These Healthy Carrot Cookies may not be the prettiest but they are one of the healthiest cookies you'll ever make! Made using 6 wholesome ingredients, these have a soft and chewy texture, and are a guilt-free treat. No butter, oil, sugar or flour!
Love healthy cookies? Try my black sesame cookies or 3 ingredient almond butter cookies next!
A Quick Look at the Recipe
✅ Recipe Name: Healthy Carrot Oatmeal Cookies Recipe
🕒 Ready In: ~40 minutes
👪 Serves: 7 cookies
🧑🍳 Main Ingredients: Rolled oats, carrot, dates, banana, walnuts and spices
📖 Dietary Info: Healthy, vegan, dairy free with gluten-free option
📌 Difficulty: Process and bake
Why you’ll love these carrot oatmeal cookies?
A reader favorite since 2017, these healthy carrot oatmeal cookies are made with simple, nutrient-dense ingredients—no butter, oil, sugar, eggs, or leavening.
They’re not pretty or crispy. Instead, they’re soft, chewy, and satisfying—perfect for a grab-and-go snack you can truly feel good about. It's similar to my oatmeal breakfast cookies, with the addition of carrot and dates.
Inspired by classic banana cookies, mashed ripe bananas bind everything together, while dates add natural sweetness—making them a wholesome alternative to traditional cookies.
- maria doss
Featured comments
One reader Marianne writes, "The directions were easy to follow and the cookies are delicious and healthy. Win win win" ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
One reader Deepthi writes, "I tried this. wow! - Its quite sweet with these natural sweeteners 🙂 I will eat 2 per day, so will have to keep in refrigerator for a few days, I guess. Thank you very much for this recipe." ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Jump to:
You can call these healthy cookies, banana oatmeal cookies, carrot cookies, breakfast cookies, or carrot oatmeal cookies—they truly fit them all. I recently shared a short video on Facebook, calling them the healthiest cookies on the planet, and honestly, they live up to the name.
They’re made with just 6 wholesome, nutrient-dense ingredients: rolled oats, ripe banana, Medjool dates, carrot, walnuts, and warm spices like cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. There’s no sugar, no flour, no baking soda—no unnecessary extras.
They’re soft, chewy, naturally sweet, and hearty enough that you could enjoy the whole batch for breakfast and genuinely feel good about it.
Ingredients
Scroll down to the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and amounts.
- Carrot - Carrots add natural sweetness, vibrant color and tastes incredible.
- Dates - Two common types of dates are typically available in grocery stores: the soft, plump Medjool and the drier, chewier Deglet Noor. For this recipe, I opted for three large Medjool dates, which grind smoothly and aid in binding. I have a huge collection of Medjool date recipes that you might love!
- Banana - As these cookies rely solely on dates and ripe bananas for sweetness, it's crucial to use bananas that are fully ripened, preferably with brown spots.
- Oats - Unlike the carrot oatmeal, which specifically requires rolled oats, this carrot cookie recipe is versatile and accommodates both rolled and instant oats. However, steel-cut oats are not recommended as they are too hard and not suitable for cookies.
- Walnuts - A quarter cup of raw walnuts adds some texture contrast as in carrot walnut cake and also more health benefits.
- Flavorings - You can use either cinnamon alone or a combination of cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg for added flavor. If incorporating nutmeg, it's recommended to use freshly grated nutmeg, as it significantly enhances the flavor.
Substitutions & Variations
- Use other nuts - Sliced almonds or toasted pecans would be a great substitution for walnuts. In fact, carrots and pecans complement each other beautifully.
- Make it nut-free - Skip the walnuts and add total of 1 ¼ cups rolled oats.
- Make it gluten-free - Use gluten-free oats to make gluten-free carrot cookies.
- Flavorings - Use fall spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg or vanilla.
- Add raisins - Stir in a few golden raisins at the end.
- Use frozen banana - When using frozen bananas, it's important to note that they release a significant amount of liquid upon thawing, which can result in a very wet cookie dough. I recommend draining off this excess liquid before adding it to your food processor.
- Use pre-shredded carrots - Use one cup of store bought pre-shredded carrots instead.
👉 If you love these healthy carrot cookies using oats, then you might love our collection of oats recipes that aren't oatmeal or other eggless cookies.
Tips for Success
- Banana - Use a very ripe banana for natural sweetness.
- Dates - Soft Medjool dates make it easy to grind and help with the binding. If using Noor dates, I like to soak them in water for about 30 minutes and then drain them thoroughly before using.
- Oats - Use old fashioned or rolled oats for the best chewy texture in the healthy carrot oatmeal cookies recipe.
- Nuts - Try using toasted pecans or sliced almonds instead of walnuts in these healthy oat carrot cookies.
- Storage - These are soft and chewy and not crisp like tradional cookies. Store leftovers in an air tight container at room temperature for up to a day. If storing longer, then refrigerate or the freeze.
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More Healthy Cookies
Healthy Carrot Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 medium carrot peeled and chopped into small chunks
- 3 large Medjool dates pitted
- 1 medium ripe banana sliced
- 1 cup old fashioned oats
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Prep. Preheat oven to 350° F (177°C) . Line a medium baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Process carrot and dates. Add the chopped carrot and dates into a food processor, process for a few seconds until the dates are finely chopped.
- Finish grinding. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse about 5 times, just until combined—be careful not to over-process. Then remove the blade and give the mixture a good stir to make sure everything is evenly incorporated.
- Shape. Using an ice cream scoop, portion about ¼ cup of dough for each cookie and place them evenly spaced on the prepared baking sheet. Then, using the back of a flat spoon (or your fingers), gently press each dough ball into a ½-inch-thick disc.
- Bake. Bake for 25–30 minutes, until the edges are deep golden brown. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cookies cool completely.They won’t be crispy—these cookies are soft, chewy, and hearty.
- Storage. Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to one day at room temperature, or refrigerate/freeze for longer storage.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information, based on third-party calculations, should be seen as estimates, not guarantees, as various factors like product types, brands, processing methods, and more can alter the nutritional content in recipes.
Watch How To Make It
Pro tip: Like some icing on your carrot banana cookies? Combine confectioners' sugar, a pinch of salt, and a small amount of water until you achieve a very thick but pourable icing consistency. Drizzle the icing over the cooled cookies using a fork. Allow the icing to set for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour. Please refer to the instructions for drizzling icing found in the almond joy cookies recipe.
More healthy treats
MADE THIS RECIPE AND LOVED IT? 💚 Please leave a ⭐️STAR rating and COMMENT below- I love to hear your feedback! Tag me with your creations on Instagram and find me on Facebook.
Hi, I’m Maria! I share easy, flavor-packed dinners, high-protein meals, and irresistible baking ideas. If you’ve ever asked, “Don’t know what to cook tonight?” you’re in the right place. And yes—there’s plenty here for breakfast, snacks, and dessert too. More about maria ->
Kelly @ Kelly Lynns Sweets and Treats
Looks super yummy Maria! I love that these are healthy! Happy Mother's Day:) xoxo
Maria Doss
Thank you Kelly:)
Patrick@looneyforfood.com
These are beautiful and I love the ingredient list! So natural and healthy! I will be making these!
Maria Doss
Thank you Patrick, have a great Sunday
Ashika @ Gardening Foodie
WOW these make such a great snack compared to the sugar loaded store bought cookies. This will make a yummy surprise for my sons who are always raiding the cookie tin for snacks 😋 Saving and pinning to bake this afternoon.😊
Maria Doss
Thank you dear, let me know how it goes!
Kelsie | the itsy-bitsy kitchen
These look SO yummy! I love cookies but of course I can't eat them all the time. This recipe is a perfect alternative! Have a great week, Maria!
Maria Doss
Thank you Kelsie:)
Leslie
I will be making these this week for sure! I love your site!
Maria Doss
Thank you so much Leslie, let me know how it goes:)
Jessica
Oh my goodness! Just added this gem of a recipe to my Facebook post line up! YUM!
Maria Doss
Thank you so much!!!
Katie
Wow! This recipe is just what I've been looking for!!! This may be a stupid question but is that a raw carrot (not a cooked one) in the recipe?!! Thanks!
Maria Doss
It is raw carrot. Thank you so much, hope you like it:)
Mae
Are they supposed to be soft and chewy?
Maria Doss
Mae, Yes! These do not get crispy due to the addition of banana. Hope you liked the taste:)
Vanessa
Thanks for sharing! Do they keep long?
Maria Doss
I'd give it couple of days, not long shelf life like a normal cookie:)
Deepthi
Hi,
I tried this. wow! - Its quite sweet with these natural sweeteners 🙂
One thing I noted is that it took only 15 mins and the sides of the cookies were already brown. So I took them out and they were already done. I don't know why.
I will eat 2 per day, so will have to keep in refrigerator for a few days, I guess. Thank you very much for this recipe.
Just a question - could we use different nuts like almonds or cashew or something else also instead of walnuts?
Maria Doss
Hi Deepthi, Walnuts/ Pecans pair extremely well with carrots. However, you could try with other nuts for sure. hope it helps)
Marianne
The directions were easy to follow and the cookies are delicious and healthy. Win win win.
Maria Doss
Glad you loved these cookies, Maria
Nelly
Those look amazing! A quick question here - will it work if I blitz the oat into flour first? I don't like to bite into them so most of the time I pick recipes with oat flour of whole-wheat but those sound so nice that I really want to give them a try 😀 I'll buy some carrots tomorrow 🙂
Maria Doss
Hi Nelly, It will work without any problem! The only difference would be that the cookies will turn out much more softer and loose some of the texture. Hope it helps, Maria
Ms.BE
just came out of the oven. Of course; I tasted one. I didn't have dates, used; date sugar powder. Thank you for sharing.
Maria Doss
That’s so great to hear! So glad you love it – Maria ♡
Cynthia
This is a go-to recipe. Soo delicious! I LOVE having these around during the holidays to keep away from other high sugar traps.
Maria Doss
That’s so great to hear! Wishing you a very happy holidays - Maria ♡