Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
These Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies are extra soft, thick, chewy, and studded with gooey chocolate morsels!
These chocolate chip oatmeal cookies are reminiscent of the old favorite oatmeal chocolate cookie recipes you may have grown up with. They are soft, tender cookies with a nice chew and tons of flavor!
You can share them with friends, family, and co-workers with confidence, and I bet they wouldn’t even guess that they’re vegan. I love introducing easy transitional recipes, especially desserts, and this is one of them.
So I hope you enjoy this recipe, making them often to share. Serve with a nice chilled glass of non-dairy milk, and watch them disappear!
And FYI, they make great gifts all boxed up with a bow!
Ingredients You’ll Need
Here’s everything you’ll need, plus ideas on making substitutions when needed:
- Oats – old-fashioned or quick oats work here.
- Flour – light spelt flour, all-purpose, oat, pastry, and white whole wheat flour are great too.
- Sugar – Use coconut sugar or organic cane sugar – I used coconut sugar here.
- Cinnamon – optional, but adds great flavor.
- Baking soda – baking powder works in a pinch too.
- Salt – just a pinch, or make it optional
- Coconut oil – use room temp, also vegan butter works well. For oil-free try unsweetened applesauce!
- Banana or flax eggs – I love using banana, but the flax is good too.
- Unsweetened almond milk or pure maple syrup – either one, use maple for a sweeter cookie.
- Vanilla extract – adds a lovely flavor. I ♡ Ashlae of Oh Lady Cakes Vanilla!
- Dark chocolate chips (Ghirardelli 72% or Enjoy Life)
How To Make Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
There’s only a few steps needed for homemade soft, thick and chewy vegan cookies:
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine the wet ingredients first. In a large bowl, stir the sugar and coconut oil until creamy smooth. Stir in vanilla and banana/flax egg until light and blend well.
- Stir in the dry ingredients. Add in flour, baking soda, and salt, and mix well (above left). Next, stir in oats and chocolate chips (below left).
- Scoop and bake. Scoop up large rounded tablespoons of dough and place them on a cookie sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper, about 1 1/2 – 2 inches apart (below right). Bake in the oven for 10 – 13 minutes.
Once your cookies cool, you’re ready to enjoy!
Recommended Equipment: I love this silpat or parchment paper to line my baking sheets. And using a 3 tablespoon trigger cookie scoop (<affiliate links) helps keep the cookies uniform when scooping.
Tips For Baking Cookies
- Scoop flour with a spoon. When measuring flour, never scoop it out of the bag or container with the measuring cup. Instead, spoon it into your measuring cup and level it off with the back of a knife.
- Don’t overbake! To achieve a deliciously super soft and chewy texture, slightly underbake the cookies. Over-baked oatmeal cookies tend to be dry and hard, losing their chewy texture. I usually cook these cookies for 11 -12 min max., but ovens vary, so adjust as necessary. When ready, cookies will look brown around the edges and look a bit undone on top but will change appearance after a few minutes of cooling and be perfect.
- Use a trigger cookie scoop. The oatmeal cookie dough is soft, chunky, and pretty sticky. Use a cookie scoop to keep the mess to a minimum while also keeping the cookies uniform in shape, which helps them bake evenly.
- This recipe can easily be cut in half or doubled if needed.
How To Store
Oatmeal cookies can be stored in an airtight container on the counter for 5 days. They’ll keep longer if stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks and up to 2- 3 months in the freezer.
Can I Freeze Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies?
Absolutely! To freeze baked cookies, let them cool completely, then place them in the freezer on a cookie sheet until frozen. Once frozen, place the cookies in freezer bags or freezer-safe containers with parchment paper between the layers. Freeze cookies for up to 3 months.
To freeze unbaked cookies, place the shaped cookie dough balls on a baking sheet and freeze until solid. Next, place frozen dough balls in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container. When ready to bake, no thawing needed, place the frozen dough on a lined baking sheet and bake for 12 – 15 minutes.
More Vegan Cookie Recipes!
- 1 Bowl Peanut Butter Cookies
- Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Almond Butter Cookies with only 4 ingredients
- Almond Flour Salted Pecan Sandies with chocolate chips
- Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Coconut Macaroons
If you try this vegan cookie recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment and rate it below. I love to hear what you think, or any changes you make.
PrintVegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
A classic chocolate chip oatmeal cookie made vegan. It’s a true crowd-pleaser that’s so easy and delicious!
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 20 min
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: Makes 24 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert, Cookie
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: American, Vegan
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (156g) coconut oil, at room temp (use vegan butter or unsweetened applesauce)
- 3/4 cup (150g) coconut sugar or organic cane sugar
- 1/2 large banana, mashed (or 2 flax eggs, see instructions)
- 1/4 cup (60ml) unsweetened almond milk or pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups (153g) spelt flour (all-purpose, pastry, oat and white whole wheat ok too)*
- 1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda (baking powder also works)
- generous pinch of salt
- 2 1/2 cups (240g) oats, old fashioned or quick
- 1 cup (175g) dark chocolate or carob chips (I love Enjoy Life)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Flax eggs: If using flax eggs, in a small bowl combine 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal + 6 tablespoons water. Set aside for at least 10 minutes to gel up. If using banana, in small bowl mash your banana as smooth as possible, set aside.
Cream together oil & sugar: In a large mixing bowl, combine coconut oil and sugar, mix well, making sure there are no lumps of oil.
Add wet ingredients: Add in mashed banana/flax egg, non-dairy milk or maple syrup, and vanilla.
Add dry ingredients: Add the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt, mix well to combine scraping the bottom to make sure there are no flour clumps. Add in the oats and mix well. Lastly, add in chocolate chips, mix again.
Scoop dough: Line a cookie/baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper. Scoop out rounded tablespoons of mixture and place on baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart.
Bake: Place baking sheet in the oven and bake for 10 – 13 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. Remove from oven, let cool a few minutes and enjoy.
Makes approx. 24 cookies
Store: Cookies can be stored in an airtight container on the counter for 5 days. They’ll keep longer if stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. You can freeze your cookies for up to 2 months (see notes).
Notes
*If baking with grams, flours vary widely, see this guide for flour conversions: Ingredient Weight Chart
Adjust the sugar amount to suit your taste. These would still be great but a little less sweet using 1/2 – 2/3 cup sugar, especially if using the maple syrup.
Try adding 1 tablespoon molasses for another layer of flavor.
When measuring flour, never scoop it out of the bag or container with the measuring cup. Instead, spoon it into your measuring cup and level it off with the back of a knife.
To achieve a delicious super soft and chewy texture, just slightly under bake the cookies. Over-baked oatmeal cookies tend to be hard, losing their chewy texture.
I usually cook these cookies for 10 min. max., but ovens vary so you may need an extra minute or two. Cookies will look slightly underdone after 10 minutes, but will change appearance after a few minutes of cooling and be perfect.
The dough is soft, chunky, and pretty sticky. Using a cookie scoop will keep the mess to a minimum. It also keeps the cookies uniform, helping them to bake evenly.
This recipe can easily be cut in half, or doubled, if needed.
How To Freeze Cookies:
To freeze baked cookies, let them cool completely, then place them in the freezer on a cookie sheet sheet until frozen. Once frozen, place the cookies in freezer bags or freezer safe container with parchment paper between the layers. Freeze cookies for up to 3 months.
To freeze unbaked cookies, simply place the shaped cookie dough balls on a baking sheet and freeze until solid. Place frozen dough balls in a freezer bag or freezer safe container. When ready to bake, no thawing needed, simply place the frozen dough on a lined baking sheet and bake for 12 – 15 minutes.
Recommended Equipment: I love this silpat or parchment paper to line my baking sheets. And using a 3 tablespoon trigger cookie scoop (affiliate links) helps keep the cookies uniform when scooping.
Updated: This post was first published in May 2014 and updated in Aug. 2019 with new photos and helpful tips. The recipe was modified reducing the oats to 2 1/2 cups instead of 3 cups. Enjoy the updated recipe and let me know what you think!
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These are delicious! I found this recipe this morning (and I’m actually chewing on one as I type 😂). I’ve tried so many other vegan choc chip oat cookies and they’re so dense but these are light and super moist. This is now saved in my favourites, thank you :)
Just made this cookies and they are delicious :)
I added only 120g sugar but still think it’s a bit too sweet for me. Can I add even less for my next attempt? Also, if I reduce the amount of oil (and sugar) but the rest of the ingredients remain the same, will that affect the texture? I like how crunchy and soft it is now but would love it more if I can use less oil.
Thank you so much for this :)
I made them with oat flour and put in walnuts raisins and chocolate chips 😋 very tasty a bit crumbly but I think it’s on me for putting in extra stuff these are my go to from now on! I’m wondering if I can use chickpea flours as my son doesn’t eat grains🤔
Thank YOU for this recipe😋
Okay seriously these are the BEST cookies ever!! I’ve made them probably like 10 times since discovering this recipe over the summer. All of my non vegan friends are obsessed with them!
Thanks for sharing, Shadin! Cheers to 10 more times! :)
Thank you! These are AMAZING! Simply perfect. I actually replaced the chocolate chips with raisins, but I don’t think that there’s any way that this recipe could ever be anything but the best!
I made exactly as the recipe stated with a lesser amount of sugar and they didn’t spread at all when baking :( came out as cooked cookie balls. Do you know why this could have happened? Love all of your recipes (Your snickerdoodles are my family’s favorite!)
You may try to flatten and shape them a bit before baking. I’ve had that happen too, when sometimes they turn out more like mounds – still delicious – but not flat as you may expect. Hope that helps!
You used less sugar I imagine. I followed this recipe to the T & had amazing outcome with my cookies.
My daughter made them a few weeks ago and I was really impressed. I made them this afternoon. Super easy and really delicious. My new go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. They must be healthy – they have oatmeal in them :)
These are excellent. Thanks very much. I used AP flour and baked them longer than recommended, and they turned out perfect, just a little crispy. If I’d cooked them for the recipe’s given time they would have been chewy, so I don’t know what the people who find them dry are doing.
Note that I clicked the button for a double batch and not all quantities changed accordingly (specifically the flour and the flax eggs). Could have been disastrous if I hadn’t noticed.
One minor note: typically recipes list the ingredients in the order they’re used in the instructions. I found it annoying to have to keep searching through the list to find the amounts. Also, while I’m nit-picking, if there’s a way to display ingredient in two columns, the quantity in one and the name of the ingredient in the other, that also helps the eye find an item in the list.
Thanks for sharing, Miles! Glad they turned out well for you! Also, I updated the recipe with the ingredients in order (not sure why I didn’t do that earlier). Cheers :)
Hi, HELP! I added too much almond milk – how can I fix it? I added 3/4 C instead of 1/4, Don’t know here my head was.
Should I add more flour? Thanks!
You can try adding more flour and oats, starting with 1/4 cup of each. You may also want to add a little more sugar. I hope that helps!
These were amazing!! I used the apple sauce instead of coconut oil, the flax egg option instead of the banana, I used oat flour as well as the additional oats. Turned out amazing. Mine did not grow so I shaped them how I wanted them to be.