Mega Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies
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These mega healthy peanut butter cookies are absolutely LOADED with healthy ingredients! And they taste so good you won’t even notice!
We all need more wheat germ, oat bran, flax seeds, and coconut oil in our lives. What you would call peanut butter cookies that incorporated all of these? Yes, I can well imagine some very unflattering names one could come up with based on this description. But you won’t hear any unflattering ones from me because I TASTED THEM! And let me tell you, not only are these peanut butter cookies mega healthy, they taste fantastic! Honestly, truly.
I wanted to make some extra healthy cookies for my toddler. These cookies were totally experimental and I really wasn’t sure what the end result was going to be. I was so happy when I pulled them out of the oven. And even happier when I tasted them. Instead of butter or vegetable oil, I used coconut oil. Wow! It resulted in a cookie that has an almost melt-in-your-mouth consistency and a freshness that is a.m.a.z.i.n.g.. The wheat germ and wheat bran also helps lighten up the texture, adding a little more “airiness” to the whole wheat. The flavor of the flax seeds is completely camouflaged by the other flavors but adds lots of healthy omega-3’s. These cookies are low in sugar, contain healthy oils, and are bursting with fiber. While not overly sweet, the delicious flavor of the coconut oil more than compensates.
For a ridiculously healthy treat that doesn’t compromise flavor, this cookie is a winner!
Mega Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe
Let’s get started!
Combine all the dry ingredients, except for the peanut butter chips, in a bowl. Set aside.
Beat the coconut oil, honey and peanut butter until combined. Then add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and beat just until combined. Do not over-beat.
Stir in the peanut butter chips.
Put the cookie dough on a nonstick cookie sheet in 1-inch rounds.
Press the cookies down with a fork in criss-cross fashion.
Bake in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes or leave in longer for a firmer cookie.
Enjoy!
And as an aside for all of you peanut fans out there, you absolutely MUST try these Boiled Peanuts, a Southern classic!
Be sure to also try my Mega Healthy Honey Olive Quinoa Cake!
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Mega Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut oil , do not melt it first
- 1/3 cup honey , you can add a little more if you prefer them sweeter
- 1/2 cup natural unsweetened peanut butter
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons wheat germ
- 2 tablespoons oat bran
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
- 1/2 cup peanut butter or chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a medium mixing bowl, cream the solidified coconut oil, honey and peanut butter together until smooth and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for another minute.In another bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir in the wheat germ, oat bran, and flax seeds.Gently stir the flour mixture into the peanut butter mixture, stirring just until combined. If using, stir in the peanut butter or chocolate chips.
- Form the dough into 1-inch balls and place them on a cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Press down on each ball with a fork to create a criss-cross pattern.Bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Hi, I’m Kimberly Killebrew and welcome to Daring Gourmet where you'll find delicious originals, revitalized classics, and simply downright good eats from around the world! Originally from Germany, later raised in England, world-traveled, and now living in the U.S., from my globally-influenced kitchen I invite you to tour the world through your taste buds!
Amazing flavor, though! I’m hoping that they harden up as they cool.
Yes, they’ll harden as they cool but they shouldn’t have turned into a pancake, agh!
These cookies spread out into one big pancake on my cookie sheet! :(. Are you sure the dough shouldn’t be chilled first?
Oh no! Was your coconut oil solid when you used it or liquid (it needs to be the former). I’m not sure why that happened, Amanda, that’s the first time I’ve heard of that happening. No, the dough does not need to be chilled first.
Must these cookies be refrigerated because of the wheat germ and oat bran? If not, what is their shelf-life?
Hi Serena, no they don’t have to be refrigerated and their shelf life is the same as any other homemade cookie – most recommend 2-3 days outside the fridge and up to 2 weeks in the fridge. Much longer frozen.
I just made these – followed the recipe to a tee ‘except’ I used brown rice flour. The cookies came out well formed, really nice and soft, but unfortunately pretty dry on the first batch. Second batch I added a tad bit more coconut oil & peanut butter. They were a bit better, still dry. I’m guessing it’s the brown rice flour – but, I thought it was close to wheat flour in consistency. ~ Thanks for sharing, healthy ingredients!!
Hi Laurie! Well, because of the ingredients that packed in these, they’re not what I’d call “moist” cookies anyway. But absolutely yes, brown rice flour has a way of soaking up moisture like crazy. I just made a batch of cookies the other day using brown rice flour and they were much drier than they are when I make the same cookies with whole wheat flour. Gluten free baking requires other adjustments and unfortunately it isn’t always as simple as making a direct substitution of flour without altering some of the other ingredients as well.
This recipe is amazing! I tweaked it a bit for my kid and I just want to tell you that these cookies are so good! I substituted black-strap molasses for the honey, and used virgin coconut oil, Justin’s Honey-peanut butter, and did 2 TBS ground red flax and 1-1/2 TBS hemp seeds OMG OMG I have to go get wheat and oat bran for the next batch.. but you know!! Big hit over here.. Thank you for sharing!!
AweSOME!! So thrilled to hear that, Jessica, and that your kid ate these! Doesn’t that just make you want to pat yourself on the back? If you haven’t, you need to! Thanks so much for the feedback. Best, Kimberly