These easy oatmeal cookies with cinnamon and honey are oh so soft and full of warming spices like cinnamon and cloves. They are the perfect cookie for when you’re craving something comforting and sweet. And because of the fiber rich oats, they’re hearty enough to eat for breakfast!
This recipe is actually based on my grandma’s “Healthy Cookie Recipe”. With her passing just last year, and the recent return from my grandpa’s funeral, I thought it would be fitting to blog one of my favorite recipes from her. The thing is though, the recipe calls for normal wheat flour, and as you know, this is a gluten free/paleo blog – we can’t have that now, can we!
I wanted to honor my grandma by sharing her original recipe, so I will leave that down below. However, I adapted her recipe ever so slightly to keep it gluten free so I could still enjoy these easy oatmeal cookies for years to come!
How to make oatmeal cookies
1) Into a large mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and baking soda.
2) Add the eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and honey, and stir until combined.
3) Add in the oats, and stir once more until all the oats are evenly incorporated.
4) Using a 1.5 TBS cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
5) Bake the cookies at 350℉ for 15-16 minutes or until the bottoms and edges turn golden brown.
quick oats vs. rolled oats
Quick oats vs. rolled oats for baking – what do you think?
It actually comes down to personal preference, and what you have on hand. However, rolled oats are more common in baking because of their texture and flavor. Rolled oats are chewier, heartier, and have a slightly stronger nutty flavor. Because of these reasons, rolled oats are definitely my go-to.
Quick oats are actually a more processed form of rolled oats. Because of this, they’ll produce a softer textured cookie, which may come across as mushy. Just like rolled oats, they will also have a slight nutty flavor.
So, while the ultimate decision is up to you, I strongly recommend using rolled oats for these cookies, and for all your baking needs in general. I love using these oats because they’re gluten free, organic, and taste amazing.
Tips for making oatmeal cookies
When measuring the honey, make sure to level it off with the back of a knife. Honey can be a little deceiving when it’s being measured for a recipe. If you don’t level it off, you could have an extra 1-2 tablespoons of honey, and that will affect the recipe.
Use unsweetened applesauce. You’ll avoid the processed sugar and the cookies won’t be overly sweet.
Use rolled oats as mentioned above.
Don’t eat them all in one sitting. 😉
Follow me on Instagram and use the tag #simplyjillicious if you make these cookies! I’d love to see them and so would Grandma! 😆 Happy baking!
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Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies (gluten free, dairy free, sweetened with honey)
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups almond flour
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 teaspoons ground cloves
- 1 egg
- 2 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 cup organic unsweetened applesauce
- 6 tablespoons avocado oil
- 3/4 cup honey
- 3 cups organic gluten free rolled oats I use Bob's Red Mill
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉
- Into a large mixing bowl, combine the almond flour, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and baking soda.
- Add the eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and honey, and stir till combined.
- Add in the oats, and stir once more until all the oats are evenly incorporated.
- Using a 1.5 TBS cookie scoop, scoop the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Gently flatten the dough into a cookie shape before placing in the oven.
- Bake the cookies at 350℉ for 13-16 minutes or until the bottoms and edges turn golden brown.
My Grandma’s Original Recipe
Mix:
1 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups honey
5 1/2 to 6 cups old fashioned oats
Add:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
4 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup applesauce
Optional: 1 cup craisins, nuts, raisins, or chocolate chips
Bake at 350℉ for 13-15 minutes.
Hungry for more? Try some of my favorite recipes:
Gluten Free Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies
I used Grapeseed oil since that’d what I had on hand, otherwise kept the recipe as wrote. I used a 1tbs cookie scoop and got 78 cookies. Moist and delicious!
Aren’t they so good? I love these cookies. Thanks for coming back to leave a review and star rating, Katie! I really appreciate it!
Can I use coconut oil in place of avocado oil?
Hi Riley! Yes, I think that’d be fine!
I made these just as the recipe stated and I absolutely love them. I already ate 3!
Yay! So glad, Tasha! I’m so happy you love them. Thank you for the review! 🙂
Hi Jill! Can I use vegetable oil or olive oil in place? Thanks – Jill 🙂
Hey! Another member of the Jill club! It’s the best club to be in. 😉 Yes! That should work just fine.
Can olive oil be used instead of avocado oil?
Yes, that will work just fine!
Hi Jill! Can these be made into balls and frozen before baking them?
Hi NK! I can’t recall if I’ve frozen this cookie dough before. I think it should be just fine but I would recommend thawing the balls before baking. Good luck!
Can they be done with mashed bananas instead of apple sauce?
Hi Geraldine! I’ve never tried substituting bananas for the applesauce so I’m not sure. Sorry! Let me know how it turns out if you give it a shot!
I made these this morning, and I baked them at 350 for 15 minutes, as you suggested. But i wanted to let you know that is too long, the bottoms got a little burnt because we’re working with honey. I think a lower temp for that long would be better and yield better texture. I have been baking for over 20 years so I am no novice🙂. The flavour is very good though. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for your input Melissa, I really appreciate it! I make these often and don’t have an issue with the bottoms burning. Could your oven be a little on the hot side? If you make them again, feel free to lower the temp as you suggested, or take them out a little sooner. I’ll shave a few minutes off of the cook time to accommodate all ovens. Thanks!
This looks delicious, thank you for sharing!
Thanks Suzanne!
Hi,
I made these last night and they smelled amazing while cooking. They stayed in a ball, didn’t spread out like traditional cookies. The texture seemed dry where they didn’t hold together. Wondering what I did wrong??
Lisa
Hi Lisa! That’s actually my fault, I apologize. The directions should state to flatten the cookies before baking. I’ve updated the recipe – thank you for letting me know! As far as being dry, it’s difficult to say. It could be human error while measuring or an oven that’s a little too hot. I actually made these this morning to double check the recipe was accurate and they turned our beautifully! They didn’t come out dry at all and held their shape. I hope you give them another shot and maybe try baking them a minute or 2 less to help with the dryness. Let me know! Thanks Lisa!
I was wondering how you thought the recipe might turnout if the egg was omitted? My daughter has an egg allergy and many times in baking I can substitute apple sauce in place of egg and it works out fine, thoughts? Thank you!
Good question Emilia! This recipe definitely needs the egg. A flax egg can be used but it definitely can’t be omitted. Good luck!
Is there a substitute for the oil? Trying to stay away from excess oil.
Hi Christina! Substituting applesauce in its place may work but I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure. And that would result in slightly sweeter cookies. Let me know if you give it a shot!
Do you think I could substitute maple syrup in the place of honey? I’m on a low fodmap diet where I can’t have honey.
Hi Rachelle! Flavor-wise it’d be totally fine. I would just worry the cookies wouldn’t hold together as well. But it’s worth a shot I think!
Hi Rachelle
Just curious if you tried the recipe in the end with maple syrup instead and how did it turn out ? Thanks for your help 🙂
Hi! How many calories are in each cookie?
Hi Mari! You can copy and paste the recipe here for all the nutrition information: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
I think I will try this recipe and add walnuts, coconut and bits of candied ginger. And then do a batch adding walnuts, cranberries and coconut.
Sounds delicious, Beverly!
Could these be made with regular all-purpose flour in place of the almond flour?
Hi Melanie! Great question. You can definitely make these with regular flour! The amount will just be different. If you scroll to the very bottom past the recipe card, I include my Grandma’s original recipe which uses regular flour. Hope you love them! 🙂
Can you use coconut flour instead of almond flour? I was just noticing the price difference between the two!
Hey Lauren! Coconut flour and almond flour are vastly different. Coconut flour is super dry and needs a lot more moisture, usually in the form of eggs to be edible. It may be possible to play around with it and get a measurement that would work, but you’d need a lot less coconut flour. You can’t substitute it 1:1. Are you able to have gluten? If you scroll past the recipe card the original recipe containing regular flour is there. Otherwise, I’d stick to the almond flour for this one. 🙂
I’m not able to do gluten at the moment, but I’m not against almond flour either! Out of curiosity, how is oat flour in comparison to almond?