It rarely rains in LA, but when it does, I feel a strong urge to bake!
So when I was assembling all my cookie ingredients on our most recent rainy day and realized I had no butter or eggs, I knew there was only one thing to do: Make vegan cookies.
I don’t think I’ve ever made vegan cookies before. But in my experience, cookies are pretty forgiving and thus a good place to try something different.
And these cookies? Well, they barely lasted a day. And when I mentioned to my husband (after he’d eaten 10) that they were vegan, he enthusiastically raised his hand and said “Oh I’ll be vegan!”
I guess the moral of the story is you really can’t go wrong with chocolate and oats, especially when they’re bound together with sugar and coconut oil 🙂
So vegan or not, I highly recommend adding these to your rainy day cookie rotation. They’ll forever be in mine!
- 1 Tbsp flaxseed meal
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ cup flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¾ cup quick oats
- ¾ cup vegan dark chocolate, chopped (or vegan chocolate chips)
- Mix flaxseed meal with 3 Tbsp water and let sit for 5 minutes, or until thickened.
- In a mixing bowl, cream together coconut oil, sugars and vanilla. Stir in flaxseed + water mixture.
- In a separate bowl, gently combine flour, baking soda, salt and oats.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet, then stir in the chocolate.
- Place dough in the fridge for 20-30 minutes or until firm.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Use your hands to roll small spoonfuls of dough into small balls, then place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, 2 inches apart.
- Bake cookies for about 11 minutes. Let cool on the baking sheet at least 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack
29 Comments
Jennifer
May 15, 2015 at 12:23 pmI love your blog! Please check out mine and let’s connect.
Shawn
May 19, 2015 at 10:43 amI noticed you are now in support of saturated fats from full-fat dairy and coconut. Is it still healthier to choose fats such as olive oil and avocado over saturated fats? There seems to be so much confusion lately over what is actually best for health…
Thanks Amelia!!
Amelia Winslow
May 20, 2015 at 9:52 pmWhat I recommend and do myself, is to eat mostly plant-based unsaturated fats like olive oil, avocado, nuts, etc. These have been proven to be healthy in countless studies and are key fats in some of the healthiest populations around the world. Saturated fats like coconut oil, butter, full-fat dairy and meat can be healthy too, if you’re buying high quality products (like organic and pasture-raised), but these should be secondary to the unsaturated fats since their benefits are still debated.
Great question, Shawn – so true that this is a confusing topic!
Catherine
May 21, 2015 at 11:25 pmHow can you go wrong with a healthier chocolate chip cookie?! These look perfect to me! xo, Catherine
DessertForTwo
May 22, 2015 at 5:31 amI’ve been looking for vegan cookie recipes, yum!
Melissa
June 9, 2015 at 8:44 amThese look great! What kind of flour do you recommend using? If I want to do whole wheat, should I do whole wheat pastry flour or just regular whole wheat flour?
Amelia Winslow
June 9, 2015 at 11:57 amWhen I make cookies whole wheat, I like to use whole wheat pastry flour – I find the cookies turn out chewier and more moist. Let me know how it goes!
Alyse
October 21, 2015 at 8:10 pmMine did not turn out at all like the photos. They taste delicious nonetheless; but the dough did not stick together well and after being packed into little balls, did not melt into an attractive cookie shape ?
Amelia Winslow
October 22, 2015 at 1:27 pmHi Alyse, I’m so sorry to hear that. Did you refrigerate the dough before baking? The dough does need to get pretty cold before shaping into balls, otherwise it doesn’t hold together. Let me know and I’ll test again to make sure the chilling time is sufficient. Thanks for leaving a comment and I am sorry about your experience
Megan
January 30, 2016 at 4:40 amJust made these today – amazing! Super easy, only I used 3/4 a banana instead of flaxseed. Wish they came out a bit bigger though. I’m from the UK so used bicarbonate of soda – should I have used baking powder to get them to expand a bit more?
Amelia Winslow
January 31, 2016 at 8:34 pmI’m so glad you liked them, Megan! If you want them to spread out more, you can press them down a little with your fingers before baking. Adding baking powder would actually make them puffier & more cake-like.
Jackie Ford
June 26, 2016 at 7:38 pmI made these and they came out perfect. I used gluten free oats and flour. I also replaced the white sugar with organic cane sugar. They were so good that I made a 2nd batch with raisins and we love them, Thanks for sharing this great recipe. I will make these again!
Amelia Winslow
July 1, 2016 at 11:54 amSo happy to hear you liked them, Jackie! We like them with raisins, too. Yum.
Elizabeth K
July 14, 2016 at 2:49 pmThese sound really yummy, but I don’t have any flaxseed on hand. What would you recommend as a replacement that is still compliant with the vegan lifestyle? Thanks in advance!
Amelia Winslow
July 15, 2016 at 1:07 pmHmm…unfortunately I’m not familiar with other egg replacers. I’m guessing any of the vegan egg replacement powders would work, but I can’t be sure since I’ve only ever used flax seed. Perhaps 3 Tbsp applesauce or coconut yogurt?
Em
November 27, 2016 at 7:24 pmHow much water? One of the steps says plus water mixture. I’m in the middle of making the dough and I’m not sure how much water. I can’t find it in the instructions. Am I missing something? Thanks you!
Amelia Winslow
November 27, 2016 at 10:25 pmHi Em, it’s 3 Tbsp of water that you e mixed with the flaxseed meal in step 1. Sorry this wasn’t clear! I’ll rewrite the directions so there is less confusion. Hope you enjoy the cookies!
Emma-lee Hacker
January 3, 2017 at 10:39 amJust made these last night! They are by far the best vegan cookies I’ve ever made!! I’m gluten free, so I used half tapioca starch and half white rice flour. Also, I didn’t have any flaxseed meal on hand (also not a huge fan of the taste) so instead I used the same amount of ground chia seeds with water. It worked perfectly! The only thing I would change for next time is a little less baking soda – the 1/2 tsp. seemed overpowering. Wonderful recipe!! Thanks for sharing <3
Amelia Winslow
January 3, 2017 at 11:33 pmI’m so glad to hear this, Emma-lee! Thanks for letting me know! They are a favorite of ours too 🙂
Hilary
April 25, 2017 at 9:26 amcan I use 3/4 cup of flour and 1/2 of oats instead of 1/2 of flourand 3/4 cup of oats?
Amelia Winslow
April 25, 2017 at 10:32 amHi Hilary, I haven’t tested the recipe that way, so I’m not sure how that swap would affect the texture of the cookies. But you’re of course welcome to try. Let me know if you do!
Teri
April 26, 2017 at 7:07 amHey Amelia! can I use buckwheat flour instead of flour?
Amelia Winslow
April 26, 2017 at 10:05 amHi Teri – I haven’t tried that, but if you have experience swapping buckwheat flour for wheat flour, and it’s an even swap, go for it!
Lily
April 27, 2017 at 7:22 pmHello there! is a hand mixer ot stand mixer needed to ceeam the coconout oil with sugar and vainila? or its okay with a spoon?
Amelia Winslow
April 28, 2017 at 2:16 pmI usually use a stand mixer for cookies, but a hand mixer would be fine too. I’m sure a spoon would work – though creaming the oil + sugar probably creates the best texture. Thanks for reading, Lily!
Erin
August 28, 2017 at 2:07 pmYUM! I just made these and i added some toasted almonds and a little extra crack of sea salt on top of each cookie. These are amazing!
Amelia Winslow
September 1, 2017 at 2:11 pmAdding almonds and sea salt sounds so good!
Nikki Ross
May 26, 2018 at 9:29 amThese were lovely! Mine turned out just like your photos. Thank you for sharing this great plant-based recipe!
Dr. Erica
June 11, 2018 at 1:29 pmThank you. I loved this recipe! I aded 1 TBSP of Brewers Yeast to help with breastfeeding and couldn’t taste it!! 🙂