This sugar free oatmeal cookies recipe is sweet from the mashed bananas and chocolate chips with a soft texture. The sugar intake has been reduced in these classic oatmeal cookies, highlighting the natural flavor of the bananas. Only 5 ingredients!
If you love more chocolate chip cookies try our family's favorite Oatmeal Banana Cookies, decadent Italian Ricotta Cookies, and double Chocolate M&Ms Cookies next.
And these sugar free oatmeal cookies are one of my greatest creations so far.
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Why We Love It
- Since these scrumptious cookies don't call for flour, they can be enjoyed as keto oatmeal cookies for anyone looking to reduce net carbs from their nutritional daily values.
- No fuss baking - Only 5 ingredients and 12 minutes to bake.
- The best breakfast cookie or a healthy snack that is ready in minutes. These freeze beautifully too!
No Sugar Added Oatmeal Cookies
These are not the type of sugar-free cookies where you add a bunch of maple syrup, honey, or artificial sweeteners to compensate for the sweetness.
On the contrary, these healthy flourless sugar-free oatmeal cookies are made with natural ingredients.
We add bananas for naturally sweet flavor along with chocolate chips which are optional here or can be substituted with naturally sweet raisins.
For the healthier and basic cookies, you’ll only need 4 ingredients.
If you like raisins, try our moist Cinnamon Banana Bread (with raisins) and Oatmeal Raisin Cookies next time.
A great way to use that leftover ripened banana full of black spots. It has been years since I learned the trick to preserve old bananas by freezing them whole. All you need to do after freezing is defrost them and use them in your favorite cookies, bread and pies.
Ingredients
- Bananas - These flourless cookies have no white sugar, brown sugar or any type of other refined sugar. Bananas are great for naturally adding sweetness to your baking goods. You’ll need about 2 large bananas that are overripe and mashed.
- Peanut butter - I’ve used creamy peanut butter, but you could use crunchy peanut butter instead. I prefer commercial peanut butter, as natural peanut butter can create dry cookies if you haven’t taken the time to mix the oil back into the peanut butter before combining it with the rest of the ingredients. Take care to check the ingredient labels and use unsweetened and unsalted peanut butter for a healthier option.
- Vanilla extract - Use high-quality pure vanilla extract. And yes, it matters.
- Oats - Old-fashioned oats are preferred for these cookies, but you can use quick oats, too, when in a pinch. I like to use Bob's Red Mill or Quaker oats here.
- Chocolate chips - You can use semi-sweet chocolate chips, dark, milk or white chocolate chips. Increase the chips to ¾ cup for extra chocolate indulgence! Raisins can be used instead of chocolate chips to make these cookies.
For the full list of ingredients, please scroll down where you'll find the recipe card.
If you don’t like cookies being chunky - use oat flour instead. And you can make your own oat flour at home in 2 easy steps. Take your favorite rolled oats and using a food processor or coffee/spice grinder pulse until oats turn into a fine powder. That’s it!
Instructions
How to make sugar free oatmeal cookies from scratch:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a large bowl add mashed bananas, peanut butter, vanilla, and oats.
Mix well with an electric mixer, stand mixer, or food processor on low speed until combined.
Fold in chocolate chips.
Prepare a small bowl with warm water. Dip your hands in water and shape 15 balls, about the (size of a walnut).
Line a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Spread the cookie balls in a single layer on the cookie sheet leaving about 1 ½ inches in between each cookie dough ball.
Gently press down the cookies to flatten them and shape (these cookies won't spread as much during baking).
Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove and allow the cookies to cool on a cooling rack.
Store in an airtight container refrigerated for up to 5 days. Let it come to room temperature before eating.
You can also freeze these for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight and let it come to room temperature.
Tips
- I’ve rolled these cookies to the size of a walnut, but you can adjust the size for larger cookies which will then require an extra minute to bake.
- Use a cookie scoop to create uniform-sized cookies.
- I wet my hands before rolling the cookie dough, which helps to prevent the dough from sticking to hands.
- Don’t leave these cookies out for long at room temperature, as they have bananas in them. To reduce the sticky texture, you could also chill the cookie dough before rolling it.
- For a more healthy oatmeal cookie leave the chocolate chips out.
- You can easily double the ingredients to make an extra batch of oatmeal cookies and store them in the freezer to enjoy whenever you like.
- If you use natural peanut butter in this recipe, mix any oil that has settled at the top of the peanut butter jar back into the rest of the peanut butter. If you don’t do that, the natural peanut butter will be dry and can cause crumbly cookies. This being said, not all natural peanut butters have the same consistency.
- You can add natural sugar alternatives if you want sweeter-tasting cookies, such as maple syrup, maltitol syrup, stevia, applesauce (just a bit in addition) or monk fruit.
- These cookies will become firmer as they cool. I like to warm up the cookies in microwave or low temp warm oven, just to make them more softer.
- For more natural sweet additions consider adding finely chopped dates or pureed dates (tastes better than caramel!), raisins.
- Flavor to sweet? If you making the batter and after tasting it the cookie dough seems too sweet add in chopped cranberries, as their tartness will balance the sweetness pretty well. Or you can also omit the chocolate chips.
- I don't recommend adding more salt as this will intensify all the flavors, including the sweetness.
Peanut butter and mashed bananas are essential in this recipe as these wet ingredients act as a binding agent. They are important since this recipe doesn't call for an egg, vegetable oil, or milk.
How Do These Cookies Taste?
The flavor is sweet but not overpowering and these taste less sweet than my chocolatey M&M cookies.
The texture is moist and chewy and a little chunky if using rolled oats.
These oatmeal cookies should come out soft but not soft like for example Ricotta Cookies.
For smoother cookies, you can use quick oats or use a spice or coffee grinder to break down the old-fashioned oats to your liking.
Are Sugar free oatmeal cookies good for you?
These delicious oatmeal cookies are suitable for many diets and people with food intolerances. These cookies are:
- Healthy
- No wheat flour
- Easy
- Eggless
- No flour cookies
- Dairy-free
- Refined sugar-free
- They are also naturally gluten-free and mostly healthy if you use the best quality ingredients and we only need 4 here not counting the chocolate as this is optional. If you follow gluten free diet, check the oats for a GF certified labels.
Freezing and Storing Instructions
Store in an airtight container refrigerated for up to 5 days.
Let the cookies come to room temperature before eating.
You can also freeze these for up to 3 months.
Defrost in the fridge overnight and let it come to room temperature.
Variations and Substitutions
- Swap the vanilla extract to the almond extract for some delicious nutty flavor.
- Shredded coconut or coconut flakes will add tons of new flavors.
- Turn these cookies into oatmeal raisin cookies by adding about ½ cup of raisins.
- Lemon, lime, or orange zest is a classic flavor enhancer for any cookie. And great for a fresh aroma.
- Mix-Ins - Swap the chocolate chips for more naturally sweet ingredients such as raisins or dried fruit. Dried cranberries will work too. Chopped nuts such as hazelnuts, sliced almonds or almond flakes, peanuts, walnuts or pecans will work best here.
- Banana puree can be substituted with pumpkin puree or sweet potato. In the end, this is what gives the cookies their naturally sweet taste.
- To make the cookies more flavorful add a pinch of salt to the cookie dough.
- Peanut butter can be substituted to chocolate peanut butter or almond butter.
- Make these cookies a complete nutrient powerhouse by adding a mix of nuts and seeds - flaxseeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds (pepitas), and sunflower seeds. Goji berries are one of my favorites to add to cookies too.
- Use oat flour - for smoother cookies, grind those rolled oats into a fine powder with a spice/coffee bean grinder or use a food processor.
- Make it vegan-friendly - use dairy-free chocolate chips to make vegan oatmeal cookies.
- If you feel you need more sweetness or bananas are not ripe enough (lots of sweet flavors come from bananas), then you can add liquid sweeteners: honey, maple syrup, or agave syrup. You only need a little, and you can easily taste the cookie dough as all the ingredients are edible in their raw and unbaked form.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! Oatmeal and peanut butter are a healthy and delicious combination, balancing carbs, fat, and protein in these breakfast cookies!
Peanut butter brands vary, be sure to use a creamy variety and check that it doesn't have any unnecessary additives.
There are roughly 21 grams of carbs in a single sugar-free oatmeal cookie. This can differ from recipe to recipe depending on the ingredients called for.
Since these low-carb cookies don't use all-purpose flour, wheat flour, or refined sugar, it makes to add to a keto daily diet.
These oatmeal cookies are loaded with fiber and a good amount of healthy protein from the old-fashioned oats.
With that said, these oatmeal cookies still contain additional ingredients such as chocolate chips and peanut butter which regular oatmeal wouldn’t, making the cookies more of a treat which is why moderation is important.
Sugar-free cookies that don’t include regular sugar make the perfect diabetic oatmeal cookies for those with Diabetes since they won’t spike a person’s blood sugar levels.
You should, however, check that the other ingredients in this keto oatmeal cookie recipe, such as chocolate chips, are also Diabetes-friendly.
These cookies are not meant to be chewy because they contain 0 refined sugar which is the ingredient that makes the cookies chewy during baking.
Thank you so much for reading about these sugar-free oatmeal cookies. Please feel free to comment with any questions you may have! I love reading your feedback.
Rita
Easy Baking Recipes
Craving more healthy baking recipes? Try our Cottage Cheese Cookies and Carrot Cake Muffins.
Take a look at our Baking archives to find even more tasty treats.
Did you make this recipe? Please be sure to leave a rating and a comment below. Thank you!
📖Recipe
Best Sugar Free Oatmeal Cookies With Peanut Butter
Ingredients
- 2 large overripe bananas mashed
- ⅓ cup peanut butter creamy
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¾ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- ¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a large bowl add mashed bananas, peanut butter, vanilla, and oats. Mix well with an electric mixer, stand mixer, hand mixer, or food processor on low speed until combined.
- Fold in chocolate chips.
- Prepare a small bowl with warm water. Dip your hands in water and shape 15 balls, about the (size of a walnut).
- Line a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread the cookie balls in a single layer on the cookie sheet leaving about 1 ½ inches in between each cookie dough ball. Gently press down the cookies to flatten them and shape (these cookies won't spread as much during baking).
- Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove and allow the cookies to cool on a cooling rack.
- Store in an airtight container refrigerated for up to 5 days. Let it come to room temperature before eating. You can also freeze these for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight and let it come to room temperature.
Notes
- I wet my hands before rolling the cookie dough, which helps to prevent the dough from sticking to my hands.
- Don’t leave these cookies out for long at room temperature, as they have bananas in the cookie dough. To reduce the sticky texture, you could also chill the cookie dough before rolling it.
- For a more healthy cookie leave the chocolate chips out.
- You can easily double the ingredients to make an extra batch of oatmeal cookies and store them in the freezer to enjoy whenever you like.
- These cookies will become firmer as they cool. I like to warm up the cookies in the microwave or low temp warm oven, just to make them softer.
- These cookies should be stored at room temperature in an airtight for up to a week. You can even freeze the cookies for a couple of months.
- Why are my sugar-free cookies not soft and chewy?
These cookies are not meant to be chewy because they contain 0 refined sugar which is the ingredient that makes the cookies chewy during baking.
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Delicious nutty oatmeal cookies without the flour or sugar!
How many calories per cookie? What's the serving size?
apologies Maribel, I am working on adding nutritional value to the recipe card in near future.
Hey I'm wanting to try this recipe. Have you calculated the nutritional information?
it's about 95 calories per cookie
I entered the recipe on my fitness pal, minus the chocolate as I can't eat it. It was 61 calories per serving.
So easy and delicious. A great use of those bananas just hanging out! Yes, I will most certainly make these cookies again.
thank you Dee!
Absolutely delicious. I'm prediabetic and been looking for a recipe that hits the sweet spot. I added in 72% dark chocolate chips and walnuts into half the batch also. I like that they can be frozen to make the treat last longer.
Thank you for the recipe
thank you so much, for peanut butter use unsweetened one if you're prediabetic.
I appreciate the recipe you made! I am going to attempt to give constructive feedback here. I followed the recipe, and then chilled the dough for 24 hours. Then made 1.5 inch diameter balls and spread them about 1 inch apart. I then cooked them at 360 degrees for 20 minutes, and the cookies stayed in their dough shape. Were these cookies supposed to spread on their own, or were we supposed to flatten them first? I’m wondering what your thoughts are. Thanks!
Hi Benjamin, these cookies don't have dairy butter so they won't spread as such. You have to gently press to flatten them. Thanks for noticing and I have adjusted the recipe with more clear instructions.
Didn't state the calorie content, carb percentage, protein percentage or the like.
I think that is necessary.
Thank for thinking health first.
thank you Joseph, nutrition is coming!
I've been making them in my airfryer. Mine has racks just like the oven. Actually like them better in airfryer, they get brown, and are soooo good!
interesting! How long and what temperature do you use for your air fryer?
Thank you for this delicious recipe. Do you know the nutritional facts?
coming soon!
What do you mean no sugar, they have chocolate chips in them!
I used natural peanut butter with no fillers and sugar free chocolate chips (there are quite a few brands that have these!)
Plz post the nutritional info with your recipes
I'm just one who bakes, creates recipes etc. After reading comments/review with the constant barrage of demands for nutritional value, which I get the way society is with the numerous types of diets, etc. But allow the person time to add values as we never know whats going on in someones life. Personally I would feel to know if others enjoyed recipe enough to make the work of research adding values. So allow this person to hear about flavurs, texture, ease in making, etc. and have some patience. A cookie is a cookie, Hello! Do the work and create a recipe that suits you. My dilemma is that no one clearly understands how difficult it is to break it down, and the pressure placed on the creator for recipe is over the top. Enjoy it for the fact that its sugar free, vegan, etc. Does anyone appreciate the cookie? Only 1 comment of inspiration to the creator they enjoyed it & will make again. 👏 I will be making them this weekend but if your worried so much about carbs, GO WITHOUT! There are countless fruits & vegetables high in carbs you'd need to cut out too. Body needs them for energy and enjoying this food before bed or a dessert in evenings will cause another disurbance with sleep. I had to speak up on this subject so take it as you may choose. I read comments on recipes and these type of comments are getting boring. Take a calculater, look up values of each ingredient and divide by how many your making. Ok? If you want to cheat & enjoy a treat then get out and walk more steps!
thank you so much Taz for this! Adding a nutritional calculator to recipes is not a cheap thing and it actually cost money, just like running this blog. I appreciate YOU. And meanwhile, everyone can use a simple online nutritional calculator like this - https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Would like to know the calorie intake, carb amount and protein amount in each cookie.
apologies Paula, I am working on adding nutritional value to the recipe card in near future. For now, you can use this simple online calculator: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
What is the estimated nutritional breakdown per cookie, I.e. carbs,protein,fiber?
apologies Cindy, I am working on adding nutrition value to the recipe card in near future. For now, I like to use this online calculator: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Ok, I just finished these cookies and felt they are very good. These actually could be eaten as a pre-workout snack for energy to get those muscles moving. Thank you Rita as it was my first time using a recipe from you and am eager to try some more of your recipes.
thank you so much Taz!