After I made these lighter cinnamon chip scones, I was left with a couple of bags of these irresistible chips. I began to brainstorm what would work out well with the cinnamon flavor, and I immediately thought of oatmeal cookies. I have this recipe that I have made from Sally’s Bake Blog that I decided to adapt to make more macro-friendly. These cinnamon chip oatmeal cookies turned out pretty irresistible, and I don’t think anyone would guess they are a little more balanced than most cookies!
The Swaps
I’ll be honest, I am always a little hesitant to make a cookie macro-friendly. Part of what makes cookies so amazing is their buttery flavor! So, I still knew I had to include some butter in this recipe. To cut down on the fat, though, I decided to replace half of the butter with unsweetened applesauce. And it turned out great! You can taste the applesauce a bit, but it blends in very well with the rest of the spicy flavors in this cookie.
Next, I decided to swap out the flour, baking powder, and salt for something a little more macro-friendly. My immediate thought was to use Kodiak Cakes because they contain a good dose of protein. This pancake mix worked out perfectly in place of those ingredients.
Now onto the most important part: the cinnamon chips! They are a little bit harder to find than regular chocolate chips, but they have a great spicy flavor that makes them perfect for this time of the year. I found mine at my local Smart and Final, but you can also order them from Amazon in a pinch. Of course, you can substitute your favorite chocolate chip of choice, too!
The last change I made to her original recipe is that I made it a smaller batch. I like to make smaller batch cookies just so we don’t have a lot of excess cookies lying around. It is also nice when you are recipe testing to have a smaller batch just in case it doesn’t turn out. HA! This batch made 18 cookies, which still isn’t that small. If you want to have more cookies, feel free to double or triple the ingredients.
We were so happy with how these turned out. Perfectly spicy, great texture from the oatmeal, and still has that yummy buttery flavor you’d expect from a cookie. The macros for 1 cookie are 5F/17C/3P, or 128 calories. I promise your family will love them!
Cinnamon Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter, softened to room temperature (56 g)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (100 g)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar (50 g)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (~60 g)
- 1/2 T molasses
- 1 egg (or 1 tsp oil + 2 T water + 1 tsp baking powder for egg free)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ~3/4 cups Kodiak Cakes Buttermilk Pancake Mix (95 g)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 and 1/2 cups oats (120 g)
- 5 T cinnamon chips (75 g)
Instructions
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter on medium speed until completely smooth. Add in brown and white sugars to the butter and cream on medium speed for 2 minutes, or until combined. You may need to scrape down the sides to help your mixer!
- Next add in the molasses, apple sauce, egg (or egg replacement), and vanilla to the mixer. Beat on medium heat until fully combined.
- Then, add in the Kodiak Cake mix and cinnamon. Mix until just combined, scraping down the sides as necessary.
- Finally, stir in the oats and the cinnamon chips until evenly distributed.
- Take the bowl from the stand mixer, remove the paddle, cover it with foil, and refrigerate the dough for an hour.
- Once the cookies have had some time in the fridge, turn on the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking pan with cooking spray. Scoop out cookie dough in about a tablespoon size. Give them a quick roll between your hands to form a ball, and then place on a cookie sheet. Repeat until 12 cookie dough balls are on the sheet.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are beginning to brown. Once baked, take them out of the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Scoop out the remaining dough and repeat the baking process. Enjoy!