Thick, chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies made with sunflower seed butter and candy coated sunflower seeds. These nut-free, gluten-free, maple syrup sweetened cookies are a fun twist on the classic and are perfect for an allergy-friendly treat!
Sometimes, you just need a thick, chewy oatmeal cookie, fresh from the oven.
This is one of those times.
And, since I’ve been obsessed with sunflower seed butter lately, I figured it was only right to put a sunbutter twist on my favorite peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies so that all you nut-allergic people and sunflower seed loving’ fools out there can experience these cookies.
These cookies are:
gluten-free, thanks to oats + oat flour (which we’re going to make ourselves right in a blender/food processor).
nut-free, duh, thanks to sunflower seeds and sunbutter (both of which I’ve been picking up at Trader Joe’s lately, FYI)
maple syrup sweetened for a subtle, caramel-sweeteness in every bite.
thick + chewy thanks to an entire cup and a half of rolled oats in the batter.
made in 1 bowl for minimal clean up.
filled with chocolate chips AND candy-coated sunflower seeds, so every bite is full of melty chocolate, a little crunch, and a fun pop of color!
Plus, they only take about 30 minutes start-to-finish, including a quick rest in the freezer or fridge to let the batter set up before baking, and the pop of color from candy-coated sunflower seeds (which are colored with fruit + veg juice, not artificial dyes!) makes them so fun to look at and eat!
We’ve been enjoying them as an afternoon snack lately, and I think they would make such a fun treat inside your kids’ lunchboxes or as part of a Springtime get together!
If you make these quick + easy, totally fun sunflower seed butter-filled oatmeal cookies, let me know what you think! Leave a comment below, or take a picture of your cookies and share it with me on Instagram; I love seeing my recipes in your kitchen!
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Sunflower Seed Butter Cookies [Gluten-Free]
Yields: 12 large cookies
Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups rolled oats, divided
- 2/3 cup unsweetened sunflower seed butter
- 2/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup virgin coconut oil, melted
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup candy coated sunflower seeds (can sub plain sunflower seeds or more chocolate chips, if desired!)
Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Turn 1 cup of the oats into oat flour by pulsing it in your food processor or blender for 15-30 seconds, until it reaches the consistency of flour. Alternately, 1 cup of oat flour, whole wheat flour, or almond flour could all be used in place of the homemade oat flour in this recipe.
3. Put peanut butter, maple syrup, melted oil, vanilla, and egg into a mixing bowl and whisk well to fully combine.
4. Add all remaining ingredients (including homemade oat flour and 1 1/2 cups remaining oats) into the wet mixture and stir well to fully combine.
4. THIS DOUGH NEEDS TO BE CHILLED BEFORE BAKING. To make it happen more quickly, make space in your fridge or freezer for your cookie sheet. Then, line it with parchment paper, scoop the cookie dough into 12 large cookies (scooping them with 1/4 cup measuring cup divides them up perfectly. they’ll be close together but they don’t spread much in the oven once chilled!) and place them into the freezer for 5 minutes or the fridge for 10, just to help them firm up. The entire bowl of cookie dough can also be chilled before scooping, but it will take closer to 25+ minutes to do so. I do not recommend skipping the chill step, as these cookies will not hold their shape when baked otherwise.
5. When cookie dough is chilled, remove from the freezer/fridge and bake for 11-14 minutes, or until cookies are slightly golden on the edges and just cooked though- do not overbake. Let cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before eating, or let cool completely and store in an airtight container for up to 5 days at room temperature. Serve with a pinch of flaky sea salt on top, if desired.
MAKE IT VEGAN: use a flax egg in place of the chicken egg. simply mix 1 T ground flaxseed meal with 3 T water, and let sit for 5 minutes before using.
MAKE SMALLER COOKIES: this recipe yields 12 large cookies made from 1/4 cup of batter each. If you’d like them smaller, scoop using a small cookie scoop (or in approx. 2 Tablespoon sized mounds) and bake for 6-9 minutes. Bake 12 cookies per pan, then repeat with the remaining dough.
Be sure to check out my Pantry Staples page for some of my favorite baking ingredients!