Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
These vegan oatmeal cookies are soft in the middle, lightly crisp at the edges, and ready in well under half an hour. You cream a little butter with coconut sugar, stir in almond butter for richness, then fold rolled oats, flour, and raisins into a quick dough that bakes in 10 to 15 minutes. Oatmeal cookies are some of my favorite cookies in the entire world, and if you love them too, this is how I make the best batch every time.
We have talked before about the versatility of oatmeal, back when I showed you my recipe for oatmeal banana cookies with cranberries. Oats are a great plant-based protein source to start the day with, and they can be combined in so many ways. If you are not into the mushy texture of overnight oats, this is your crunchy alternative. I will explain how to make these vegan oatmeal cookies below, but here is a spoiler: be prepared to fall in love.
The ingredients that make these cookies work
There is nothing exotic on this list, but a few choices matter. The butter can be vegan or regular, your call. Vegan butter keeps these fully plant-based and behaves the same in the dough, so use whichever you have on hand. Coconut sugar (or brown sugar) brings a deeper, caramel-like note than white sugar, which suits the oats and cinnamon beautifully. The almond butter is my secret for richness and a tender crumb without needing eggs, so do not skip it. Rolled oats give the cookies their signature chew, and I reach for rolled rather than quick oats because they hold their shape and texture through baking. The raisins add little pockets of sweetness, but you can swap them for chocolate chips or a spoonful of peanut butter if that is more your style.
How to make them come together right
Start by beating the butter, vanilla, and sugar until the mixture is properly creamy. This step is not just for looks: creaming works air into the fat so the cookies bake up tender instead of dense, so give it a minute or two rather than rushing it. Beat in the almond butter next, then add the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon and combine before you fold in the oats and raisins last. Adding the dry oats at the end keeps them from over-softening and protects that chewy texture you want in an oatmeal cookie.
Roll the dough into balls and space them on a lined baking tray, then bake at 180 degrees C for 10 to 15 minutes. Pull them out when the edges look set and lightly golden but the centers still seem a touch soft. They firm up as they cool, so the trick to a chewy cookie rather than a hard one is to trust that carryover and take them out a minute early rather than a minute late.
Easy ways to make them your own
Vegan oatmeal cookies are one of the most forgiving desserts to riff on. Once you have the base down, you can customize the mix-ins to whatever you are craving:
- Swap the raisins for chopped dates, dried cranberries, or dark chocolate chips.
- Stir in a handful of chopped walnuts or pecans for crunch.
- Use a gluten-free flour mix in place of all-purpose flour to make the batch gluten-free.
- Add an extra pinch of cinnamon, or a little nutmeg, if you like a warmer, spicier cookie.
Storing and making ahead
Once fully cooled, these keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for about five days. Slip a small piece of bread into the container if you want them to stay on the softer side. The dough also freezes beautifully: roll it into balls, freeze them on a tray, then transfer to a bag and bake straight from frozen, adding a couple of extra minutes. If you love a batch of homemade cookies on hand, you might also enjoy my vegan whole grain cookies or, for a fruitier version, those banana oatmeal cookies I mentioned earlier. They are lovely alongside a cup of tea or one of these healthy coffee drinks.
I hope you will enjoy this cozy, high-fiber dessert idea as much as I do. If you bake a batch, please give the recipe a star rating and tell me in the comments how they turned out, whether you went with raisins, chocolate chips, or something of your own. Either way, let me know your impression below.
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Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup vegan or regular butter, your choice, works with both ~120g
- 10 Tbsps coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 2 cups rolled oats ~180g
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour or GF flour mix ~180g
- 4-5 Tbsps raisins
- 2 Tbsp almond butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- In a bowl, beat the butter, vanilla and sugar until creamy.
- Add almond butter and combine.
- Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and combine.
- Add the oats and raisins and incorporate.
- Form balls and place them on a lined baking tray at 180 degrees C for 10-15 minutes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, as written they are fully plant-based. The recipe calls for vegan butter (though it works with regular butter too), coconut or brown sugar, oats, flour, raisins, almond butter, and pantry spices, with no eggs, dairy, or honey. Use vegan butter to keep the whole batch vegan.
Yes. The recipe already lets you swap the all-purpose flour for a gluten-free flour mix. Just make sure your oats are certified gluten-free as well, since regular oats can pick up gluten during processing.
This recipe is built for rolled oats, which give the cookies their signature chew and hold their shape through baking. Quick oats will work in a pinch but produce a softer, finer texture, so stick with rolled oats if you want that classic oatmeal-cookie bite.
The almond butter adds richness and helps bind the dough for a tender crumb without needing eggs. It is a small amount, just 2 tablespoons, but it makes a noticeable difference in how soft and cohesive the cookies bake up.
Take them out of the oven when the edges are set and lightly golden but the centers still look a touch underdone, around 10 to 15 minutes at 180 degrees C. They firm up as they cool, so pulling them a minute early is the key to a chewy rather than crunchy result.
Stored in an airtight container at room temperature, they stay good for about five days. You can also freeze the rolled dough balls and bake them straight from frozen, adding a couple of extra minutes to the baking time.
Favorite cookies in the world!