Looking for a fun breakfast cookie or tasty afternoon snack? Then these oatmeal chia cookies are the recipe for you! Quick and easy to make in about 30 minutes, they combine nuts, seeds, almond butter and oats for a tempting treat to go with a cozy warm drink.
Do check out my spelt cookies for another fun snack idea!
Cookies are basically mandatory in my house . . . I mean, what is a better treat for a weekend afternoon?! If you're cookie fan too then you may like to see my cardamom oatmeal cookies, coconut macadamia nut cookies and turmeric cookies. All easy to make!
These oatmeal chia seed cookies are so easy to make with pantry staples, with lots of seeds and oats. They work perfectly as a breakfast cookie too!
Love chia everything?! Do check out my cozy warm chia pudding for a fun breakfast!
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⭐ Why this recipe is so good
- Made with pantry staples. Just grab your oats, nuts and seeds - hopefully there's no need to run to the store!
- Egg free and vegan. We use a chia egg to keep these chia cookies vegan, and they can be gluten free using certified gluten free oats.
- Versatile. These cookies are equally delicious as a breakfast cookie or afternoon snack, and for kids and adults alike!
- Easy to make. A simple recipe that comes together in around 30 minutes.
🍪 Ingredients
All the ingredients and their quantities are set out in the recipe card below.
Some notes on a few of them:
- Oats - for these oatmeal chia cookies you want to use rolled oats rather than the very fine quick-cook oats. If you require gluten free oats then look for a certified gluten free brand.
- Chia seeds - you want whole chia seeds, not milled chia.
- Pumpkin seeds and almonds - add such a good crunch to this cookie. Make sure they are unsalted! If almonds don't work for you, then you can use chopped Brazil nuts or macadamia nuts.
- Oat flour - don't worry about buying oat flour, just blend oats in a food processor to make your flour.
- Maple syrup and almond butter - as well as giving lots of flavor, these help bind the cookie together.
- Cinnamon: optional, but gives a lovely flavour if you are able to use it.
📖 Variations to the recipe
Swap almond butter for another nut or seed butter. Macadamia butter should work well, or perhaps pumpkin seed butter (although you'll get slightly green cookies!)
Swap cinnamon for cardamom. Both spices work equally well and are delicious!
🔪 Step by step instructions
Making these oatmeal chia cookies is very simple, with just a few steps and no need for any fancy kitchen equipment.
The full instructions are in the recipe card below, but these photos should help guide you.
Step 1: Combine dry ingredients
Make a chia egg by combining chia seeds and water. Set aside for 10 minutes.
While the chia egg is becoming gelatinous, add the oats, oat flour, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, chopped almonds, cinnamon (or cardamom) and a pinch of salt to a large bowl (image 1).
Step 2: Add the wet ingredients
Stir the dry ingredients, then add in the almond butter, maple syrup and the chia egg (image 2). Stir well so the oats, nuts and seeds are coated in the wet ingredients and are a little sticky in consistency.
Step 3: Shape the cookies
Either use a cookie scoop or your hands (wet them first) to scoop out small amounts of the cookie dough. Roll into a ball and then press into a small cookie shape (image 3).
Step 4: Bake the chia cookies
After adding all your cookies to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes (image 4). Keep an eye on the cookies after 10 minutes for any signs of burning!
💭 Recipe tips and notes
- Stir the mixture well. You want to make sure the oats are well coated in the wet ingredients and the chia egg is dispersed through the 'dough' so the cookies hold together.
- Use measuring cups! Cookies and baking need fairly precise measurements, so I suggest not to guess ingredient amounts.
- Wet your hands. If using your hands to form the cookies, wet them first with water as it helps prevent the cookie dough from sticking to them.
- Handle with care! The cookies will harden as they cool, so transfer them carefully to a wire rack so they don't crumble.
📋 Frequently asked questions
To make gluten free oatmeal chia cookies you need to use certified gluten free oats and oat flour.
No need to purchase oat flour, simply blend regular rolled oats in a food processor for a few seconds!
I think they can be! I would suggest that they have typical breakfast foods such as oats, nuts and seeds. Perhaps make the cookies to be slightly bigger if you're enjoying them as a breakfast cookie.
🍽 How to serve
Cookies are always best served with a cozy drink and snuggled into the couch I think! Some ideas for a caffeine free hot drink:
Nutmeg milk - super simple to make, with the unique flavour of this spice.
Honey ginger warm milk - a cozy caffeine free drink with delicious ginger.
Cardamom milk - makes the most of this tasty spice, and the best sweetness from a dash of honey.
🥣 More tasty cookies
Find lots of tasty cookies here on the site, including the fall favorite pumpkin spice oat cookies. Some recent recipes to have for a fun snack:
I’m always in the kitchen, so come join me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to be the first to hear of new recipes. And please do leave a star rating ⭐ if you've tried the recipe!
📖 Recipe
Oatmeal Chia Cookies
Ingredients
Dry ingredients
- ¾ cup oats gluten free, if required
- ⅛ cup oat flour gluten free, if required
- ¼ cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
- ⅛ cup sliced or chopped almonds
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon optional, or cardamom
- pinch salt
Wet ingredients
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup almond butter
For the chia 'egg'
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- 3.5 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375F / 190C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Make a 'chia egg' by combing the chia seeds and water in a bowl and stirring well. Leave for 5-10 minutes, giving it a stir about halfway through. The mixture should be quite 'gooey' and mostly hold together.
- Add all your 'dry' ingredients to a bowl - the nuts and seeds, oats, flour, cinnamon and salt.
- Add all your 'wet' ingredients - the chia egg, almond butter and maple syrup - to the bowl. Mix very thoroughly until all combined and the dry ingredients are well coated in the almond butter and maple syrup. If it looks too dry, add a touch of maple syrup.
- Either use a cookie scoop or use your hands to form a cookie shape. If doing by hand roll the 'dough' in your hands to form a ball and then once on the baking tray press down slightly with the back of your hand so they form a cookie shape. These don't expand so form into the shape you like.
- Bake for about 12-14 minutes. Keep an eye on them after ten minutes to check they aren't about to burn!
- Transfer to a cooling rack for 5-10 minutes and then enjoy!
Notes
- Stir the ingredients very thoroughly when the almond butter and maple syrup have been added, so the flour and oats are evenly coated.
- Wet your hands before making the cookie shapes to avoid the mixture from sticking to them!
- Watch the cookies in the last few minutes of cook time as they can turn a little fast and burn.
- I haven't tried it yet, but swapping out almond butter for pumpkin seed butter should be good for those who prefer to be nut-free.
- Please note that nutritional information is offered as a courtesy. It is auto-generated and should be understood to be an estimate.
- almonds and almond butter, which score 1.
- cinnamon scores 0 on the SIGHI list, but is rated higher elsewhere. It is optional here.
Sam says
hi! Can I use honey instead of maple syrup? Cant wait to try your recipe btw!
Claire says
I haven't recipe tested it with honey, but I don't see why it wouldn't work well. Let me know how it goes!
Emma says
Love the cardamom instead!
Claire says
Glad you enjoyed the flavors Emma!
Alice says
I used macadamia nuts and macadamia nut butter that I found at Sprouts instead of the almonds and almond butter since macadamia nuts are a 0 on SIGHI. Turned out deliciously perfect after 15 minutes of cooking. A bit crunchy even. Such a great recipe!
Claire says
Lovely to hear you made some swaps that work for you, and you enjoy the cookies!
Tara says
I just made these and they were great! I’ve never made cookies with a chia egg before but the result was a nice consistency. Had a nice chew from the pumpkin seeds and oats as well. Would definitely make again!
throughthefibrofog says
So glad you like them Tara! Chia eggs are great aren't they, such a simple swap from eggs.
Sheryl says
Looking at the pictures is literally making me hungry right now at midnight 😉 Do you do delivery? 😉
throughthefibrofog says
Hmm, I'll look into it!! Singapore is a fair way though . . . 🙂
Katie Clark says
I thoroughly love your explanation of how to make these. They sound like something I would love. I've made a breakfast cookie like this before but with bananas as the main sweetener and binder. I want to try with the almond butter.
throughthefibrofog says
Hope you like them if you try them out! I can't eat banana unfortunately so almond butter and maple syrup is a great substitute.
Shruti Chopra says
Claire... I love your 'top tips' - especially: "Combine really, really well. You definitely don’t want to take a bite and have a clump of flour or oats!" .... I can't remember what I was attempting recently and realised how I didn't combine things well enough AFTER I tasted it! 😀 ...lesson learnt.
This looks like another one of your amazing recipes. I was wondering, would regular butter work instead of almond butter? Even though I'm trying to stay away from dairy - I am finding that I'm consuming a lot of almond related stuff that is making me feel heavy (not sure if I'm making sense), so was thinking out loud of other butter options... I know you've mentioned pumpkin seed butter but I sadly can't have too much of pumpkin seeds either.
throughthefibrofog says
Hi Shruti! Glad you like my silly tips! I always try and think about what I would do wrong, and then give a way of avoiding it. I've definitely not combined ingredients enough before too!
I'm not sure about the butter idea to be honest. You need something quite sticky, which nut or seed butter is. I've seen similar recipes use mashed banana and a date, but they do also have a tsp of almond butter (although that may be more about flavour). Let me know how you get on if you try it! 🙂