Oil-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (Maple Sweetened)

These healthy, oil-free oatmeal raisin cookies are sweetened with maple syrup and feature chai spices and whole spelt flour. They’re healthy enough to enjoy for breakfast or a snack, but delicious enough for dessert. 

Have you begun any holiday baking yet? My mom and I always had a tradition of baking a couple of Christmas treats every weekend leading up to Christmas, storing them in our big basement freezer, and enjoying them all month long. The past few years, we haven’t done as much festive baking, but I think I will try to whip up a few special things over the next few weekends, since this will be my last Christmas with my family in Ottawa for awhile! 

These are my (and my dad’s) favourite cookies to date. I am slightly obsessed with them… as in, I haven’t been making much else for dessert (aside from my peanut butter brownies, which are coming oh so soon!). They’re oil-free, sweetened with maple syrup, and feature spelt flour and warm chai spice. Paired with a warm drink, they make a perfect afternoon energizer. They’re technically healthy enough to enjoy for breakfast, and are just as delightful for dessert. They’re chewy rather than crunchy, but not so soft that they fall apart. This recipe calls for an egg, but for a vegan version, I’m sure that you could sub a flax egg (1 tablespoon of ground flax mixed with 2.5 tablespoons of water), or 2 tablespoons of pumpkin puree or applesauce! 

I have nothing against quality oils and even grass-fed organic butter, but nut and seed butters often do a beautiful job at replacing it in dessert recipes! And as an added bonus, nuts and seeds are packed with a variety of minerals as well as healthy fats, while oils are mainly just a source of fat. In this recipe, I’ve used tahini, but I know that these oil-free cookies will also turn out beautifully with almond butter and sunflower seed butter. Just know that if you use sunflower seed butter, your cookies will have a green tinge on the inside once baked! 

INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED

• Tahini, egg, maple syrup, non-dairy milk, vanilla extract, chai spice, baking soda, sea salt, rolled oats, spelt flour, and raisins. 

STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. 
2. Whisk together the tahini, egg, maple syrup, vanilla, and milk in a large bowl. Sprinkle in the chai spice, baking soda, and salt; stir to combine. 
3. Stir in the rolled oats and flour. Add the raisins. 
4. The dough should be on the soft side, but you should still be able to form it into balls. If it is too dry, add a splash more milk; if it is too wet, add a little bit more flour. 
5. Roll the dough into 20 balls and place them on the prepared baking sheets, leaving a bit of space in between each. Press down with a lightly wet fork or damp hands. It’s really important to press them down; otherwise, they won’t spread out! 
6. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. (I actually bake them one pan at a time because my oven is quite finicky and doesn’t bake cookies nicely when both shelves are being used.) The cookies are ready when they come off of the parchment easily and the bottoms are lightly browned. 

MORE OIL-FREE TREATS

• Vegan + Gluten-Free Chunky Monkey Muffins
• Oil-Free Vegan Banana Bread
• Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Blondies

I hope you love these oil-free oatmeal raisin cookies! If you make them, let me know how they turned out for you by leaving a comment and rating below the post! And if you share a photo to Instagram, tag it @upbeet.kitchen and #upbeetkitchen. I love seeing what you’ve made. 🙂 

Enjoy! 

Oil-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (Maple Sweetened)

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★★★★★

5 from 4 reviews

• Author: Allison
• Total Time: 22 minutes
• Yield: 20 cookies 1x
• Diet: Vegetarian

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Description

Amazing, chewy oil-free oatmeal raisin cookies made with wholesome spelt flour and maple syrup.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 cup runny tahini (may sub any nut or seed butter- see note)
• 1 large organic egg
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ cup non-dairy milk
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 teaspoons chai spice (homemade or store-bought)
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 ¼ cups spelt flour
• ½ cup raisins

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together the tahini, egg, maple syrup, vanilla, and milk in a large bowl. Sprinkle in the chai spice, baking soda, and salt; stir to combine.
3. Stir in the rolled oats and flour. Add the raisins.
4. The dough should be on the soft side, but you should still be able to form it into balls. If it is too dry, add a splash more milk; if it is too wet, add a little bit more flour.
5. With damp hands, roll the dough into 20 balls and place them on the prepared baking sheets, leaving a bit of space in between each. Press down with a lightly wet fork or damp hands. It’s really important to press them down; otherwise, they won’t spread out!
6. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. (I actually bake them one pan at a time because my oven is quite finicky and doesn’t bake cookies nicely when both shelves are being used.) The cookies are ready when they come off of the parchment easily and the bottoms are lightly browned.

Notes

The tahini flavour comes through quite a bit in these cookies, so if you don’t love tahini, I highly recommend using almond butter or cashew butter instead! Another fun variation on these cookies is to use peanut butter and chocolate chips in place of the tahini and raisins. (That would be my favourite.)

You can actually make these cookies gluten-free by subbing oat flour for spelt flour. Omit the non-dairy milk, however, since oat flour is more moist. The cookies are softer, but still delicious!

For a vegan cookie, you can try using a flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax mixed with 2.5 tablespoon water), or 2 tablespoon of applesauce or pumpkin.

Feel free to use any dried fruit you like if raisins aren’t your cup of tea. Cranberries, cherries, and chopped figs and apricots are all good!

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 12 minutes
• Category: Dessert

Keywords: oil-free oatmeal raisin cookies

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