These soft and chewy Oatmeal Date Cookies are the perfect blend of wholesome oats, sweet dates, and the rich, nutty flavor of coconut.
If you love this recipe, you also love my Chewy Chocolate Dipped Oatmeal Cookies and Date Pinwheel Cookies.
Once upon a time, I was the lucky recipient of an 11 pound box of dates from the extremely generous owner of a local produce market. As I lugged the box back to my car, I really had no idea what I’d do with them.
On my quest for date recipes, this Oatmeal Date Cookie recipe was sent my way and it stopped me dead in my tracks. I knew from the list of ingredients that this recipe would be a winner and boy was I right! These cookies are insanely good.
The dates just melt into the cookie as they bake and give them a sweet, chewy goodness. The addition of chopped walnuts and coconut add flavor and additional texture. And, I was thrilled with how they kept their shape after baking and stay incredibly moist and chewy for days.
Table of contents
Ingredient Notes
- Dry ingredients: All-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, quick cooking or old fashioned oats.
- Sugar: Both granulated sugar and brown sugar.
- Wet ingredients: An egg and pure vanilla extract.
- Dates: You can use any variety of dates but I love large, soft Medjool dates for baking.
- Nuts: Chopped walnuts.
- Coconut: Sweetened flaked coconut adds such great flavor to these cookies!
How to Make Oatmeal Date Cookies
- Butter and sugar mixture: Using a hand or stand mixer, combine the butter and sugars until creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until well combined.
- Dry ingredients: Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix just until combined.
- Remaining ingredients: In a separate small bowl, combine the oats, dates, walnuts, and coconut.
- Finish the dough: Add the oat and date mixture and mix it into the dough until well combined.
- Scoop: Use a small cookie scoop to scoop the dough and then transfer it to your hands and roll into a neat ball. Place the balls on a parchment paper lined or ungreased baking sheet leaving a couple of inches in between each cookie.
- Bake: Bake the cookies at 375 degrees F for 8 to 9 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for a few minutes then transfer them to a wire rack too cool completely.
Storage Tips
This recipe makes enough to share with friends, neighbors, co-workers, postal workers, your kids’ teachers, the gardener, random people passing by your house. You get the point.
Even if you decide to keep them all to yourself, I predict they won’t last long. Just be sure to follow the storage tips below to keep them at their best.
Room Temperature: Allow your Oatmeal Date Cookies to cool completely on a wire rack before storing. This prevents condensation inside the airtight storage container, which can make the cookies soggy. These cookies are best stored at room temperature in a cool, dry place.
Freezing: For longer storage, these cookies freeze well. Place the cookies in an airtight container or resealable plastic bags and store them in the freezer for up to 2 to 3 months. Thaw them at room temperature.
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Oatmeal Date Cookies
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups butter
- ¾ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups oats, quick cooking or old fashioned
- 1 cup dates, chopped into small pieces
- 1 cup walnuts, chopped
- 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (or leave the baking sheet ungreased).
- Cream the butter and sugars with a hand mixer or in the bowl of your stand mixer. Add the egg and vanilla and continue to mix until well combined.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix just until combined.
- In a separate large bowl, combine the oatmeal, dates, walnuts, and coconut. Add to dough butter/sugar mixture. Mix until well combined.
- Using a cookie scoop, scoop a heaping tablespoon of the dough, use your hands to roll the dough into a neat ball, and place it the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining dough to fill the cookie sheet, leaving a couple of inches between each ball of dough.
- Bake for 8 to 9 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes. Then, transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
More Cookie Recipes
Adapted from Off the Meat Hook
This post was originally published on May 22, 2012. It has been updated with new text and images.
These cookies are a winner! They are chewy and not too sweet. Overall easy to make. This recipe is a keeper, thank you so much!
These are fantastic! Definitely going to make these again…yum!
This has become a weekly staple for me while I’m breast feeding. I made 1 small adjustment the first time I made them and switched the walnuts with chopped almonds to be more cost effective and they are fantastic. Highly recommend these cookies! Just be careful to not eat all of them too quickly!
I love to bake and of all the cookies I make, this one is the most popular. This is a great recipe!!
Great recipe. Five star. Baked at 350 about 15 minutes. Banged the cookies on counter when done. Let sit two minutes. Good. I also made cookies in ball and flattened them
This is an absolutely great recipe. I’ve made them 3 times and each time I receive rave reviews.
Can’t wait to try.daughter brings them home from Middle East for the the family
Awesome! Had some dates I wanted to try adding to cookies (a first) and had some coconut and just love oatmeal in cookies. Was looking for a healthy cookie option. Used all organic ingredients.
I wonder if coconut oil would work as a substitute for the butter? Anyone?
These are simply terrific. Wished I would have flattened them a bit, and I too, had to bake them for 10 minutes. Fantastical! Crispy but chewy too. Airy and great texture.
I think I will call them “Nutty Blondes”. 😉
One more thing… I didn’t have walnuts so I used sliced almonds. Worked great, as I am sure it would with any nuts. Also, my baking time was closer to 15 minutes, probably because of the milk I added.
This recipe worked out SO well I can’t begin to tell you! Everyone loved them. We live at some elevation here (about 1600 feet) so things tend to bake too dry, and I found I had to add about 1/2 cup milk to make the batter work. But the batter is so easy to work with. The oatmeal makes it easy to handle them and make into balls without them sticking to your hands too much. I love how these guys hold their shape and don’t flatten out like little pancakes! Great recipe!