My Favorite Oatmeal Vegan Cookies & Gluten Free
These oatmeal vegan cookies are my absolute favorite. Soft, with a lovely chewy texture, and they are gluten free, for anyone who is watching their gluten intake. This is a quick and simple traditional oatmeal cookie, made vegan or 100% plant-based. I like this recipe as is, without adding anything to it, but feel free to add raisins, nuts, or even mini vegan chocolate chips.
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Those that know me know that I am a true Cookie Monster, and these oatmeal vegan cookies are on the top of my most favorite list. If I had to pick one food to live on, and I didn’t have to worry about health, without a doubt it would be cookies.
But of course cookies are not the healthiest food, and I care very much about my health and wellness. So I don’t eat cookies every single day, and when I do bake cookies, I try to make them as healthy as possible.
These oatmeal vegan cookies are so delicious, soft, and chewy. They make for the perfect morning or afternoon snack. I have even been known to eat these for breakfast, with a fresh cup of coffee and a dish full of berries. It’s no different than having a donut or piece of pie now is it? 😉
Recipe Tips
When making cookies, how you blend up your cookie dough really does matter. Make sure to cream the butter and sugars well, until the mixture is very light and fluffy. At this stage of the blending, it’s very hard to over mix.
When you make the flax egg, make sure to give it enough time to gel and thicken. The flax egg helps to bind and adhere all of the ingredients together. If you feel the flax mixture is not thick enough, feel free to add a bit more ground flax and wait a little bit longer to make sure it is thick enough.
NOTE: Flax is such a powerhouse food full of nutrients and fiber, and many dietitians recommend incorporating flax into your daily diet. Check out this article HERE on how flax can help lower cholesterol, stabilize blood sugar, and help to reduce heart disease, osteoporosis, breast cancer, and more.
When you get to adding the flour mixture to your cookie dough, you CAN over mix, so be careful. Add the flour mixture a little bit at a time, and blend only until just combined. Over mixing will create tough, dry cookies.
Notes About The Recipe
- Feel free to add other ingredients as you desire. Such as crushed walnuts, dried fruit like cranberries or cherries etc.
- Personally I like this recipe plain without anything added. Although sometimes the vegan chocolate chips taste amazing when you want a little something more.
- Each oven is different so keep an eye on your cookies for the last couple minutes. Depending on how big I make my oatmeal vegan cookies, they can bake in the oven anywhere from 8-12min.
Making plant based cookies takes practice. You may not be as familiar with some of the ingredients in a vegan recipe but as you work with them, the more comfortable you will become.
Having the proper kitchen tools and ingredients in your kitchen makes life so much easier when you are ready to bake.
I have listed out some of the tools and ingredients I use for this recipe. A lot of them I use often in other recipes, so if you like baking and think you will be making more recipes in the future, I highly recommend you take the time to invest in proper kitchen tools, and the basic quality ingredients to have in your pantry.
Handy Kitchen Tools For This Recipe
- Hand held mixer – for years I have been using my mom’s old hand held mixer. I absolutely love it, and find it hard to use anything else. Some of the newer mixers are actually too powerful. When the dough is whipping around so fast, it’s hard to feel the dough. Over time, you start to get a sense of how dough should feel, depending on what you are making. When a blender is mixing so fast (even on the low setting), it is hard to feel that feel!
- That said, I realize not everyone has a favorite blender from their mom, so I found THIS hand held mixer to be a nice balance at a reasonable price.
- large glass mixing bowl – I always prefer using glass bowls versus plastic, ceramic, or stainless steel. Glass is clean, non-toxic, and you can see everything in it. This is a perfect mixing bowl for cookies, cakes and more. Start your glass collection now. You won’t be sorry.
- spatula – very much needed when making cookies. From scraping down the sides, to folding in ingredients. And silicone works great. It is heat tolerable, resists stains, and does not break down readily.
- measuring cups and measuring spoons – a must for any baker. I am enjoying these cups and spoons, as I am trying to move things over from metal, to glass or wood.
- baking pan – for making cookies it is always best to have a large, durable baking pan. I like the kind with a lifted edge, and this set is perfect for all cookie baking as well as biscuits, scones, and other baking treats.
- nonstick silicone baking sheet – these silicone baking sheets are fantastic. If you prefer purchasing something only once, versus always buying parchment paper to line your baking pans, I highly recommend investing in a couple of these nonstick silicone baking sheets. These sheets are durable, high heat tolerant, and very easy to clean.
- unbleached parchment paper – if you prefer using something more expendable, unbleached parchment paper is the way to go. This is a nice, reasonable brand.
- cooling rack – lots of people forego using cooling racks for their baked items, but I highly recommend using one. Allowing your cookies to cool on a rack, versus on the baking pan directly, prevents them from overcooking and getting too brown underneath. As well as a cooling rack allows air to circulate in, under, and around the cookies, which stops the cooking process evenly, and eliminates hard or moist sections of your cookie, or any baked good.
- medium cookie scoop – ohhh these scoopers are soooo good. They will always make your cookies look perfectly round and professional looking. I own several in different sizes, and use mine all the time.
- glass storage containers – glass storage containers are a must in every kitchen. Again, glass is clean and nontoxic, and containers with a nice tight fitting lid really help to keep food fresh longer.
Oatmeal Vegan Cookies Ingredients
- vegan butter – nowadays, 100% plant-based butters are much easier to find. I don’t use oils or butters in my regular everyday cooking but for some baked goods, butter is just necessary. When I need to use a vegan butter, I most often use Earth Balance or Myokos butter in stick form.
- organic brown and white sugar – I prefer using organic sugars because the sugar cane crop is a highly pesticide sprayed crop.
- organic ground flax seeds – this is what I use to make a flax egg. It binds just as well as a regular animal based egg. Plus flax contains healthy fat so I like it far better.
- One thing to know, always place your opened bag of ground flax in the fridge. It will hold its nutrient value longer.
- pure vanilla extract – I always look for pure organic vanilla without alcohol.
- organic all-purpose gluten free flour – if you are not gluten-free, you can use a regular all-purpose flour. But because I wanted to make this recipe gluten free, I like the King Arthur brand above all else.
- baking soda, cinnamon, salt – seasoning for flavor and rise. Needed for many baking recipes.
- organic gluten free rolled oats – I like to use regular or an extra-thick rolled oat. I do not use instant rolled oats for this recipe. The regular or extra-thick rolled oats, give this cookie its soft and chewy texture. Bob’s Red Mill is the brand I most often use.
- chocolate chips – if you are wanting to add chocolate chips to your oatmeal vegan cookies, may I suggest the Enjoy Life brand. They make a vegan mini chocolate chip that tastes really good.
optional ingredients you might want to consider
- raisins – makes for a great traditional oatmeal raisin cookie, only vegan style.
- other dried fruit – consider other dried fruits such as cranberries, cherries, apricots and more.
- nuts – crushed walnuts, almonds, or pecans will taste amazing in this recipe. Plus it will add a bit of protein and healthy fat. Score.
Oatmeal Vegan Cookies Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a small bowl, combine the 2Tb of ground flax seeds with 6Tb of filtered water. Stir to mix completely. Let sit to thicken and gel, approximately 10min., while preparing other ingredients.
In a medium size bowl combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
Oatmeal Vegan Cookies Directions
In a large mixing bowl, using the hand mixer, cream butter until light and fluffy.
Add the white and brown sugar and cream until fluffy again, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Add the thickened flax mixture, and pure vanilla extract. Mix until creamy.
Add the flour mixture, approximately 1/3 at a time, to the creamy butter mixture. Blend just until mixed and then add another 1/3. Repeat until all flour is combined. Do not over mix. This will make the cookies tough.
Using a spatula, not the hand mixer, fold the rolled oats into the mixture until combined.
Fold in the vegan chocolate chips or raisins if you desire (optional).
Using a medium sized cookie scoop, scoop out the cookie dough and place on the silicone lined, or parchment paper lined, baking sheet.
Bake for 8-10min or until slightly golden on top.
Take cookies out of the oven, and allow to cool for approximately 5min. on the baking sheet. Then transfer cookies onto a cooling rack to fully cool. Enjoy!
How To Store
It is best to store these cookies in a glass container with a securely fastened lid. These cookies will stay fresh for 2-3 days.
You can also store these cookies in the freezer to eat at a later date, pulling out a few at a time. Give them a few minutes to defrost on your counter, and you are good to go. They will taste great!
check out these other fun healthy vegan recipes
Delicious Sourdough Pretzels with Starter
How To Make The BEST Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies
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VIDEO: Step by step directions on how to make these delicious Oatmeal Vegan Cookies
Printable Recipe For You To Enjoy
My Favorite Oatmeal Vegan Cookies & Gluten Free!
Equipment
- 1 hand held mixer I love my old mixer that used to be my mothers but this one is similar and very affordable.
- 1 large mixing bowl I prefer glass.
- 1 spatula
- 1 nonstick silicone baking sheet These work great so you don't have to grease your baking pan. Less oil and saturated fat. NOTE: You can also use unbleached parchment paper.
- 1 unbleached parchment paper In lieu of a silicone baking sheet.
- 1 glass tupperware to store cookies
- 1 medium cookie scoop these work great to make perfectly round cookies.
Ingredients
- 1 cup plant-based butter I like Earth Balance or Myokos butter for baking.
- 1 cup brown sugar Best to use organic.
- 1/2 cup white sugar Best to use organic.
- 2 tbsp ground flax seeds
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup all-purpose, gluten free flour I like the King Arthur brand best.
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 3 cups gluten free rolled oats Do not use instant, just regular.
- 3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips OR raisins Optional. I like Enjoy Life vegan chocolate chips.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a small bowl, combine the 2Tb of ground flax seeds with 6Tb of filtered water. Stir to mix completely. Let sit to thicken and gel, approximately 10min., while preparing other ingredients.
- In a medium size bowl combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, using the hand mixer, cream butter until light and fluffy.
- Add the white and brown sugar and cream until fluffy again, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Add the thickened flax mixture, and pure vanilla extract. Mix until creamy.
- Add the flour mixture, approximately 1/3 at a time, to the creamy butter mixture. Blend just until mixed and then add another 1/3. Repeat until all flour is combined. Do not over mix. This will make the cookies tough.
- Using a spatula, not the hand mixer, fold the rolled oats into the mixture until combined.
- Fold in the vegan chocolate chips or raisins if you desire (optional).
- Using a medium sized cookie scoop, scoop out the cookie dough and place on the silicone lined, or parchment paper lined, baking sheet.
- Bake for 8-10min or until slightly golden on top.
- Take cookies out of the oven, and allow to cool for approximately 5min. on the baking sheet. Then transfer cookies onto a cooling rack to fully cool. Enjoy!
