Easy to make chewy vegan oatmeal raisin cookies that are crispy on the edges and soft in the middle. Filled with oats, raisins, and cinnamon these will be your new family favorite.
Delicious oatmeal raisin cookies that are dairy free and egg free? Yes!
Filled with hearty oats and not as much sugar as other cookies, these can almost be called healthy. And since they are filled with fruit and oats, they are okay to enjoy for breakfast, right?
Free from: dairy, casein, eggs, fish, shellfish, soy, sesame, peanuts, tree nuts, coconut, corn, celery, and more
Cookies are some of my favorite things to make vegan and allergy friendly - everyone loves a good cookie! And while oatmeal raisin may not get as much love as a chocolate chip or sugar cookie, I think they are a classic for a good reason!
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Ingredients
Simple ingredients make these cookies easy to approach and a quick enough recipe that you can make them anytime. Here are the ingredients you need to grab from your pantry:
- Flour - All purpose flour works great here.
- Oats - Rolled oats are my favorite for this recipe. Instant oats or quick oats can turn to mush and steel cut oats can remain hard even after baking. Avoid oat flour as well.
- Raisins - These turn so sweet when you bake them up! For a slightly different taste, try using dried cranberries. Or, you can swap them out for chocolate chips for an even sweeter cookie.
- White + Brown Sugar - By having both kinds makes for a good flavor that is not overly sweet.
- Vegan Butter - Your favorite vegan stick butter works perfectly in this recipe. If you are using vegan tub butter, replace 1 tablespoon of butter with 1 tablespoon of vegetable shortening. This will make the fat ratios perfect giving you the best chewy cookie possible.
- Molasses - This gives such a depth of flavor to these cookies! Plus, it helps with the final color of them. Don’t skip this!
- Applesauce - Applesauce not only helps to keep things sweet and moist but the pectin helps to keep these cookies together, working as a second egg replacement.
- Flax seeds - The classic vegan egg replacer! This makes the cookies nice and chewy.
- Vanilla Extract
- Cinnamon
- Leaveners
Instructions
The full recipe instructions with measurements are written in the recipe card below.
Make sure you check that out and save this page so you never need to go without delicious vegan oatmeal cookies!
First, prepare your flaxseed egg. In a small bowl, place the flax seeds with the boiling water. Mix together and set aside for 5 minutes. By mixing these ingredients together you are getting a nice gel on the flaxseeds to hold the cookies together.
Prep your baking trays. I love to bake these on parchment paper for easy clean up. You can also use silicone mats or plain cookie trays. If using a plain tray, make sure to slightly grease the tray so nothing sticks.
Now, mix the dry ingredients together. In a small bowl, combine the oats, flour, leaveners, cinnamon, and salt. Give it a whisk with a fork to combine them well. Set this aside.
Time to mix the vegan butter! In a stand mixer, or a large bowl with a hand mixer, using the paddle attachment, mix together the room temperature vegan butter and both brown and white sugar. Mix this together well until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes on a medium-high speed.
Add in the flax seed mixture, vanilla, molasses, and applesauce. Let this combine.
Now add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. I like to turn the mixer off and just carefully pour the dry into the wet. Then with the mixer on low, combine all the ingredients. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure everything mixes up. Finally, add the raisins.
Scoop the cookie dough and bake! Using a rounded tablespoon, or a cookie scoop, place 12 cookies per tray. Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until the cookies are golden brown on the edges and no longer have a wet look to them. After removing them from the oven, let them cool on the baking tray for 10 minutes before removing them to a wire rack and finish cooling.
How to Store
Store baked cookies for up to one week in an airtight container. These cookies can be frozen after baking and will remain fresh for up to 3 months in a well sealed freezer safe container. Make sure you let the cookies thaw before serving after freezing.
To freeze cookie dough, prepare cookies as written. Place cookie dough balls onto a baking sheet and pop in the freezer for 30 minutes. After one hour, you can transfer the frozen cookie dough balls into a freezer safe container. I typically use a freezer bag with the recipe, baking temperature, baking time, and date I made the cookie dough on a notecard taped to the bag. Cookies will stay fresh for up to 3 months.
To bake cookie dough from frozen, preheat the oven to the written temperature and bake cookies for 2 minutes longer than written.
FAQ
Do I need to soak my raisins before?
You don’t have to, but I really like to do so. Plumping them up before hand prevents them from being overly dry after baking. To do this, place your raisins in a medium sized bowl and soak them in hot water for about 10 minutes before adding them to the cookie dough.
Can I use other dried fruit?
Yes! I love to vary up the fruit in these cookies. Honestly, my favorite way to make these is with dried cranberries and not raisins! You could also add chocolate chips. That is really yummy.
Do I need to chill the cookie dough?
No chilling is required. I pop my extra baking trays into the fridge while the first one is baking. But that isn’t required.
Can I make these gluten free?
You can. Replace the all purpose flour with your favorite gluten free flour blend. I recommend King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten free. Also, if you are looking for delicious gluten-free oatmeal raisin cookies, I have a great recipe here!
Variations
Cranberry Orange - Replace the raisins with dried cranberries. Add 1 tablespoon of fresh orange zest. Bake as directed.
Allergy Substitutions
If you’re avoiding flax seeds, replace with an equal amount of chia seeds.
If very sensitive to peanuts, make sure your vegan butter has minimal pea protein. Studies have found that pea protein can cause a cross-reaction in peanut allergies.
More vegan recipes to love
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Recipe
Equipment
- mixing bowls
- mixing spoons
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- hand mixer or stand mixer
- parchment paper
- baking trays
- Cookie scoop (optional)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
- 3 tablespoons boiling water
- ½ cup vegan butter softened
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons applesauce
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 tablespoon non-dairy milk as needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and place the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Mix the ground flax seeds and hot water in a small heat proof bowl. Set aside for 5 minutes.
- Sift together the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in rolled oats.
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer, or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the room temperature vegan butter with brown sugar and white sugar. Mix on medium speed for 5 minutes.
- Add the flax seed mixture, vanilla extract, molasses, and applesauce. Mix to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and on low speed, mix to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure everything combines. If the dough is too dry, add the optional one tablespoon of your non-dairy milk of choice. Finally add the raisins.
- Using a one tablespoon scoop, place cookie dough onto the prepared baking trays.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes or until cookies are golden brown on the bottom and don’t appear wet. Let them cool on the tray for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
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