Keto oatmeal cookies, just like Grandma used to make! Well, not exactly. They look like oatmeal cookies and they taste like oatmeal cookies, but they don’t contain any oats at all. Let me show you how it’s done.
Okay, you caught me. There is no oatmeal in these keto oatmeal cookies. Nope, not even a little bit. Completely grain free, with nary an oat to be seen. Not even the tiniest oat flake. There were no oats even in the vicinity when I made them.
But guess what? I am still going to call them sugar free keto oatmeal cookies. I am not one for clever little low carb names like “faux-tmeal” or “N’oatmeal”. Those just annoy me, I don’t know why.
The most I can do is put “oatmeal” in quotations; that’s as far as I will go. I am a stubborn old fart and I don’t care who knows it. If I want oatmeal cookies and I want to make them without the blood-sugar spiking oats, you’re just going to have to go along with it. I will brook no opposition. Got it? Good.
Seriously, who doesn’t love oatmeal cookies? They are the classic childhood after-school treat. Everybody’s mother or grandmother or aunt had the best oatmeal cookie recipe, right? But being devoted to the low carb, grain-free way of life, we can’t exactly have those any more. What’s an oatmeal cookie lover to do?
How to Make Keto Oatmeal Cookies
So how do you make oatmeal cookies without oats? Pure low carb ingenuity, that’s how. And an easy grain free stand in that gives these delicious keto cookies that classic oatmeal taste and texture.
Do you remember my super awesome low carb Carmelitas? Those might have been one of my favourite recipes of the summer, all crumbly, oatmeal-like crust and gooey caramel and chocolate filling. If you never saw them or don’t remember them, I suggest you hightail it on over to that post and take a look.
Similarly to my keto carmelitas, coconut flakes and sliced almonds become the replacement for the oats. You simply give them a whiz in the food processor to break them up a little more and you get that perfect oatmeal consistency. It’s really quite remarkable how much it resembles oatmeal in both taste and texture.
Then you proceed the way you would with any low carb cookie recipe. Cream the butter and sweetener together, add an egg and some vanilla, and stir in the “oatmeal” and flour. Scoop them up, roll them into balls and bake.
It’s a pretty simple formula but it really works for those oatmeal cookie cravings.
Other additions for your “oatmeal” cookies
Conventional oatmeal cookies typically take raisins, but raisins simply aren’t a keto-friendly option. You could, of course, add a tiny amount of them in, but it really wouldn’t be worth your while. There would be so few of them, the flavor wouldn’t come through.
When I originally created this recipe, I simply added sugar-free dark chocolate chips. And that’s certainly an excellent option.
But when I re-made these cookies for the video, I decided to add in some sugar-free dried cranberries as well. They don’t exactly taste like raisins, but they give the cookies that chewy, dried fruit texture. I really liked them this way!
I have a recipe for homemade sugar free dried cranberries, which do use some sweetener. But you can also buy entirely unsweetened dried cranberries as well. They are very tart when eaten on their own, but in these keto oatmeal cookies, they are delicious!
Praise for Sugar Free Oatmeal Cookies
“This is hands-down the best cookie I’ve made Keto.” – Gwen
“Wow! These smell great cooking. My family could not wait to try. Amazed out how much these taste like oatmeal cookies!” – Lori
“Made these tonight—Loved them! Thank you for the recipe!” – Laura
Other great Keto “Oatmeal” Recipes
- Pumpkin Oatmeal Breakfast Bars
- Keto Do-si-dos (Peanut Butter Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies)
- Keto Granola Bars
- No Bake Peanut Butter Granola Bars
- Coconut Cacao Nib Granola
“Oatmeal” Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup flaked coconut
- ¾ cup sliced almonds
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 tablespoon coconut flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter softened
- ½ cup Swerve Sweetener
- 1 large egg room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup dark chocolate chips, sugar-free
- ¼ cup unsweetened dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F and line a large baking sheet with parchment or a silicone liner.
- In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flaked coconut and sliced almonds. Process until mixture resembles oatmeal. Add almond flour, coconut flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt and pulse a few times to combine.
- In a large bowl, beat butter with sweetener until creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla extract and then beat in coconut/almond mixture until well combined. Stir in chocolate chips by hand.
- Form into balls a little over 1 inch in diameter and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. With the heel of your hand, press cookies down to about ½ inch thickness.
- Bake 15 to 18 minutes, until golden brown around the edges and just barely firm to the touch. Remove and let cool on pan.
Video
Christine says
Would adding like a tsp of molasses make the carb count much higher? I just think adding that might make these even better!!!
Carolyn says
1 teaspoon molasses equals about 7g of carbs total so I suppose that would be okay.
Lori says
Wow! These smell great cooking. My family could not wait to try. Amazed out how much these taste like oatmeal cookies!
Amanda says
Your recipe calls for sugar free chocolate chips…I was going to use Lily’s…how does this compare to what you used in carb count? Thanks
Carolyn says
Click the link and you will see that I also used Lily’s. So the carb count is exact.
Laura says
Made these tonight—Loved them! Thank you for the recipe! I’m not crazy about Granulated Stevia, but these didn’t have as much of a taste as a different recipe I tried. Is there a better sweetener that is better and is it 1 to 1 with Stevia?
Carolyn says
Swerve measures like sugar. Not sure how it measures with your stevia.
Laura says
You have listed each cookie as 2:26 g net carbs. Is the food energy listing for each cookie as well?
Carolyn says
Nutritional information is always per serving (or per cookie in this case)
Mary says
So funny, I found this recipe tonight, but I just made earlier today the original recipe….. I’m thinking the difference is using both almonds and coconut flakes? At any rate….OMG! These are flippin amazing. They honest to god taste like and have the texture of oatmeal. I wonder if next time I could use a darker chocolate bar, chopped up? I so enjoy reading your blog posts, you are a super good writer and the sense of humor is hilarious at times. Thanks for being so darn good at what you do.
Carolyn says
Thanks so much, Mary!
Elaine says
These cookies look amazing! I have gut issues and cannot process any sugar alcohols, including swerve. I tried swerve with awful side effects that last days. I realize this is a Keto recipe, and I am following a Keto paleo lifestyle. With your vast knowledge of baking what would you recommend in place of swerve? I can handle coconut sugar, maple syrup and small amounts of stevia. Thank you.
Carolyn says
These would be gorgeous with coconut sugar…but I’d do less of that and maybe a little stevia so they were lower carb. how about monk fruit extract, can you do that? It would be a good sweetener too. So maybe do 1/4 of the sweetener with coconut sugar and then maybe some stevia or monk fruit (not the kind mixed with sugar alcohols).
Susan says
What Can I substitute the butter with to make them non dairy?
Carolyn says
Coconut oil.
Suzanne says
Greetings, I definitely want to make these cookies however, my son has peanut and tree nut allergies so, will use coconut flour instead of almond flour. Am wondering what I can replace the almonds with. Tyvm!
Carolyn says
More shredded coconut. But I don’t think that coconut flour will make a very good replacement here. Have you tried sunflower seed flour? Much more like almond flour in consistency.
Jackie Burrell says
Oh My Gosh, thank you for these. Your hard work continually makes my life better. I made these yesterday and have now found my basic cookie recipe. I didn’t do the chocolate chips, but did ginger, a little allspice and clove, and got the crunchiest cookies ever going a little thinner. You are right, they are like oatmeal !! So many lc cookie recipes are soft and just once in a while I want a crunchy one without it falling and crumbling all over the place. These do the trick !! So many possibilities with this base, my mind is whirling. Thank you so much !
Jovina Coughlin says
This is a great recipe and the directions are right on. Came out so well. Nice to know I can have a cookie and it is only 2.2 net carbs. I am storing them in a tin that I use to store my regular cookies in, It there a batter way to store them?
Carolyn says
I think it’s fine for a day or two but if they are hanging around after 3 days, they should go the fridge.
Eileen says
I always put all of my low-carb baked goods directly into the freezer upon cooling (and I only bake enough for 2-3 days at a time). I think they taste “stale” much more quickly than wheat-based products, and seem more rapidly subject to mold/spoilage. I keep my nuts and nut flours in the freezer, for the same reason, even though I run through them very quickly. I also never mix partially-used nut flours with freshly-opened flours, to avoid possible spoilage contamination. It may seem like overkill, but when I do this, I rarely have a problem, and everything always tastes great.
Carolyn says
I keep all my nuts in the freezer too. I don’t go quite to the lengths you do but I don’t have any issues either.
Jovina Coughlin says
Thanks
Kate says
I rarely read all of the writing that comes before the recipe, but your writing is just so down to earth and endearing that I find myself always taking the extra minute to do so. Granted, it’s not much extra time, but I rarely do so, so that should say something!
Carolyn says
Thank you so much! I know the vast majority don’t actually read the post itself so I am really humouring myself but…it’s my creative outlet. And it’s nice when someone does once in a while.
Wenda says
I have been searching for a chocolate chip cookie recipe..just to have on hand for my sweet cravings…you have made my day…these are the best!!! The Carmelita’s are next on my recipes,,,I have made your caramel sauce and it is the best..Thank you so much for the recipes..
Carolyn says
Glad you like them!
Cynthia Hadley says
Best Keto chocolate chip cookies ever!!!!!!!!!! I just reduced the cinnamon to 1/4 teaspoon.
Dear Carolyn,
Please help me turn this recipe into a bar cookie recipe to save time.
Thanks so much!
Cynthia Hadley,
Baltimore
Carolyn says
Glad you like them. For a bar, I think you could just press them into an 8×8 pan and bake.
Carol says
Love the sound of this recipe! I am going to make these, but I have a question. Do you think you could put some oat fibre in here to “bulk” it up, and maybe get more “oatmeal” flavour? I am still learning about all these alternative ingredients.
Thank you for all you do for us.
Carol
Carolyn says
You could but I will say…oat fiber doesn’t taste the least bit like oats to me. So I am not sure that will help the flavour profile!
Eileen says
It really doesn’t need anything else. The look, texture, and hint of cinnamon do everything you need for these cookies to shout “oatmeal!” I find that with low carb baking, that’s really all you need to be satisfied: tastes great, looks the part. And these cookies really, really do taste great! I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve made these. Kids love ’em.
Eileen says
Oh, and the person above who suggested adding toasted pecans? HEAVEN.
Christa M Eads says
How about bananas natural sweetener?
Carolyn says
Bananas are very high carb and would spike my blood sugar, but you’re welcome to try it.
Lori says
I am in HEAVEN!! Just yesterday I told my husband how much I miss oatmeal. Last night, I stumbled upon this recipe. I whipped them up this morning and it is all I can do to not eat the whole batch! What a treat! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!
Pam Genuario says
I just want to thank you for your amazing recipes. I have made many of your recipes and these cookies came out delicious. They are so tasty, you’d never know they weren’t oatmeal. Keep up the great job. I’m waiting for your cookbook!
Carolyn says
Thanks, Pam!
Jamie says
My husband totally thought these were made with oatmeal! Definitely a keeper.
Reni says
Carolyn, does swerve have an after-taste?
Carolyn says
For me it does not. That’s why I use it, because all other sweeteners have an aftertaste for me. But every palate is different.
Reni says
Just went to store and bought it, while my husband was driving I opened the bag and stuck my finger in and tasted it – It is more like sugar than anything I have tasted – love it!
Carolyn says
That’s how I feel too!
Niki says
I start my hflc diet (hopefully lifestyle) tomorrow. I made a half batch of these tonight with salted roasted pecans instead of the chocolate chips. They were delicious. I wanted to make them with your “Craisins” recipe but after 4 stores I couldn’t find fresh cranberries. I used to make my mom what we called Breakfast Cookies. I’d use packaged snickerdoodle cookies but add roasted pecans and chopped dehydrated berries. She would eat them with her coffee in the morning. Your cookies are spot on for those! Thank you for all of your hard work!