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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.
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
Servings: 15 cookies
Calories Per Serving: 358 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
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
Alternate flour:Â if you prefer, you can bake these cookies using a total of 1 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour. The cookies will come out a little thicker.
Maple Syrup Replacement: you can use an equal amount of brown sugar or granulated sugar in place of the maple syrup.Â
If Your Cookies are too Soft or Crumbling: try omitting the apple butter and using 1/4 cup brown sugar.
These cookies are fantastic!!! Highly recommend!!
Hey Shauna,
Awesome!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks so much for giving it a try! ?xx
These cookies are INSANE. For the past few years, Alison Roman’s shortbread chocolate chip cookies have been my go to. THESE will now be my go to for any and all events. Can’t wait to share them with friends and family!
Hey Caroline,
Thanks so much for giving this recipe a go and sharing your feedback!! I love to hear that it was a winner:) xTieghan
Man these were great! What a delish spin on such a simple concept, I ended up not using the apple butter this time but I’ll have to make the homemade batch for next time!
Hey Madeline,
That’s great!! I love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks so much for making it! xxT
This may seem like a silly question. The recipe says to it’s ok sub brown sugar for apple butter. The recipe already calls for 1/4 c brown sugar, so do I add another 1/4 c if I don’t have apple butter? Or 1/4c total if I use apple butter or not?
Hi Tiffany,
Yes, you will need to add another 1/4 cup of brown sugar in place of the apple butter. Please let me know if you have any other questions, I hope you love the recipe! xx
I’m excited to taste these out of the oven. My children and I just made them. We’ve been making apple butter all day and then used it in the cookie recipe. However we may need to make them stretch for longer then 4 days. Have you freezed these cookies once cooled? Thank you for sharing.
Hey Chelsea,
Thanks so much for making the recipe, I hope you love them!! Sure, you could totally pop these in the freezer to enjoy later:) Let me know how they turn out! xTieghan
So good!!! They smelled amazing while baking and tasted even better. Next time I think I will add some walnuts for added crunch 🙂
Hey Leslie,
That’s great!! I love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks so much for making it! xxT
Hi Tieghan,
Made this recipe yesterday and so happy to find a recipe with less sugar, that I did not have to adjust. I didn’t have apple butter so I used peanut butter instead, and it came out great…more nutty flavour.
Hey Carmen,
That’s great!! I love to hear that this recipe was a hit, thanks so much for making it! xxT
No apple butter at Trader Joe’s. In the fall they have pumpkin butter. That probably would work too!
Hi Amy,
Sure, that would work!! Let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xxT
Hi Tieghan! Making these as we speak & wondering if I can add coconut flour or more almond flour instead of the oats, and if I do, what would the measurement be? Thank you!! I love your recipes & cookbooks so much!
Hey Lauren,
So sorry, for this recipe you will definitely want to use the oats, here are some other cookies recipes you might enjoy:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/giant-chocolate-chip-cookies/
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/cookies-n-cream-chocolate-chip-cookies/
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/tahini-honey-chocolate-chunk-cookies/
Please let me know if I can help in any other way! xTieghan
Made these cookies this afternoon, they were so easy and are SO good! I sprinkled kosher salt on them and love the sweet, buttery and a little salty flavor. I will definitely make these again!
Very delicious cookies! Turned out great. Thanks.
Hey John,
Wonderful!! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback! I am so glad it was enjoyed. Have a great week! ?xxT
Hi Tamara,
Wonderful!! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback! I am so glad it was enjoyed. Have a great week! ?xxT
I just made these cookies. In fact the last batch is in the oven as I type. They are A. Mazing! Very easy and so yummy. I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop the batter onto the baking sheets and got 15 huge cookies!
The bonus is that I didn’t know that I liked apple butter until today!
I will surely be making these again….and again!
Thank you!
Hey Tania,
Wonderful!! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback! I am so glad it was enjoyed. Have a great week! ?xxT
These Cookies look delish.
What can I do if I don’t have apple butter, is there a substitute I can use?
Thank you for your time.
Hi there,
Here is my recipe for homemade apple butter:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/homemade-slow-cooker-maple-apple-butter/
You could also try using an equal amount of brown sugar or a THICK applesauce. I hope this recipe turns out amazing for you, please let me know if you give it a try! xx
I adore these cookies—not overly sweet with a buttery almost nutty flavor and lots of luscious melty chocolate. Putting the browned butter in the freezer for ten minutes is genius—the batter worked perfectly. Thank you for the different spin on chocolate oatmeal cookies.
Hi Lydia,
Happy Sunday!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for giving it a go! xx
What is apple Butter
Hi Marlene,
Here is my recipe for homemade apple butter:
https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/homemade-slow-cooker-maple-apple-butter/
Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
These are soooo good! I tried with the large scoop and a smaller one., both were GREAT! I love your last cookbook and convinced our local library to get a copy also!
Hey Patricia,
Wonderful!! Thank you so much for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback! I am so glad it was enjoyed. Have a great week! ?xxT
The flavor of these cookies were very good. However, they fell apart and were very soft. I followed the recipe exactly. I’m going to put them in the freezer and see if that helps keep them from crumbling.
Hi Carolyn,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try, so sorry to hear you had some issues! The almond flour can make these a delicate cookie, next time try using the all purpose flour for a thicker, sturdier cookie. I hope this helps! xTieghan
I had the same issue, one batch turned out paper thin and barely hold together even when fully cooled, and the other batch was thicker but just as fragile. The flavor was ok but wouldn’t make again.
Hi David,
So sorry to hear this. Is there anything you may have adjusted in the recipe? Is there anything I can help you with for next time? Let me know! xTieghan
I had the same issue as well. Amazing flavor, but they were extremely soft and delicate. Came to the comments to see if I was the only one who had this issue.
Hi there,
Thanks so much for giving the recipe a try. This is really just the nature of the almond flour. For a thicker, firmer cookie use all purpose flour. Please let me know if you have any other questions!! xx
Thank you for this. I’m trying to lower my sugar consumption also. Perfect timing! Can’t wait to make these.
Hi Casey,
Happy Sunday!! I am thrilled to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a bunch for giving it a go! xx
Also using xantham gum helps hold things together. I find that this helps to keep baked good from falling apart when using gluten free flours for baking
Thanks for sharing Mary Ann!
Thank you for the tip, MaryAnn! I, too, found these delicate and falling apart. How much xantham gum did you use?