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Oatmeal cookies are one of my favorite treats. They're divine when they're right out of the oven, warm, soft and chewy, and golden brown. Store oatmeal cookies don't do it for me anymore; homemade is always better!
Baking oat cookies with honey makes for an absolutely delicious treat. In fact, baking with honey in general is a great natural alternative for too much sugar.
Oatmeal Cookie Recipe Customizations
We spruced these cookies with our Spring Honey, but you can try using darker, richer honey if you'd like. Another preference at the Honey House is our Buckwheat Honey, which tastes like molasses and offers a rich earthier note that adds a unique flavor to this oatmeal cookie recipe.
These oatmeal cookies are a delicious recipe to try - originating in Alicia Silverstone's Kind Diet Cookbook. If you're not up for using dried plums, you can always switch them out for other dried fruit, like dried cherries, raisins, dried cranberries, dried blueberries, or dried apricots. Don't be afraid to mix and match, either!
If you really want your oatmeal cookies to stand out, try adding chocolate chips. Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are divine, and the best part is how many different kinds of chocolate you can use to change up the flavor profile! With regular chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, semi sweet chocolate chips - even butterscotch chips - and more, this oatmeal cookie recipe can be customized to your heart's content.
How to Make Oatmeal Cookies
Oatmeal cookies are well worth any effort required to make them. We worked hard to make this oatmeal cookie recipe easy so you can enjoy both the process of making and eating them! Go ahead and preheat oven now to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
ONE: GATHER ALL OF YOUR INGREDIENTS
You'll need these ingredients for our oatmeal cookies: quick-cooking rolled oats, all-purpose flour, maple or coconut sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, honey, coconut oil, vanilla extract, blackstrap molasses, your favorite dried fruit, and walnuts.
Make sure you also have a measuring cup set and a mixing bowl handy! If you're a cookie pro, you may also have a wire rack for when the cookies cool.
TWO: PROCESS THE DRY INGREDIENTS
Begin by mixing the dry ingredients. Mix well with the oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. You can use a wooden spoon, but I choose to do this with my hands. It makes clean-up easy and fast.
Side note: For variety, replace the all-purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour, barley flour, spelt flour, or gluten-free baking mix (choose one that does not include baking soda and powder).
STEP THREE: COMBINE WET INGREDIENTS
Combine the honey, oil, vanilla extract, and molasses in a smaller, separate bowl. Stir to combine. Set aside.
STEP FOUR: PREPARE THE DRIED FRUIT AND NUTS
Finely chop the nuts, put them in a paper or plastic bag, and with the handle end of a heavy butter knife, bang until the nuts are very finely chopped. To cut the dried fruit into cubes, use a very sharp knife. I used a fast chop technique; it doesn't matter if it's perfectly or evenly sized; you want the dried fruit to be smaller pieces in the cookies.
Sidebar: You can substitute chocolate chips for dried fruit or your favorite chopped nuts over walnuts.
STEP FIVE: ADD THE WET AND DRY INGREDIENTS
Now, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir to combine. Don't over-mix. Fold in the dried plums and nuts to create our cookie dough.
STEP SIX: MAKE & SHAPE THE COOKIES.
Using your hands, roll tablespoon-size scoops of dough into balls. Place the balls onto the prepared baking sheet, and press down slightly on the balls to flatten the tops.
STEP SEVEN: BAKE!
The final step is also an important one! Bake the cookies for 8 to 12 minutes or until light brown. Transfer cookies to a baking rack to cool completely.
A Few Tips for the Best Oatmeal Cookies
When baking with honey, slightly lower the temperature of your oven. Honey will burn faster than cane granulated sugar, so be mindful of that. If you don't have parchment paper, lightly coat your baking sheet with coconut oil, or even melted butter if you prefer.
Keep your oatmeal cookies nice and fresh in an airtight container, or freeze the dough for faster baking down the road. I always make a big batch of these and share them with friends. They are perfect in the fall with a warm cup of tea or coffee. While biting into these chewy cookies, you'll feel cozy in no time!
Have Fun with our Oatmeal Cookies
One of the joys of baking is making the recipe your own. Don't like dried fruit? Leave it out! Want more walnuts? Add them in! The possibilities are endless. Here are some of our favorite suggestions:
- Using chopped pecans instead of walnuts sometimes changes the flavor a bit on this cookie.
- Try these oatmeal cookies lightly spiced with ground cinnamon on top.
- Serve a chewy oatmeal cookie warm with some homemade vanilla or blueberry ice cream.
- Try adding in or substituting the dried plums for dried cranberries, dried apricots, or raisins to create old fashioned oatmeal raisin cookies.
- Have a sweet tooth? Play around with the different kinds of sugar you use such as white sugar, brown sugar, and even light brown sugar.
Want more holiday cookie recipes? Check these out:
- Honey Peanut Butter Cookies
- Gingerbread Cookies
- Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Fruit
- Potato Chip Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Paleo Cookies
