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  5. 35 Healthy Lunchbox Cookies

35 Healthy Lunchbox Cookies

Headshot of Penelope Wall
Penelope Wall Updated May 17, 2022
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a batch of cookies on a gray background
Credit: Caitlin Bensel

With our healthy cookie recipes, you don't need to sacrifice nutrition to give your child a lunchtime treat. Our healthy lunchbox cookies travel well to school and incorporate healthful ingredients like oats and dried fruit, with less added sugar that traditional cookies, for a tasty dessert you'll feel good about giving to your kids.

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One-Bowl Monster Cookies

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If you thought it wasn't possible to make healthier monster cookies, think again. These peanut butter, oatmeal, chocolate chip and M&M cookies have less butter and sugar than traditional recipes, but they have just as much flavor and tenderness, thanks to more peanut butter. Even better, they're made in one bowl for easy cleanup.

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Trail Mix Cookies

Trail Mix Cookies
Credit: Victor Protasio
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Hit the trail with these soft and chewy trail mix cookies. The peanuts add crunch and cranberries add tart flavor. Chocolate chips and pepitas round out these hearty cookies.

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Apple-Oatmeal Cookies

Apple Cookies
Credit: Brie Passano
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These healthy apple cookies made with oats, shredded apples and brown sugar make snack time enjoyable for everybody.

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Dark Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies

a batch of cookies on a gray background
Credit: Caitlin Bensel
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These peanut butter cookies are delicious on their own, but we make them even better by pressing a piece of dark chocolate candy into each hot cookie right after the cookies come out of the oven.

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Chocolate Chip Almond Butter Cookies

Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Credit: Carolyn Hodges, M.S., RDN
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Natural almond butter gives these gluten-free cookies a wonderfully rich flavor and tender, slightly chewy texture. Folding in chopped toasted almonds along with mini chocolate chips ensures plenty of chocolate and crunch in every bite.

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Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

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This makeover recipe was one of the favorites chosen for our 30th anniversary issue. Tahini gives this cookie a subtle sesame flavor.

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Pumpkin-Oatmeal Cookies

pumpkin oatmeal cookies
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These tender pumpkin-oatmeal cookies have the perfect amount of sweetness from brown sugar and raisins and a slightly nutty flavor from almond butter. Enjoy them as an after-school snack or a healthy dessert. 

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Dark Chocolate-Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

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These peanut butter cookies are delicious on their own, but we make them even better by pressing a piece of dark chocolate candy into each hot cookie right after the cookies come out of the oven.

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Caramel Apple Cookies

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Kids and adults alike will love these fall caramel apple cookies. They are crisp on the bottom and chewy in the center with bits of apple and just a hint of spice. The caramel glaze takes them over the top!

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Cinnamon-Raisin Oatmeal Cookies

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This recipe takes oatmeal cookies up a notch with its cinnamony, buttery, delicious take on a much-loved classic dessert.

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Vegan No-Bake Cookies

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Almond butter and coconut oil melt together to bind these stovetop cookies without using any eggs. To take the flavor to the next level, try subbing in your favorite nut butter.

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Yummy Molasses Crackles

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Nancy Caverly gave her grandmother's recipe for ginger molasses cookies a little makeover--reducing the butter and adding crystallized ginger for a spicy jolt.

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Chewy Chocolate Cookies

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We can't resist big, soft, fudgy cookies, like those found in glass jars on bake-shop counters. These freeze exceptionally well-layer them in a freezer-safe container between sheets of wax paper; thaw 15 minutes at room temperature before serving.

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Cranberry-Orange-Nut Cookies

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Crisp, moist and chewy, this cookie created by Georgene Egri of Walnut Creek, California, has the essential ingredients for the holidays: citrus, nuts and cranberries. These cookies travel well for gift-giving and lunchboxes.

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Blueberry & White Chocolate Chunk Ginger Cookies

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These easy cookies are a real snap to make--just stir and bake.

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Cranberry-Honey Spice Pinwheel Cookies

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These cookies boast a bright, zesty filling and spicy aroma. They make a large batch and are extremely convenient, since you can make the logs of cookie dough ahead, then pull them out of the freezer and slice and bake as many cookies as you need. Recipe by Nancy Baggett for EatingWell.

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Almond & Honey-Butter Cookies

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This thumbprint cookie uses honey as the only sweetener and tender ground almonds to replace much of the butter found in similar cookies. Just a touch of butter mixed with honey in the filling gives it a rich flavor without too much saturated fat.

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Double Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chewies

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These soft chocolate cookies have a big peanut flavor since they use peanut butter and peanut butter chips.

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Orange Spice Molasses Cookies

Orange Spice Molasses Cookies
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These spiced molasses cookies have added applesauce to help keep the cookies moist, and whole-wheat flour and oats to incorporate whole grains.

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Ginger Crinkle Cookies

Ginger Crinkle Cookies
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Cynthia Farr-Weinfeld, a hypnotherapist and writer, started improving the nutritional profile of a friend's mother's ginger cookie recipe by substituting whole-wheat pastry flour for all-purpose flour and canola oil for shortening. "Experiment with these cookies," she advises, "as they taste great either slightly underdone or crispy." She calls them "the quickest cookies you'll ever bake."

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Almond Cherry Bites

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Dried cherries, ground almonds and a drizzle of chocolate make these cookies festive for the holidays.

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Princess Tea Cakes

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Working on this makeover of a classic Russian Tea Cake made Bridget Klein feel closer to her late sister, Gina, because they are "a great match for her personality: delicate and refined, pretty to look at, and yet a definite character that inspires adoration and loyalty." Gina's middle name, Sarah, means "princess," in Hebrew; hence the name of these confections. Klein's mom "swore these cookies couldn't be made without butter," she says, "until she tasted them." Klein continues: "Gina was a traditionalist, too, but I think I might have been able to fool her with these."

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One Nutty Date

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Financial advisor Linda Croley was inspired by childhood memories of a family treat when she created these peanut butter-date cookies. "I get a great feeling when I bite into these cookies and think of my family who are around me today, and those whose memories I'll always cherish," says Croley. Once you try them, you may never make an ordinary peanut butter cookie again.

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Boot Tracks

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Patti Anderson, a professional quilter, had never entered a cooking contest before she took our challenge. This quick, no-fuss, chewy chocolate cookie is made on your waffle iron. No need to haul out the big mixer, you can mix the batter with a small hand mixer or even by hand. Kids love these!

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Outrageous Macaroons

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These luxurious macaroons studded with pistachios and dried cranberries hail from food stylist Katie Webster. She made them three years ago when she was a personal chef for a gluten-intolerant client, then began selling them to a grateful crowd at her local farmers' market. Although you can concoct them with either sweetened or unsweetened coconut, we find that the unsweetened packs a more coconutty wallop. For a variation, substitute chopped crystallized ginger and mini chocolate chips for the pistachios and cranberries.

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Italian Hazelnut Cookies

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These crispy cookies are made with Piedmontese staples--hazelnuts and eggs--and called Brutti Ma Buoni: literally, "Ugly But Good." But they are really more plain-looking than "ugly," and pack a powerful, sweet, nutty burst of flavor, making them welcome at any table.

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Flourless Chocolate Cookies

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These flourless cookies get their volume from whipped egg whites (like a meringue) instead of grains, making them gluten-free and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. A chocolate chip in each bite adds to the rich chocolate flavor.

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Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies

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A quick stir-in of grated carrots not only makes these easy drop cookies reminiscent of spicy carrot cake, it also adds sweetness and keeps these cakey cookies moist. A drizzle of cream cheese frosting on top finishes off these better-for-you goodies perfectly.

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No-Sugar-Added Oatmeal Cookies

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Classic oatmeal cookies without all the sugar, these better-for-you gluten-free treats get their sweetness from ripe bananas and chopped dates.

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Chocolate Zucchini Brownies

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The batter for this healthy one-bowl brownie recipe is stirred together right in the saucepan used to melt the butter and chocolate--no mixing bowl needed and less cleanup for you. Using shredded zucchini in this healthy dessert recipe creates a tender, moist brownie with about half the amount of butter and sugar found in a classic recipe--and it's virtually undetectable in the baked brownies.

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Almond Butter-Quinoa Blondies

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People likely won't even notice that these delicately nutty, just a little chocolaty, blondies are gluten-free. They use quinoa flour, which you can find in well-stocked supermarkets and natural-foods stores, in place of all-purpose flour. To make your own quinoa flour, grind raw quinoa into a powder in a clean coffee grinder. (Adapted from Quinoa Revolution by Patricia Green and Carolyn Hemming.)

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"Chewie" Cookies

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Star Wars fans, this is the cookie for you. These fun and festive "Wookiee" cookies are perfect for a theme party or movie viewing. Almond slivers are arranged over melted chocolate to look like Chewbacca's belt.

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Bev's Chocolate Chip Cookies

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EatingWell reader Beverley Sharpe of Santa Barbara, California, contributed this healthy chocolate chip cookie recipe. She gave chocolate chip cookies a healthy update by cutting back on sugar and incorporating whole grains. To increase protein, Sharpe replaces the rolled oats with 1 cup almond meal.

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Oatmeal-Coconut Cookies with Cranberries & White Chocolate

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Our classic oatmeal cookie recipe gets a flavor twist with coconut, white chocolate chips (which have a more delicate flavor than milk or dark chocolate) and tart dried cranberries. The result is a chewy, sweet treat that's sure to leave you coming back for more.

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No-Bake Cookies

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Your kids will love helping you make these peanut butter-graham treats.

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    1 of 35 One-Bowl Monster Cookies
    2 of 35 Trail Mix Cookies
    3 of 35 Apple-Oatmeal Cookies
    4 of 35 Dark Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies
    5 of 35 Chocolate Chip Almond Butter Cookies
    6 of 35 Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
    7 of 35 Pumpkin-Oatmeal Cookies
    8 of 35 Dark Chocolate-Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
    9 of 35 Caramel Apple Cookies
    10 of 35 Cinnamon-Raisin Oatmeal Cookies
    11 of 35 Vegan No-Bake Cookies
    12 of 35 Yummy Molasses Crackles
    13 of 35 Chewy Chocolate Cookies
    14 of 35 Cranberry-Orange-Nut Cookies
    15 of 35 Blueberry & White Chocolate Chunk Ginger Cookies
    16 of 35 Cranberry-Honey Spice Pinwheel Cookies
    17 of 35 Almond & Honey-Butter Cookies
    18 of 35 Double Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chewies
    19 of 35 Orange Spice Molasses Cookies
    20 of 35 Ginger Crinkle Cookies
    21 of 35 Almond Cherry Bites
    22 of 35 Princess Tea Cakes
    23 of 35 One Nutty Date
    24 of 35 Boot Tracks
    25 of 35 Outrageous Macaroons
    26 of 35 Italian Hazelnut Cookies
    27 of 35 Flourless Chocolate Cookies
    28 of 35 Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies
    29 of 35 No-Sugar-Added Oatmeal Cookies
    30 of 35 Chocolate Zucchini Brownies
    31 of 35 Almond Butter-Quinoa Blondies
    32 of 35 "Chewie" Cookies
    33 of 35 Bev's Chocolate Chip Cookies
    34 of 35 Oatmeal-Coconut Cookies with Cranberries & White Chocolate
    35 of 35 No-Bake Cookies

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    35 Healthy Lunchbox Cookies
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