With butter replaced by coconut oil and processed sugar swapped for honey and pomegranate syrup, these cookies are packed with oats and wholesome flavor.
My husband complains we have way too many leftovers in the refrigerator. What he calls scraps I see as ingredients waiting to be transformed. Our fridge does tend to brim with containers of odds and ends, but I enjoy the creative challenge of combining them into something new. Full disclosure: results have ranged from delicious to downright inedible.
Years ago, during a dinner when I added a few unexpected bits from my refrigerator to a recipe, a close friend named Ina tried to be kind and said, “it wasn’t horrible.” She was earnestly encouraging me, and we still laugh about it—true friendship in action. For those of us who love tinkering and rarely follow a recipe to the letter, an occasional flop is part of the process. The payoff is the creative outlet and the occasional recipe that becomes an instant favorite.
This week I hit a winner that felt like winning the lottery. A couple of weeks earlier I had made a large batch of the sticky mixture that holds granola bars together—peanut butter, coconut oil, honey, and pomegranate syrup—and I saved a portion in the fridge for future experiments. When I opened the refrigerator on Tuesday, I noticed that container and realized it could serve as an excellent cookie base.
There were challenges. The mixture lacked butter and granulated sugar—two ingredients that often give cookies their flavor and texture—and it was extremely dense, exactly what you’d expect from a thick “glue.” But the flavor was promising.
I started by bringing the mixture to room temperature so it loosened. It changed from brick-hard to a thick, flowing mass, but was still too stiff to work with. I added a large egg (I was baking at over 7,000 feet, so a larger egg helps at high altitude) which improved the consistency. I beat the mixture in my stand mixer, lowered the speed, and added a bit of flour to give structure. A touch of baking powder and a pinch of baking soda helped lighten the weight of the peanut butter.
Once the batter looked smooth, I folded in a heap of rolled oats and a handful of chocolate chips. Using a small ice cream scooper, I portioned small mounds onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and baked them on the middle rack.
The first cookie came out warm, soft, and flavorful: pomegranate syrup, coconut, peanut butter and chocolate melding on the tongue. The edges browned quickly, so I reduced the oven temperature for the rest of the batch. As they cooled, I sampled several more for quality control. They were small—two-bite cookies—but perfectly satisfying.
Score one for the mighty leftover.
The downside of working from leftovers is duplicating the exact amount of the original mixture that yielded success. Still, these cookies turned out far from horrible—more like a delightful surprise that validated keeping those odd containers in the fridge.
More Cookies with Chocolate Chips
Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Healthier Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate Chips
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Equipment
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cookie sheet
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Parchment paper
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Small pot
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Stand mixer
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Rubber spatula
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Ice cream scooper (small, or depending on the size of cookies you want)
Ingredients
- 3 ounces peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- ¼ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup + 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking powder (Use ¼ teaspoon for high altitude baking)
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda (Use ⅛ teaspoon for high altitude baking)
- 1 cup rolled oats
- ⅓ cup chocolate chips or more if preferred
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
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Melt the peanut butter, coconut oil, honey, and pomegranate molasses together in a small pot over low heat. Stir in the cinnamon and salt. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature or slightly warmer, then pour into the bowl of a stand mixer.
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Add the egg and beat well to incorporate. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
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Manually fold in the oats and chocolate chips with a rubber spatula.
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Use a small ice cream scooper to portion small mounds of dough onto the lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes (12 minutes for high-altitude baking). Cookies are done when the edges begin to darken slightly and the tops are soft but offer slight resistance to gentle pressure.