had a soft, chewy cookie with seriously incredible flavor.
Here are my secrets
As I said, I wanted to make these more wholesome, but still delicious. Of course, brown butter came into play, because every dessert is made better with a little brown butter.
Then I remembered back to my favorite chewy brown sugar cookies. I thought, what about a little apple butter? Maybe apple butter in these cookies would give them not only flavor, but the chewy texture I was looking for. Promise, you don’t taste the apple.
I landed on a cookie that’s chewy and so DELICIOUS!
First things first, brown half of the butter, but leave the other half at room temp. This gives you the flavor of browned butter but leaves you with a cookie that has great texture too.
Once the butter has browned, let it chill a bit before mixing up the dough. The rest of the steps go quickly.
Cream the butter with the smallest amount of brown sugar and maple syrup. Then add that secret ingredient, apple butter, to sweeten up these cookies.
For the apple butter, I used my homemade maple apple butter. This is one of my favorite things to keep a jar of in my fridge. You can use my homemade apple butter or pick some up at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, your local market, or via Amazon. I will say that the homemade recipe works a little better for these cookies, but either is great! Just make sure your apple butter is spiced for best flavor.
Now add in almond flour, baking soda, and salt. I usually buy Bob’s Red Mill Almond flour. You can find both in most major grocery stores, Whole Foods, and I believe Trader Joe’s as well.
Now stir in lots of chocolate chips (or chocolate chunks) and bake away. No chilling required! Simple. Simple.
Bake the cookies, and smell the wonderful scents as they bake.
What I love about these cookies is that they’re easy, require no chilling, and take less than an hour to make. And yes, we love that they’re lower in sugar and even gluten-free.
These are perfectly soft and chewy all around. They don’t get hard once cooled, so they’re more of a delicate cookie. Eat a few slightly warm and enjoy the rest later!
Looking for other dessert recipes? Here are my favorites:
5 Ingredient Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies
Healthier Homemade Nutter Butter Cookies
Salted Tahini Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Lastly, if you make these Giant Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Giant Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (1 cup) salted butter, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup apple butter, (sub brown sugar)
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1 1/2 cups old fashioned oatmeal
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks or chips
- sea salt
Instructions
- 1. Add 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter to a skillet set over medium heat, cooking until the butter begins to brown, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to a heatproof bowl. Stick in the freezer to chill, 10 minutes, but no longer.2. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.3. In a mixing bowl, beat together the remaining 1 stick butter, the cooled browned butter, and the brown sugar until combined. Beat in the maple syrup, apple butter, egg, and vanilla, until creamy. Add the almond flour, oatmeal, baking soda, and salt. Fold in chocolate chips. 4. Roll the dough into 3 tablespoon size balls (an ice cream scoop works well) and place 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. No more than 6 cookies per sheet. 5. Bake 7 minutes, then rotate the pan and give it a tap on the counter to flatten. Return to the oven and bake another 3-5 minutes, the cookies will begin to brown, but still be doughy in the center. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. They will continue to cook slightly as they sit on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with flaky salt if desired. Eat, or let cool and store in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Just note that these are delicate cookies, so be gentle when storing them.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Delicious and turned out fantastic. A keeper! I always have apple butter on hand(make it in the fall and freeze or can for future use) so this was a perfect way to use it up!
Hey Nicole,
Fantastic!! I love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for making it! Have the best weekend:) xTieghan
These cookies turned out amazing even though I made a few changes: I replaced the maple syrup with more brown sugar; I used 1 cup of almond flour with 1 cup of whole wheat flour (so the cookies wouldn’t crumble, and I didn’t need them to be gluten-free); I browned all the butter instead of half of it; I made 16 cookies by using 2.5 tablespoons of dough for each one. This is now my favorite cookie recipe!
Hey there,
Happy Sunday!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for giving it a go! Thanks for sharing your adjustments and what worked well for you. xx
Possible replacement for apple butter – dried dates cooked with enough water to mimic the consistency of apple butter – cookies may be a bit sweeter but dates are much easier to find than apple butter.
Cook, measure and chill before using.
Thanks for sharing Kathy!
These have great flavor, however mine turned out rather cakey and easily fall apart. I followed the directions in the recipe exactly. That being said, the cookies are still disappearing rather fast.
Hey Chelsea,
Fantastic!! I love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks a lot for making it! The almond flour does make them a delicate cookie. Have the best weekend:) xTieghan
Is there any replacement for apple butter?
Hey there,
You could use an equal amount of brown sugar or you could try a THICK apple sauce. Let me know if you give the cookies a try, I hope you love them! xx
What can I use to replace the apple butter? It’s very hard for me to find…
Hey Shelley,
I actually have a homemade recipe you might enjoy:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/homemade-slow-cooker-maple-apple-butter/
Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love the recipe! xTieghan
My husband is allergic to apples. Any thoughts for what I could use instead of the apple butter?
But why must everything with almond flour fall apart?, ugh! Waste of expensive ingredients!
Hi Wendy,
Almond flour is a pretty delicate ingredient, I included the substitute for all purpose flour:) Please let me know if you have any other questions. xTieghan
Hey Dawn,
Pumpkin butter would be a great option here for you! I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xx
Two sticks of butter don’t exactly make this recipe healthy 😉
Hi Dana,
I never said the cookies were healthy, just “healthier” using almond flour and alternative sweeteners in place of granulated sugar:) Also, lets remember unless you are eating this entire batch of cookies in one sitting, the 2 sticks of butter is not equivalent to just 1 cookie. Let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
Thanks for the substitution suggestion – nut allergies in out family.
I hope you love the recipe Anita!!
I am definitely going to try these! If I want to make them a typical cookie size what adjustments would you recommend?
Hey Karen,
I would follow the recipe as is, maybe reduce your baking by 1 minute or so:) I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xx
What can I use instead of apple butter? I would like to make apple butter
Hey Teresa,
Here is my recipe for apple butter:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/homemade-slow-cooker-maple-apple-butter/
Please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Would it be possible to substitute raisins for chocolate chips? Or would that totally change the cookie?
Hey Megan,
Sure, you could totally do that! Let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
What can you recommend instead of apple butter?! We don’t have that in aus 🙁
Hey Nicole,
I actually have a recipe to make it homemade! https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/homemade-slow-cooker-maple-apple-butter/
Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
Do you need to add the apple butter ??
Hi Denise,
Yes, the apple butter helps to sweeten these cookies:) Let me know if you give the recipe a try or have any other questions! xTieghan
Hi there! Is there a substitution for apple butter? That’s not something I see year round inc NC.
What can you substitute for apple butter?
Hey Cassie,
You could use an equal amount of brown sugar or you could try a THICK apple sauce. Let me know if you give the cookies a try, I hope you love them! xx
Hey Maryn,
Try my recipe for homemade apple butter:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/homemade-slow-cooker-maple-apple-butter/
Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xx
I just googled it and found you can use apple sauce instead. But I am not sure if you it is a 1:1 substitution. I would like to make these today, but only have apple sauce. ?
Hey Anette,
You could use an equal amount of brown sugar or you could try a THICK apple sauce. Let me know if you give the cookies a try, I hope you love them! xx
Can’t wait to try these! Can one use applesauce instead of apple butter?
Hey there,
I would try the apple butter, I have a recipe and it really adds so much flavor!
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/homemade-slow-cooker-maple-apple-butter/
Please let me know if you have any other questions! xx
We’re a gluten free household so I was excited to try these? The flavor of the cookies so sooo good but mine turned out very thin and crumble easily. I used an egg replacement because we have egg allergies in our house as well. Do you have any suggestions on how to get these a bit thicker and firmer?
Hi Lindsey,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try! Unfortunately, I think the egg replacement was your issue here. I would say that the all purpose flour would help to make these thicker and firmer, but since you are gluten free I wouldn’t use that. xTieghan