Almond Flour Oatmeal Cookies

Almond Flour Oatmeal Cookies are crispy, chewy, and generously studded with chocolate chips. Gluten-free, and delicious as dessert or afternoon snack!

I love baking with almond flour in all kinds of sweet recipes, but I’d never tried pairing almond flour with oats until recently. Turns out it’s a really lovely match. These Almond Flour Oatmeal Cookies have a warm, nutty flavor enhanced by a generous amount of chocolate chips. They’re crispy and chewy, and with the ground almonds and oats in there, I don’t feel bad offering these up as an after-school snack to the kiddos. 

Best of all, these cookies are so easy to make. You only need one bowl, and a big wooden spoon to stir. The dough does benefit from 20 minutes of chilling in the refrigerator, but then you’re ready to bake. And you know how they say you should always have freshly baked chocolate chip cookies during an open house since they smell so fantastic in your kitchen? Well, personally, I think the chocolatey, nutty, cinnamon-y smell of these is even better. 

How Do You Make Almond Flour Oatmeal Cookies?

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Line one or more baking sheets with parchment paper.

You will need 1 stick of butter. Make sure it is quite soft—if not, pop in the microwave for a few seconds to soften.

In a large bowl, mix together butter, ½ cup packed brown sugar, and ¼ cup granulated sugar with a wooden spoon until well-combined.

Add 1 egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and stir again.

Then, stir in 1 ¾ cups of almond flour, 1 ½ cups of rolled oats, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, and ½ teaspoon kosher salt.

When fully combined, stir in 1 cup of chocolate chips.

Chill dough in refrigerator for 20-30 minutes. 

Scoop out one generous tablespoon of filling at a time, and roll with your hands to make a ball. Using a cookie scoop like this makes this super easy.

Place cookie balls on the parchment paper-lined baking sheet a couple of inches apart.

Bake for 15-18 min, until you can smell them, and they are lightly browned on top.

Put the cookie sheet on a cooling rack and let sit for 3 minutes to let cookies firm up. Then remove cookies and place directly on cooling rack. 

Note: cookie dough can rest in the fridge for up to 24 hours before baking, either in a bowl or already scooped into cookie balls. 

Ingredient Notes for Almond Flour Oatmeal Cookies

• Brown Sugar: You can use light brown sugar or dark brown sugar for this recipe, or a combination of the two. Dark brown sugar will give you more of a molasses flavor in your cookies. 
• Ground Cinnamon: You can leave this out if you don’t have it, or you can add a ¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg instead. You could also replace the cinnamon with ground cardamom, for a slightly different, but equally delicious, flavor!
• Old-Fashioned Oats: Old-fashioned oats are also called rolled oats. I like the texture you get with old-fashioned oats, but you can replace the oats with instant. That said, instant oats absorb more liquid and bake into a softer texture. Conversely, if you substitute steel cut oats, you may get a coarser texture that isn’t as appealing. Also, make sure that if you are looking for a gluten-free recipe, you confirm that your oats are certified gluten-free. 
• Chocolate Chips: I used mini chocolate chips in this recipe because I couldn’t find regular-sized ones (that’s Paris for you). So I actually used a bit less than 1 cup, but if you have regular-sized chocolate chips, use a full cup. Also, if you must, you can replace the chocolate chips with raisins. Not my jam, but I offer it up since some people love a good oatmeal raisin cookie. 
• Other Add-ins: You can also stir in dried fruit, such as dried cranberries or add in butterscotch or white chocolate chips. You can also add chopped nuts or coconut flakes. 

How to Store Almond Flour Cookies

Because there is more moisture and fat in almond flour than in regular flour, cookies made with almond flour will last longer than traditional flour cookies. They easily keep at room temperature in an airtight container for 5 days. You can also freeze baked cookies for up to 3 months, sealed in a freezer bag or airtight container. Just make sure cookies are fully cooled before putting them in the freezer. 

Can you freeze cookie balls?

Yes, these cookies are delicious when baked from frozen. Follow the directions through the step of rolling the dough into balls, then put the cookie balls on a parchment- or wax paper-lined plate in the freezer to firm up. Once they are hard, you can move cookie balls into a freezer-safe ziplock bag or other freezer-safe container. Then take out the number of cookie balls you need when you want to bake them. Baking straight from frozen will add another couple of minutes to your baking time. Cookies will last in the freezer for about 3 months. 

Almond Flour Nutrition Facts

Almond flour, since it is made just from raw almonds, is quite healthy for you. Almonds are low in carbs and high in fiber, protein, manganese, magnesium, and Vitamin E. They are also high in omega-3 fatty acids. Adding almond flour to a recipe adds fat, which adds richness to a recipe and can extend the shelf life of your baked goods. 

Almond Meal vs. Almond Flour

Almond meal and almond flour are terms used for the same thing—both mean finely ground almonds. The majority of almond flour products are made by finely grinding blanched almonds (almonds where the skins have been removed). Almond meal can mean finely ground blanched or unblanched almonds, and almond meal may be a coarser grind than almond flour.

How to Make Almond Flour

You can easily make your own almond flour with the help of a food processor. Just take a quantity of blanched almonds (you can often find these as blanched, slivered almonds in the grocery store) and blitz in a food processor until they are finely ground. Just make sure you stop as soon as you see the texture you want—if you grind for too long, your almond flour will turn into almond butter. 

What else can you use almond flour for?

Almond flour is used in many French desserts—try making macarons or making a frangipane base for a tart. You can also use almond flour as a replacement for all-purpose flour (or for some of the flour) in regular cake or cookie recipes as in my Almond Flour Chocolate Cake, French Yogurt Cake with Almonds, and Apple Almond Cake. You can also use it in crêpes as in my Gluten-Free Crêpes with Almond Flour. Almond meal can also make a delicious crumble topping for a fruit crisp, crumble, or tart when mixed with flour, sugar, and butter.

Finally, you can replace breadcrumbs with almond flour when you are making breaded chicken or fish—though almond flour will burn more quickly than traditional breadcrumbs. For more information about substituting some almond flour in your baking recipes, consult this almond flour baking guide from King Arthur Flour. It’s a great resource that shows you exactly how different kinds of recipes react to almond flour.

Can you freeze almond flour?

Yes! And since almond flour is expensive both to buy and to make, you should definitely freeze any leftovers for your next batch. According to Bob’s Red Mill, you can even freeze almond flour for 4-5 months after its sell by date, as long as you keep it in an airtight container. You can also keep it in the fridge if you prefer, and in fact, if you are planning to store almond flour for over a few weeks, you should keep it in the refrigerator or freezer. Almond flour (and other nut flours) can turn rancid more quickly than traditional flour. 

Other Almond Flour Recipes

If you enjoyed this Almond Flour Oatmeal Cookies recipe, you might also want to check out my Almond Flour Chocolate Cookies and my Almond Flour Peanut Butter Cookies. You can use almond flour for muffins too, as in my Lemony Almond Flour Muffins! 

If you’re looking for other delicious desserts, don’t miss my Ultimate Blondies with Chocolate Chips, my Puff Pastry Cinnamon Rolls with Apple, my Peach Blueberry Crisp, and my Cherry Danish with Puff Pastry.