Enjoy these Oatmeal Date Cookies for breakfast, snacks, and as a sweet treat! Made with nut flour and naturally sweetened with dates, maple syrup, honey, and chocolate, these healthy cookies are just as delicious as a classic oatmeal cookie.
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About this recipe
There’s nothing more disappointing than biting into an oatmeal cookie and realizing those chocolate chips were raisins. That said, there are no raisins in these delicious Oatmeal Date Cookies! Instead, they’re loaded with irresistibly sweet dates and decadent dark chocolate.
Did I mention these date cookies are also healthy? You’ll use maple syrup and honey to naturally sweeten the flavor, tahini for moisture, and gluten free hazelnut flour to bind them all together. In the end, you’ll have a platter of delightfully soft, chewy, chocolatey, and date-filled oatmeal cookies that happen to be good for you!
Baking with dates
Naturally sweet dates are amazing in baked goods. The best dates for baking are Deglet Noor and Medjool because they add a vanilla-caramel-like flavor and a rich, creamy taste and texture. I love to throw them into cookie dough and use extras in a salted caramel dried fruit date cake. You should be able to find dates near the raisins and dried fruit in your local grocery store or in Middle Eastern and Asian grocery stores.
Healthy date cookie ingredients
- Oats - For that signature oatmeal cookie chew, use rolled oats (AKA “old fashioned oats”). To make sure your cookies are 100% gluten free, be sure to use certified gluten free oats. Instant or steel cut oats won’t work here.
- Hazelnut flour - This grain free nut flour is made from whole raw hazelnuts and adds a rich, sweet flavor to baked goods. If you can’t find hazelnut flour, use almond flour instead.
- Tahini - Tahini is a smooth, pourable seed butter made from emulsified sesame seeds and oil. It’s used a lot in Mediterranean food and is excellent for adding moisture to baked goods without butter or milk.
- Maple syrup and honey - These natural sweeteners are the perfect choice when whipping up a batch of healthy cookies.
- Vanilla - You should use a quality pure vanilla extract for the most decadent flavor. You could also use almond extract here.
- Dates - Because they wouldn’t be date-filled oatmeal cookies without the dates!
- Chocolate - Bitter-sweet dark chocolate and super-sweet and juicy dates is the perfect combination in oatmeal cookies. Stick with dark chocolate to keep this cookie recipe dairy free, otherwise, you can go ahead and use milk chocolate or any other type of chocolate you love.
How to make oatmeal date cookies
Step 1: Make the cookie dough. Mix the rolled oats, hazelnut flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Mix the tahini, maple syrup, honey, and vanilla next into a small, separate bowl.
Step 2: Mix well to form a thick and sticky dough. Finish by folding in the dates and chocolate.
Step 3: Roll into cookie balls. Roll the dough into balls and place them on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet, gently pressing on the tops of each cookie and leaving at least 2 inches of space in between each.
Step 4: Bake, cool, and enjoy. Bake your cookies until the edges just begin to brown and the center is still soft. Let them cool a bit, then enjoy!
Tips and tricks
- Chill the cookie dough - Chilling the dough in the fridge before rolling it into balls makes it easier to work with. It also helps deepen the flavors and improves the consistency so you always end up with thick and fudgy cookies.
- Roll with wet hands - If rolling your cookies by hand, wet your hands a bit first so the dough doesn’t stick to as much.
- Making cookie dough ahead of time - You can make the cookie dough 1 or 2 days in advance and keep it in the fridge until it’s time to bake.
- Freezing cookie dough - To freeze, wrap the dough tightly in a couple of layers of plastic wrap and keep it in the freezer for up to 1 month. Let it thaw in the fridge before rolling out and baking.
Flavor variations
Mix up the flavors with any of these sweet and savory variations:
- Nut butter - Not feeling the tahini? No worries. You can use a different smooth and creamy nut butter in its place, like almond butter, peanut butter, chocolate hazelnut butter, or cashew butter.
- Chopped nuts - To add a bit of crunch to your cookies, fold in a handful of walnuts, hazelnuts, macadamia, nuts, or almonds.
- Dried fruit - Omit half of the dates and replace them with dried fruit like cranberries, mango, apricot, pineapple, or peaches.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can store baked oatmeal date cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 5 to 6 days. To keep them longer, freeze the cookies in an airtight container for 1 to 2 months.
These cookies are sweetened with honey, which means they aren’t vegan-friendly. You can always replace the honey with more maple syrup or another vegan sweetener (like agave syrup or date syrup) to make vegan oatmeal date cookies instead!
Yes! Just make sure to use certified gluten free rolled oats and you’re good to go.
More cookie recipes you’ll love
- Dark Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies
- Molasses Cookies with Candied Ginger
- Rosemary Shortbread
- Lavender Lemon Sandwich Cookies
More fruit and nut based sweets to try
- Chocolate Hazelnut Tahini Babka
- Coconut Granola with Hazelnuts
- Seeded Apricot and Coconut Granola
- Acai Smoothie Bowl
As always, I love seeing your creations and hearing from you! If you try these oatmeal date cookies, please leave a review or share your creation with me on social media! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube and Pinterest - for more delicious recipes sent straight to your inbox, sign up for my newsletter!
Quick and Simple Oatmeal Date Cookies
Equipment
- Bowl
- Spatula
- Tablespoon or Medium Cookie Scoop
- Baking Sheet
Ingredients
- 2 cups (162 g) rolled oats
- 1 cup (120 g) hazelnut flour/meal, or almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (240 g) tahini
- ¼ cup (80 g) maple syrup
- ¼ cup (85 g) honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (147 g) dates, pitted & roughly chopped
- ¼ cup (45 g) dark chocolate, roughly chopped
- flakey salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the rolled oats, hazelnut flour, baking soda, and salt.2 cups rolled oats, 1 cup hazelnut flour/meal, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon salt
- Add the tahini, maple syrup, honey, and vanilla into a separate bowl and whisk to combine.1 cup tahini, ¼ cup maple syrup, ¼ cup honey, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pour over the dry ingredients and mix to form a rather thick dough.
- Fold in the chopped dates and chopped dark chocolate.1 cup dates, ¼ cup dark chocolate
- Scoop the dough into balls or roll by hand. If using clean hands, get them slightly wet so that the dough doesn't stick as easily!
- Arrange cookies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, allowing two inches between each cookie and sprinkle with flakey sea salt. For a flatter, less tall cookie press the dough down gently before baking.flakey salt
- Bake for 10 minutes, watching for the edge to start to brown.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and allow them to cool for 5-10 minutes before enjoying!
Jackie G
Im interestedin healthy recipes. My granddaughter has to eat gluten free and I'm on a cardiac diet.
Cate
Love these cookies! They are healthy as well as delicious!
Emily
So glad to hear that you enjoyed them Cate, thanks for sharing your thoughts!!
Caitlyn
Can you use any nut flour? Walnut or pecan, in place of the hazelnut flour?
Emily
Certainly! I've tested these with pecan flour, hazelnut flour, and almond flour. The key is to make sure that if you are making your own nut flour, the consistency is similar to the typical nut flour you would find at the grocery store - I hope that helps!