*This post may contain affiliate links. Read more »
My wife and kids know I am a freak about vegan oatmeal cookies and have seriously considered leaving them for a giant cookie with arms and legs wearing a veil and wedding dress that I can kiss forevermore. Naturally, because it's no family secret that these are my personal fave cookies of all time, we have tried making them a zillion different ways. The recipe you are looking at is the best in terms of being thin and crispy around the edges, and are juicy and chewy in the center! Yes. Yes, I do.
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Cinnamon Snail.
Looking for the perfect tiny treat to go with your coffee or spiced herbal tea? Looking for something perfect to fill out your collection of vegan dessert recipes? M'love, you know I got you, and this recipe has been written to help you churn out cookies that slap each and every time, because aside from the formula, I am going to teach you a couple of important truths about cookie making that will hopefully upgrade the hell outta your cookie game once and for all.
Whether you're a seasoned baker or a first-timer, these cookies are about to become your new go-to. Let's do this!
Made these cookies with cranberries and walnuts, they are wonderful. Crispy outside with a tender-chewy texture. The best oatmeal cookie recipe! You would never miss the eggs or butter!
Jump to:
- 🥰Why you'll adore this vegan oatmeal cookie recipe
- 🧈Ingredients for vegan oatmeal cookies
- 🤯Variations
- 📖 How to make this vegan oatmeal cookie recipe
- 💡Serving Ideas
- 👉Tips for perfect vegan oatmeal cookies every time:
- 🤷♀️ FAQs for this vegan oatmeal cookie recipe
- ✌️My faves to serve with vegan oatmeal cookies:
- Crispy, Perfect Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
🥰Why you'll adore this vegan oatmeal cookie recipe
✊ Vegan AF: You heard it on the radio, you've seen it on the TV show, it's wayyyy past the time in human evolution where we need to be on some caveman bullshit anymore. It's time for society to stop harming animals, and this oatmeal cookies without eggs eggs, milk, or butter is so insanely yummy that it's easy to go vegan!
🌡 Baking Science. Our secret weapon? The very precisely tuned balance of proteins, sugars, and fat in the recipe, together with important forming and baking methods that I have dialed in over the course of a couple of decades as a professional baker, take credit for the golden-brown exterior while keeping the inside soft and chewy. Call me a snob, but I can't stand "cakey" cookies that miss this crucial balance that's been nailed down to a science here.
✅ Tested and Approved Worldwide. Like all of the vegan recipes I share, after fine-tuning every detail, I shared this one with a diverse team of recipe testers around the globe. Everyone replicated it successfully, and I was handed the key to the cookie kingdom, where I rode off into the mist on a poly made of walnuts and oats.
I'm on my knees staring weirdly into your eyes, asking you in a soothing voice to be my taste-testing partner in crime. Sign up for the recipe testing crew and get early access to new recipes before they're published.
🧈Ingredients for vegan oatmeal cookies
Tapioca Starch (AKA Tapioca Flour)
Originating from the cassava plant, tapioca starch is a gluten-free thickener that's key to achieving the perfect texture in vegan baking. I use this starch frequently to mimic the power of eggs, not just in desserts like bubur cha cha and klepon, but in dishes like Khao Pad (Thai fried rice), and Banh Bao Chay (Vietnamese vegetable steamed buns). Arrowroot or cornstarch can be used as an alternative if tapioca starch is not available.
Vegan Butter
Vegan butter brings richness and moisture to the cookies, contributing to their tender crumb and golden color. My personal fave is Earth Balance, which I use in everything from flaky vegan pastry pie crust, to my vegan baked ziti where I sauté garlic in it to form the base of the cheese sauce. Of course, if you don't use vegan butter, you can get away with using natural or refined coconut oil instead.
Sugar
Sugar does more than just sweeten these cookies; it also helps them brown and crisp on the edges. Whether you use regular ol' cane sugar, brown sugar, coconut sugar (my go to for making Kuih Dadar with), or palm sugar (the bangin' mineral-rich sugar I use in southeast Asian desserts like Filipino tupig, and suman), each brings a subtly different flavor profile to the cookies. Brown sugar, for example, will add a hint of molasses and a chewier texture.
All-Purpose Flour
Yes, yes yes. Before you ask - YES you can make these cookies with an all-purpose gluten-free flour mix if that's your thing. But the gluten that is present in regular all-purpose flour does give these cookies the perfect chew.
Quick Oats
Obviously, these would be some garbage-ass oatmeal cookies if they didn't have oats. I like using quick oats for these (as I do in my applewood smoked vegan breakfast sausage recipe) because they have a better texture. If all you have is rolled oats, you can pulse them a few times in a food processor to give them a similar texture to quick oats, or use them whole and accept the texture they give the cookies.
All the fun things that vegan oatmeal cookies desire:
Let's be honest with ourselves here, all the bells and whistles do not a good oatmeal cookie make. If the recipe sucks, a handful of chocolate chips ain't gonna solve that. What do they say? It's like putting lipstick on a pig? Obviously, whoever says that hasn't spent enough time caring for piggies at a farm sanctuary, because they are adorable. A better analogy is when somebody makes terrible pizza but tries to save it by putting vegan buffalo wings, thinly sliced vegan pepperoni, and gorgeous vegan ricotta all over it to disguise how bad the crust sauce is.
Anyway, once you have a killer vegan oatmeal cookie recipe (like the one in front of you), raisins, cranberries, walnuts, and/or chocolate chips are only gonna bring the thing from a 10 to an 11-star banger. Currants work too, or instead of your average basic-ass raisin, you could use my fave hunza raisins (the greenish raisins from the north of India).
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
🤯Variations
Vegan Oatmeal Cookies with a Middle Eastern Vibe:
Hold the raisins and walnuts, and use chopped pistachios, finely chopped dates, and add a splash of rosewater, a spoonful of almond butter, and either a small spoonful of cardamom or baharat to the dough. This has a lot of the vibes you love from my vegan baklava, and are mad easy to make.
Sicilian Oatmeal Cookies without Eggs:
Every time I spend time in Sicily, where my wife's family comes from, there are a few flavors that I just can't stop using and a couple work amazingly in oatmeal cookies. Sliced roasted chestnuts or chopped hazelnuts are AMAZING additions to these cookies. Heck, chestnuts make just about everything better, which is why I sneak the darn things into everything from roasted carrot lentil soup to pasta with vegan Bolognese.
📖 How to make this vegan oatmeal cookie recipe
Ready to meet your fave oatmeal cookie? Nail it on your first shot by following these step-by-step photos with helpful tips. Or scroll down to the bottom of this page for the easy-to-print recipe card.
Step One
Baking Prep:
Start by warming your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grab a couple of your fave baking sheets and lay parchment paper on them to keep your cookies from sticking, and to limit your cleanup time.
Step Two
Dat Cookie Juice Doe:
Take a little bowl and mix your unsweetened plant-based milk with your choice of tapioca starch, arrowroot, or cornstarch until smooth using a tiny whisk or the tines of a fork. Put it aside for now.
Step Three
Cream Team:
In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the vegan butter, sugar, molasses, vanilla extract, and the milk mixture you just whisked together. Whip it up for about two minutes until it's nicely creamed.
Step Four
Dry Ingredients Meet Wet Ingredients:
Sift in the all-purpose flour to the creamed mixture, then toss in the quick oats, cinnamon, ground cloves, baking soda, and a dash of salt. Stir it all together just until it's mixed - no overdoing it, so as not to work the gluten.
Step Five
Fold In the Goodies:
Now, gently fold in your choice of raisins or cranberries. If you're feeling fancy, add the optional chopped walnuts or chocolate chips. Mix it all up until everything is evenly dispersed in the dough.
✅ If you are a chocolate freak, I have a severely rad eggless chocolate chip cookie recipe you need to check out too!
Step Six
Scoop & Space
With a spoon, a cookie scoop, or just by hand, plop 4 teaspoon portions of your dough down onto your prepped baking sheet. Make sure you leave about 2 inches between them so they have room to spread out. If you like thin and crisp cookies, gently press them down and spread them with a damp hand, ensuring the edges stay roundish.
✅ If you like soft and chewy oatmeal cookies, don't flatten them and instead, chill the trays of cookie dough balls for 30 minutes before baking, which will prevent them from spreading as much.
Step Seven
Bake to Perfection
Slide your cookies into the oven and bake them for 11 to 13 minutes. You're looking for edges that are just turning golden brown and centers that look set. Keep an eye on them to avoid over-browning.
✅ While you still have your oven on, you might want to whip up a batcha of these absurdly good vegan matcha cookies too!
Step Eight
Cooling Down
This is where you need to slap my eager hand away if you are baking these cookies for me.
Once out of the oven, let the cookies chill on the baking sheet for a few minutes. This little rest helps them firm up so that they don't break when transferring them. Use a thin metal spatula to move them one-by-one to a wire cooling rack to cool to room temperature.
💡Serving Ideas
A good cookie and a book deserve some delightful beverage companionship. I am 100% all about the lightly spiced herbal tea from Indonesia called bandrek, to go with my cookies. It's made with ginger, lemongrass, pandan, cinnamon, cloves, and.. just make the recipe. Trust me. Otherwise, a simpler cookie companion could be a cold glass of milky vegan Thai tea.
👉Tips for perfect vegan oatmeal cookies every time:
- Room Temperature Ingredients: Make sure your vegan butter and plant-based milk are at room temperature before starting. This helps them mix more evenly into your dough, creating a smoother, more consistent cookie texture.
- Chill Your Dough: Personally, I like a thinner, crispier cookie, but if that's not you, chill the oatmeal cookie dough for at least 30 minutes before baking. This will prevent them from spreading as much and your cookies will end up with a chewy texture, which is some people's cookie-dream-com-true.
- Use Parchment Paper: Not only does parchment paper prevent sticking without extra oil or butter, but it also helps ensure even heat distribution during baking. As a lazy baker, I LOVE that parchment paper as it makes cleanup a lot faster and easier.
- Prevent burning: Check if your oven's heat comes from the top or bottom and use a baking stone or an extra empty cookie sheet below or above your tray to shield your cookies from direct heat and prevent burning. Rotate the trays of cookies in your oven at the halfway point in their baking if the heat in your oven is uneven.
🤷♀️ FAQs for this vegan oatmeal cookie recipe
For the best freshness, keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week (trust me, these are too yummy to last that long). The unbaked dough can be wrapped and frozen for up to 3 months.
Yes, simply use an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend instead of regular all-purpose flour to make them gluten-free. Make sure your oats are certified gluten-free.
Unlike regular oatmeal raisin cookies, these vegan cookies are free from animal-based ingredients, cutting down on saturated fats and cholesterol, which are common in conventional butter and eggs. The inclusion of oats enriches the cookies with soluble fiber, which is beneficial for heart health and digestive wellness, while raisins add a natural sweetness along with essential minerals and a dose of antioxidants.
Healthy vegan oatmeal cookies are a great fiber-rich alternative to many fattier, richer desserts, and are also an easy way to trick your kids into satisfying their sweet tooth with more dried fruit!
Yes, you can use old fashioned oats, but for best results, pulse them a few times in a food processor to break them down slightly, as they're larger and thicker than quick oats.
For a crunchier cookie, press the dough down flat before baking and extend the baking time by a few minutes, keeping a close eye to prevent burning. This will result in a crispier texture.
✌️My faves to serve with vegan oatmeal cookies:
For just $1: Take a fun vegan dessert cooking class with Cinnamon Snail's Chef Adam Sobel and Chef Amanda Bankert from Boneshaker, Paris.
Crispy, Perfect Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened plant-based milk
- 1 tablespoon tapioca starch arrowroot, or cornstarch
- ½ cup vegan butter room temperate
- ⅔ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon molasses
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cup quick oats
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup raisins or cranberries
Optional Fun Stuff:
- ½ cup chopped walnuts
- ¼ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
- In a small bowl, combine the unsweetened plant-based milk with tapioca starch, arrowroot, or cornstarch. Stir until well mixed and set aside. This mixture will help bind the cookies together.
- In a large mixing bowl, or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the vegan butter, sugar, molasses vanilla extract, and plant-based milk slurry. Mix for about 2 minutes until everything is fluffy and smoothly creamed.
- Sift the all-purpose flour into the butter mixture, then add the quick oats, cinnamon, ground cloves, baking soda, and salt. Stir until just combined, being careful not to overmix.
- Fold in the raisins or cranberries. For Vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, add a handful of dairy-free semisweet chocolate chips. Add chopped walnuts or pecans if you like.
- Using a spoon or a clean, slightly wet hand, drop cookie dough balls onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart to allow for spreading. Press the cookies flat using a wet palm if you like a thinner, crispier cookie. My preference is to make these on the smaller size with roughly 4-5 teaspoons of dough each. For sure you can make them larger, but will need an extra minute or two of baking time to accommodate the larger size.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 11 to 13 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the centers are set. Be sure to watch them closely towards the end of baking time to prevent over-browning.
- Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. This resting period helps the cookies set and makes them easier to move without breaking.
Notes
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Cinnamon Snail.
cynthia Lynn Khan says
I only have spelt, bread, and whole wheat flour can i still use either of these flours or is all-purpose it?
Adam Sobel says
If your spelt is white spelt, that will work great. I mean it might still work with any of them, but white spelt will be the closest to AP flour.
Cynthia says
I love these! I have now made them twice. I tried substituting half the vegan butter with 1/2 cup peanut butter, and i added the raisin, chocolate chips AND walnuts. The batter didn't hold together and, while delicious, the cookies are very crumbly. Do you have any suggestions what I can do to hold them together more? I was thinking of doubling the milk and cornstarch. Any other ideas?
Alex C. says
I left out the raisins (my wife doesn't like them) and added some white chocolate chips, because we have a ton of them in the pantry. I think I ended up overcooking the cookies because I was waiting for the edges to turn golden brown (per the instructions), but the color never really changed. The end result is cookies that are a bit too dry for my taste.
Paige Davis says
These have a wonderful flavor and texture, and I love how customizable the recipe is depending on how chewy or crispy you prefer your cookies. I added a mix of golden and dark raisins, and they were scrumptious! I used your tip of putting a baking stone between the heating element and my cookie sheet, and everything came out so nice and evenly golden! Thank you, Chef Adam.
Gail says
Perfect.
I gave some in the batch to a professional (nonvegan) baker and she deemed them “amazing!!!”
Melinda says
Made these cookies with cranberries and walnuts, they are wonderful. Crispy outside with a tender-chewy texture. The best oatmeal cookie recipe! You would never miss the eggs or butter!
Anna Musan-Levi says
IT IS SO YUMMY!
Robyn says
Chef Adam has struck again! These are officially my new favorite cookie. I made ‘m with currants and am so glad that I did — they added just the right amount of opposing texture. So addicting and delicious!!
Adam Sobel says
So glad you love these Robyn. I am a downright fiend for a good oatmeal cookie, and so many aren't that great. So I put a ton of time into testing to get these just the way I like 'em.
Chrissy Mac says
Oh … this were good! I added raisins and chocolate chips - next time I will add wants too. Crispy and delicious!
Sherry says
Hi Adam, and thanks for this recipe: what would you say to using potato starch instead of tapioca?
Adam Sobel says
I'm literally eating one of these cookies as I type this to you!
I haven't tried it with potato starch in place of tapioca, but I would be shocked if it didn't work out pretty much the exact same way.
Please let me know how it goes if you give it a shot.
Sherry says
Will do - thanks for a quick answer!
Tammy says
The print button is invisible after you press the one on the recipe. You just tap right next to the go back button and it'll turn into a PDF. Thank you.
Adam Sobel says
Thanks for letting me know. Just so I can trouble shoot this issue, what kind of browser and device are you experiencing this issue on?