Healthy Peanut Butter Sour Cherry Oatmeal Cookies
These thick and chewy peanut butter oatmeal cookies have beautifully golden, slightly caramelized edges, soft centers, creamy sugar-free white chocolate pockets and a generous swirl of tart homemade sour cherry filling. The combination has that familiar peanut butter and jam feeling, but with a brighter sweet and sour cherry flavor. Made with rolled oats and almond flour, they are an easy gluten-free, refined sugar-free cookie that is delicious for breakfast, snacking or dessert.
Ingredients
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies
- 1 large egg 50 g
- ¼ cup Natural peanut butter 64 g
- 3 tbsp olive oil 39 g
- 1 ½ tbsp maple syrup or Sugar-free maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup + 3 tbsp rolled oats 108 g
- ¼ cup almond flour 28 g
- ¼ cup + 2 tbp coconut sugar about 68 g, or 1/4 cup golden monk fruit sweetener for a sugar-free option
- 1½ tbsp ground flaxseed about 10 g
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- Pinch of salt
- ¼ cup sugar-free white chocolate chips about 43 g
- 1/2 cup prepared thick sour cherry filling
Homemade Sour Cherry Filling
- 1 1/2 cup frozen sour cherries about 190g
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1/2 cup granulated monk fruit sweetener or sweetener of choice about 96 to 100 g or to taste if like it sweeter add more
- 1 to 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp arrowroot flour
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
Make the sour cherry filling
Add the frozen sour cherries, monk fruit sweetener, honey, lemon juice and a pinch of salt to a small saucepan.Cook over medium heat until the cherries soften and release their juices. Keep some of the cherries whole or in large pieces rather than breaking everything down into a smooth sauce.Mix the arrowroot flour with a small splash of cold water until smooth, then stir it into the cherries.Cook for only 1 to 2 minutes, stirring gently, until the cherry juices thicken and become glossy. Do not continue cooking the arrowroot for too long.As soon as the filling has thickened, remove it from the heat and transfer it to a small bowl. Let it cool completely before adding it to the cookie dough.Preheat the oven
Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F).Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.Mix the wet ingredients
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, peanut butter, olive oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract until smooth and well combined.Add the dry ingredients
Add the rolled oats, almond flour, coconut sugar, ground flaxseed, baking powder, cinnamon and salt directly over the wet mixture.Stir until everything is evenly combined and you have a thick oatmeal cookie dough.Add the white chocolate
Fold in the sugar-free white chocolate chips until evenly distributed throughout the dough.Add the sour cherry filling
Spoon 1/2 cup of the cooled sour cherry filling in several small dollops over the cookie dough.For the best texture, scoop up mostly cherry pieces with just enough of the thickened cherry juice to coat them. Avoid adding too much liquid, as this can make the cookie dough too wet.Do not completely stir the sour cherry filling into the dough. Leave it in visible pockets and give the dough only a very gentle fold if needed. This creates the beautiful cherry swirls and pockets you can see throughout the baked cookies.Scoop the cookies
Using a large cookie scoop or about 3 tablespoons of dough per cookie, scoop the dough straight through the cherry pockets and divide it into 8 large cookies.Place them onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving space between each cookie.Keep the cookies fairly thick rather than flattening them. If a scoop does not have many cherries showing on top, add a couple of cherry pieces from the filling, using as little extra liquid as possible.Bake
Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, or until the edges are deeply golden and slightly caramelized and the centers look set but remain soft.The cookies will still be tender when they first come out of the oven, so avoid overbaking them.Cool
Leave the cookies on the baking sheet for about 10 to 15 minutes to firm up.Then transfer them carefully to a wire rack to cool further.
Notes
- Use more fruit than liquid: This is especially important for these cookies. The sour cherry filling should be thick, and when measuring the 1/2 cup for the dough, use plenty of cherry pieces with only a little of the glossy cherry juice. Too much liquid can change the texture of the cookies.
- Do not fully mix in the cherries: Leaving the sour cherry filling in dollops creates the beautiful pockets and swirls you have in your photos. Fully mixing it through would make the dough wetter and you would lose that contrast.
- Blueberry option: You can also use your thick blueberry sauce. Scoop out mostly blueberries and only a small amount of sauce so the cookie dough stays thick.
- Arrowroot flour: Add it toward the end of cooking and cook for only 1 to 2 minutes, just until thickened. Once thick, remove the filling from the heat.
- Gluten-free: Use certified gluten-free rolled oats if needed.
- Sweetener option: You can replace the coconut sugar with 1/4 cup granulated golden monk fruit sweetener or another sugar-free granulated sweetener you like.
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Peanut butter: I use my homemade 100% natural peanut butter made only from roasted peanuts. You can use store-bought natural peanut butter too, just make sure it is well stirred before measuring.
- Cooling matters: These large oatmeal cookies are soft when hot. Letting them rest on the baking sheet helps the centers set while keeping them moist and chewy.
Nutrition Facts per Serving
Nutrition per serving: 1 of 8 extra-large cookies, Calories: 270 kcal, Protein: 6 g, Carbohydrate: 31 g, Net Carb: 26 g, Sugars: 17 g, Fat: 15 g, Saturated Fat: 3 g, Fiber: 5 g, Sodium: 70 mg, Calcium: 45 mgNutrition Facts Notes
✔️ Whole-grain oats and fiber: Rolled oats provide whole-grain carbohydrates and beta-glucan soluble fiber, while flaxseed, almond flour, peanut butter and sour cherries contribute additional fiber. Each extra-large cookie provides approximately 5 g of fiber. ✔️ Protein: Peanut butter, rolled oats, almond flour, flaxseed and egg contribute approximately 6 g of protein per cookie. ✔️ Made with 100% natural peanut butter: I use my homemade peanut butter made only from roasted peanuts, with no added sugar, oil or preservatives. ✔️ Refined sugar-free: These cookies are made without refined white sugar. Coconut sugar and maple syrup, or sugar-free maple syrup, provide sweetness in the cookie dough, while monk fruit sweetener and sugar-free white chocolate chips help reduce the use of conventional refined sugar. ✔️ Healthy fats: Peanut butter, olive oil, almond flour and flaxseed provide predominantly unsaturated fats. Flaxseed also contributes ALA, a plant-based omega-3 fatty acid. ✔️ Sour cherry goodness: Sour cherries naturally contain anthocyanins and other polyphenols, the plant compounds responsible for their deep red color and antioxidant activity. ✔️ Gluten-free: For strictly gluten-free cookies, use certified gluten-free rolled oats and check that your baking powder, white chocolate chips and other packaged ingredients are also certified or labeled gluten-free. ✔️ A substantial cookie: These are intentionally extra-large cookies. One cookie makes a satisfying serving for breakfast, an afternoon snack or dessert, especially when paired with something protein-rich such as plain Greek yogurt.
Nutrition Disclaimer:
Nutrition values are estimates and will vary depending on the brands of maple syrup, monk fruit sweetener, sugar-free white chocolate chips and peanut butter used. Alternative sweeteners can also affect how total carbohydrates, fiber, sugar alcohols and net carbohydrates are reported. Calculations are based on 8 extra-large cookies and prepared sour cherry filling, using mostly cherries with only a small amount of the thickened cherry liquid.
