A delicious cookie that’s both vegan and packed with wholesome ingredients? Yep! These vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookies combine the heartiness of oats with rich, melty chocolate for the perfect guilt-free treat. Whether you’re vegan or just love a good cookie, this recipe become a favorite in no time!
Why You’ll Love This Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
I love being able to share recipes that are delicious, easy, and just so happen to be good for you recipes. Take these vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, for example. Using a base of walnuts, maple syrup, and a touch of coconut oil in place of butter and regular eggs, these are just darn tasty and not-so-shabby, nutritionally speaking.
Like many cookie recipes, you can make the dough several days in advance and keep it covered in the refrigerator. Take it out when you’re ready to bake and scoop it onto your cookie sheets.
They are full of fiber and contain no refined sugar. No animal products either, if that’s important to you. You can even make them gluten-free by using gluten-free oats. Serve them with a glass of your favorite non-dairy milk and enjoy every last bite!
Ingredient Notes
These really are the best vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. With simple ingredients and 15 minutes of baking time, these vegan cookies have the perfect texture and are full of ooey gooey goodness.
- oat flour: You can easily make your own oat flour. See step 2 in the recipe card.
- baking soda
- fine grain sea salt
- ground cinnamon
- raw walnuts or walnut meal: You can also use raw cashews/cashew meal or raw pecans/pecan meal.
- melted coconut oil or olive oil or avocado oil
- 100% pure maple syrup
- vanilla extract
- rolled oats: To make this recipe gluten-free, make sure to use gluten-free rolled oats. For best results, use old-fashioned rolled oats, though quick oats will work in a pinch.
- vegan chocolate chips
See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Step 2: *If you need to make oat flour, place 1 ¾ cups rolled oats in a food processor and process until powdery.
Step 3: Place the dry ingredients: oat flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl and whisk together.
Step 4: Place walnuts in a food processor and blend into a fine meal. Add oil, maple syrup, and vanilla and process until the mixture has the consistency of natural nut butter (this serves as our egg replacer!)
Step 5: Stir walnut mixture into flour mixture. Fold in 2 cups of rolled oats and chocolate chips.
Step 6: Use a 1 ¾ -inch ice cream scooper (or cookie scoop) to form dough into balls, and place the cookie dough balls on the parchment lined baking sheet. You can fit 12 on a sheet. Flatten cookies slightly with a damp hand. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until cookies begin to turn golden brown and the tops look dry.
Step 7: Cool for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe Tips & Substitutions
- Mix-ins: Feel free to add other mix-ins such as shredded coconut, chopped nuts, or additional chocolate chunks or chips.
- Oil: I prefer oil in this recipe, but you can use vegan butter if that’s what you have on hand.
- Make your own Oat Flour: If you need to make oat flour, place 1 ¾ cups of rolled oats in a food processor and process until powdery.
Storage Tips
Store baked leftover cookies in an airtight container for up to a week at room temperature. For longer storage, let the cookies cool completely on the cooling rack. Then, store the cooled and baked cookies in a freezer-safe container or freezer bag for up to 3 months.
If you have leftover dough, store it in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 3-4 days.
To freeze the cookies unbaked: Arrange them in a single layer on the baking sheet and place the pan in the freezer. Once the cookies are frozen solid, transfer them to an airtight container and keep them frozen until you’re ready to bake. Then just place them on a prepared baking sheet directly from the freezer and add another minute or two to the baking time.
More Vegan Cookie Recipes
- Vegan Thumbprint Cookies
- Chocolate Hazelnut Cookies
- Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Cookies
- Carrot Cake Oatmeal Cookies
- Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal Cookies
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Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups oat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 cups raw walnuts or walnut meal, or cashews/cashew meal or pecan/pecan meal
- 3 Tablespoons melted coconut oil or olive oil or avocado oil
- 1 cup 100% pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 12 ounces or 1 ½ cups chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- *If you need to make oat flour, place 1 ¾ cups rolled oats in a food processor and process until powdery.
- Place oat flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a mixing bowl and whisk together.
- Place walnuts in a food processor and blend into a fine meal. Add oil, maple syrup and vanilla and process until mixture has the consistency of natural nut butter.
- Stir walnut mixture into flour mixture. Fold in 2 cups rolled oats and chocolate chips.
- Use a 1 ¾ -inch ice cream scooper to form dough into balls, and place on baking sheets. You can fit 12 on a sheet. Flatten cookies slightly with a damp hand. Bake 13-15 minutes or until cookies begin to brown and tops look dry.
- Cool a few minutes and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Store baked leftover cookies in an airtight container for up to a week at room temperature. For longer storage, let the cookies cool completely on the cooling rack. Then, store the cooled and baked cookies in a freezer-safe container or freezer bag for up to 3 months.
- If you have leftover dough, store it in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 3-4 days.
- To freeze the cookies unbaked: Arrange them in a single layer on the baking sheet and place the pan in the freezer. Once the cookies are frozen solid, transfer them to an airtight container and keep them frozen until you're ready to bake. Then just place them on a prepared baking sheet directly from the freezer and add another minute or two to the baking time.
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I made these with spelt flour instead of oat and 1 3/4 cups almond meal instead of walnuts with 1/2 cup dried cherries and 3/4 cups chocolate chips (half bittersweet, half semi sweet). They were delicious! Even my husband, who turned up his nose at them at first, ate three enthusiastically!
I’m so grateful for your comment, Alex. I love knowing different ways to go with these recipes. Your version sounds amazing!
Hi Pamela,
This recipe sounds fantastic. I was wondering if you use oat flour with other recipes in place of all-purpose or whole wheat flour? I have never used/made oat flour, so I am curious.
Thanks!
I have successfully used oat flour to make pancakes, waffles, brownies and these cookies (which are scrumptious!). I wouldn’t recommend subbing oat flour for wheat flour in just any recipe, however. Oat flour lacks the gluten that wheat does. If you want to come up with a gluten-free flour blend using oat flour, you would add in some potato starch, tapioca starch and some xanthan gum. Let me know if you would like exact proportions. 🙂
BEST COOKIES EVER! It’s almost like you knew I didn’t have oat flour. Thanks for the quick tip on how to make my own!
Have you considered adding some videos to the article? I think it will really enhance everyones understanding.
These are ridiculously delicious! I have had some very “non-healthy” friends make requests for batches of them and my family just flips over them! Terrific cookie recipe! Yummmm!
They’re delicious, I agree! I have also halved the amount of chocolate chips and added dried cherries too — insane.
can u make these without nuts Im out right now and this recipe sounds so good
ok never mind I just re read the recipe I have almond flour on the way so will wait till it comes in a few days that should work right?
It looks like the comment from Andrea below shows she made them successfully with whole almonds instead of walnuts, but I’m not sure what the quantity would be with almond meal since I haven’t done it myself. Let me know if you give it a try!
BEST COOKIES EVER. PERIOD. And I don’t just mean compared to other “healthy” recipes – these cookies can take on any cookie recipe on the planet and win. My kids are crazy for them and I’ve baked them for all sorts of people around town who are equally smitten. Thanks Pamela!!
Awesome, Amanda!! Love your comment 🙂
These might just be the best cookies I have ever made! I made them to bring to a friend as a hostess gift for a brunch tomorrow. I hope we have some left to give!
Thanks, Rebecca — we all adore them here, too. Such a nice idea to bring them as a hostess gift!
This is the go to recipe for cookies in our house. We have been making them with 3/4 cups of maple syrup instead of 1 cup. They are still delicious and sweet and I am happy because my kids are getting slightly less sugar!
So good to hear that your kids find them sweet enough with less maple syrup. You’re obviously doing something right!
These are SUPER delicious! Everyone who has tried them adores them. And for a dessert, not too shabby.
I substituted almonds for walnuts, as I didn’t have walnuts. I used raw almonds with the skins on (no time for soaking), and they turned out delicious!
People have asked me if almonds would work instead of walnuts and I have always assumed they would, but I have never tried it. Thanks so much for posting!