Easy vegan oatmeal cookies that are perfectly soft and chewy and come together in one bowl. These cookies use common pantry ingredients and don't need to be chilled before baking!
Simple ingredients you'll need
Notes about the ingredients
Brown sugar and regular granulated sugar. We're using a combination of sugars for the best of both worlds! The brown sugar gives an irresistible molasses flavor whereas the granulated sugar provides a more classic sweetness. Alternatively, you can use just brown sugar!
Vegan butter, of the block variety. If you only have spreadable butter, it will still work but your cookies will spread a little more! Coconut oil will work but I'd recommend adding extra salt for flavor.
Rolled oats (old fashioned oats), not quick oats.
Dairy-free milk such as soy, almond, or coconut. You can even use water! The liquid acts as a partial egg substitute as it brings the ingredients together and encourages the cookies to spread. You don't need a flax egg to make vegan cookies!
The full list of ingredient quantities and instructions are in the gray recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Preparing the cookie dough
These chewy vegan oatmeal cookies are made just like regular chocolate chip cookies! It's easiest to use an electric mixer or stand mixer but, if you don't have one, you can use a wooden spoon and a little arm power.
First, whisk the sugars and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. This aerates the cookie dough and dissolves the sugars. Once, I didn't beat the sugar properly and when I baked the cookies, the sugar separated and caramelized on the bottom... not a complete fail but it's not what we're after.
Then add your milk and vanilla extract and whisk/stir until just combined. It's okay if your mixture looks a little curdled at this point!
Next, add all your dry ingredients (except your oats) then mix until the dough comes together. By now, it should resemble a very soft cookie dough and have no lumps of butter, sugar or flour.
Lastly, add the rolled oats and beat until combined. Some of the oats will break down while mixing which is absolutely okay! Your final cookie dough should be a little tacky. If the dough is too dry, the cookies won't spread as much so I recommend adding a little milk/water if needed.
Top tips: shaping your perfect cookie!
To shape the cookies, I recommend using an ice cream scoop OR clean damp hands.
For thick cakey cookies, keep the cookie dough as balls on your cookie sheet and bake them for 10-12 minutes.
To make cookies with a soft chewy texture, slightly flatten your cookie dough balls (like below) and bake them for around 12 minutes.
If you want crispy cookies, flatten your cookie dough balls a little more than pictured below and bake them for around 15 minutes.
Optional add-ins
These cookies are amazing by themselves. However, you can also add:
- vegan chocolate chips (either dark, milk or white)
- raisins (or check out my oatmeal raisin cookies)
- cranberries
- finely shredded (desiccated) coconut or follow my vegan Anzac biscuit recipe
I recommend adding any extras at the same time as the rolled oats. You may need to add a little more milk to help bring the ingredients together.
Expert tips and substitutions
Replace the all-purpose flour with gluten-free all-purpose flour and use gluten-free rolled oats. Gluten-free flour is a little less absorbent than regular flour so you may need to add 1-2 tablespoons more flour or less milk. Make sure your final cookie dough is soft and tacky!
You can see the difference between the regular oatmeal cookies and gluten-free version in this post for Anzac biscuits.
I recommend using coconut sugar. I don't recommend using a liquid sweetener such as maple syrup as it'll be too runny for this recipe.
I haven't tested this recipe using sugar replacers like erythritol. However, from experience, cookies made with sugar replacers don't spread as easily so you will need to flatten them before baking. Some sugar replacers also don't caramelize as easily so your cookies may be paler in color.
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Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (145g) packed light brown sugar, (note 1)
- ½ cup (115g) vegan butter, room temperature (note 2)
- 2 tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar, or more brown/coconut sugar
- 2 tablespoons (30g) dairy-free milk, or water, as needed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or extra water or milk
- ¾ cup (95g) all-purpose plain flour, or gluten-free all-purpose flour (note 3)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch of salt, if using unsalted butter
- 1 ½ cups (180g) rolled oats, gluten-free, if needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Line 2 large baking trays with parchment paper.
Making the vegan oatmeal cookies:
- Add the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar to a large bowl. Use an electric hand mixer or stand mixer to beat until fluffy and well combined.
- Add the vanilla extract and milk. Beat until just combined.
- Add the flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt then mix until well combined.
- Add the oats and mix until just combined. If the mixture is dry, add an extra 1-2 tablespoons of milk and mix again.
- Use a small cookie scoop or tablespoon measure to divide the cookie dough into 15 balls (around 40g each). Arrange the balls on your lined baking sheets, leaving around 2 inches (5 cm) between each as they will spread.
- Optional: for slightly thinner cookies (like pictured), slightly flatten each ball with your fingers.
Baking the vegan oatmeal cookies:
- Bake the cookies for around 11-15 minutes (note 4). For soft chewy cookies, bake the cookies for shorter or for crispy cookies, bake them for longer. The cookies will look unbaked when you remove them from the oven, but they will continue baking on the tray. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking tray on a wire rack.
- Enjoy the cookies warm or at room temperature.
- Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week, in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Notes
- Alternatively, you may use all regular granulated sugar, dark brown or coconut sugar. The latter two sugars will make the cookies more chewy and dark in color.
- These cookies will work with spreadable vegan butter but your cookies will spread more. Use the butter chilled and add the milk at the end, only if needed. Alternatively, you may also use coconut oil for these cookies, however I recommend adding extra salt for flavor.
- Some brands of gluten-free flour absorb less than regular flour so you may need to add an extra tablespoon of gf flour. Your final cookie dough should still be a little tacky.
- If the ingredients are measured correctly, these cookies usually spread in the oven. If they don't, use a spoon to flatten the cookies after baking while they are still hot.
Nutrition
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This recipe is awesome, I always add nuts and choc chips! My boyfriend loves them!
Drooling over here! That's the best combo in my opinion!!! Thanks so much for your feedback, Jasmine!
Hi,
Can we make them crispy??
Hi Parul, yes just bake them for a few minutes more.
Yummy cookies. Had them in my oven 2 minutes to long so they are really crispy… (((;
Would like to be more knowing about how much i could reduce sugar so I could make the cookie a bit less sweeter?
Added chocolate chips and sprinkled them with sea salt flakes after baking.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR INSPIRATION!!!
Hi Katharina! It's great you enjoyed these cookies! On Instagram, it looked like your cookies spread a little too much which may be from undermeasuring the flour or overmeasuring the sugar. So, your cookies may've tasted sweeter than what they were supposed to! However, yes you can reduce the sugar - try omitting the granulated sugar or reducing the brown sugar to 2/3 cup (125g). I hope that helps!
Loved how these turned out! My dough was fairly sticky so left the balls in the refrigerator overnight and baked them the next morning to avoid them from being super flat. I like chewy cookies so went for 12 minutes. They were yum!!
That's great to hear and it sounds like you troubleshooted the cookie dough well! Thanks so much for your feedback!
I doubled this recipe and made a few tweaks (swapped the raw sugar/brown sugar proportions, added less oats but extra dried fruit, nuts and chopped chocolate) and they were PERFECTION. I baked them for longer and they are the most deliciously crunchy and tasty cookies ever. Thanks Anthea!
Oh I'm salivating! I love the sound of all your substitutions and I'm so happy that you loved these cookies Bella! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave your feedback here! x
These were so simple to make and turned out absolutely perfectly! I took them to my evening class and people didn’t realise they were vegan. A lovely recipe!
Oh that's amazing Jo!! I'm glad that you and everyone loved these cookies. Thanks so much for the review! 🙂
Hi there! The recipe sounds tasty, but I got a question. it would be possible to replace the vegan butter with oil?
Hi Leonardo! From experience, oil doesn't work exactly like butter in cookies as it's liquid. However, you may be able to replace the butter with half the amount of oil and increase it if needed. Also, try flattening them a little more before baking. Hope that helps!
Wow these turned out so good!!! Used almond flour, half overripe banana instead of butter and then coconut milk. Thank you!!
That would be sooo scrumptious and I'm so glad that you enjoyed the cookies with your substitutes :). Thanks so much for your feedback!
I added 1 Tbsp of carob unsweetened powder to have a little chocolate taste.
That sounds delicious!
This was the best recipe ever! The cookies turned out better than any “non-vegan” recipe I’ve ever tasted. They disappeared way too fast! My mom wanted to ensure I made them again so she dropped a bag of butterscotch chips off and asked me to magically turn them into those delicious cookies. Haha
That's the best feedback Missy and I'm so happy that you loved these cookies! Haha, imagine if alll choc chips turned into cookies - drooling over here! Your feedback is so motivating, thank you so much!
So fresh tasting and yet satisfies the sweet tooth. Next time may reduce sugar a little and add a dash more flour as I incorporated walnuts, coconuts and dried cranberries. Thank you for putting out an easy recipe that I could add items and taste great1
Aw that's great to hear :). I love your combination of add-ins and I understand why you'd want to reduce the sugar if you add dried cranberries! Thanks for your comment Joanie!
Hi Anthea!
I prepared these cookies today. And they are amazing! Simply the best oatmeal cookies in my life 🙂 My daughter was delighted with them as well.
I made only half of the portion today (to try). Tell me please for the future is it possible to bake cookies on two baking trays (one above another) simultaneously? Or it's better to bake only on one at a time?
Hi Alina! Aw what a compliment!! I'm stoked that you and your daughter loved these cookies.
With baking, it's better to bake them one at a time because the bottom tray doesn't get as much heat as the higher one (so the cookies don't spread as much). However, it will still work! I hope that helps 🙂
Very easy recipe to make. I was looking for vegan oatmeal cookies and found this great one. I add some different toppings: chocolate chips, blueberries, and raisins...they taste 👍 great
I love the sound of all of those toppings! I'm so glad you enjoyed these Erika 🙂
These are SO GOOD! I added chocolate chips, and will try sultanas next time. Thanks for another delicious recipe!
I'm sooo glad you enjoyed these Miriam! I think I'm going to try them with raisins next time too. Thanks so much for your comment 🙂
those look yummy. Could i substitute nut butter for the butter?
Hi Jacquie, that may work! I haven't tried so am not 100% sure so let me know if you give it a go 🙂