Chewy Vegan Oatmeal Cookies with the perfect crispy outside and melt-in-your-mouth caramel-y center. Ready in just 20 minutes for a quick and delicious sweet treat.
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I haven't told you yet but this week I'm taking a trip.
In fact, it's my first international trip in a decade! On Wednesday, I'm packing up and leaving for England where I will spend 9 glorious days hiking around the English countryside, sipping drinks in nearby pubs, and learning what it's like to drive (ride) on the left side of the road. I'm also, for the first time ever, going to be without my kids for longer than a week. So it's with a mixture of excitement and apprehension that I take off. But don't worry, the excitement is strong.
My trip means the next time you're going to hear from me (Wednesday) I'll be flying over the Atlantic Ocean. But again, don't worry. While I'm gone I'll still be popping up to share new recipes with you, like always. And before even all that, I have a new recipe for you today.
BEST EVER vegan oatmeal cookies! Chewy, sweet, and filled with cinnamon flavor and oat crunch in every bite, I feel certain that you are going to love these vegan cookies.
How to Make Vegan Oatmeal Cookies {Video}
Recommended Ingredients and Equipment
These cookies are sweet and chewy with the perfect caramel oatmeal flavor. And you’re going to love how simple they are. They can be made in just 20 minutes with 9 ingredients that you probably already have on hand.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- All-Purpose Flour – I have also made these cookies with 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour Baking Blend with great success. (<<affiliate link)
- Old-Fashioned Oats - These cookies are best made with Thick Cut Old Fashioned Oats. For gluten-free cookies, make sure to find oats that are labeled as gluten-free.
- Baking Soda
- Vegan Butter – Look for a high-quality non-hydrogenated vegan butter. I recommend either Earth Balance or Miyoko’s.
- White & Brown Sugar–
Check out my guide to vegan sugars and alternative sugar replacements.
- Applesauce - This is the binder of the recipe. You could replace it with equal amounts of mashed bananas or a variety of other egg replacers.
- Vanilla Extract
- Cinnamon
- Salt
Recommended Equipment
For all my cookie recipes, I recommend a stand-up mixer. These make whipping, beating, and blending so much easier. However, they are pricy and if they are not in your budget, you can make cookies with by hand or with a handheld mixer.
In addition, you will need basic cooking equipment including baking sheets, silicone baking mats, and a wire cooling rack. (<<affiliate links)
Check out the full list of my recommended kitchen tools and gadgets.
How to Make Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
Step One – Make the Dough
First combine the dry ingredients, whisking together until they are evenly mixed. Set aside.
In a stand-up mixer, whip both the sugars and butter until they are thick and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Next, add the applesauce and vanilla extract. Once these are added, the dough will start to look curdled. Don’t worry about this. When the dry ingredients are added, the dough will sort itself out.
Add the dry ingredients, mix until just combined, and remove the dough from the mixer.
Step Two - Chill and Bake
Before baking the cookies, place the dough in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes. This prevents them from spreading too much in the oven. Once the dough is chilled, roll it into balls about 2 tablespoons in size. Place them on a baking sheet and press them down ever so slightly with the palm of your hand.
Bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes, pulling them out when they are slightly underdone. They continue to harden as they cool. This is the secret to getting chewy, melt-in-your-mouth cookies.
Serving and Storing
Serve these cookies once they are cool.
Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Freeze leftover cookie dough for up to two months. To do this, roll all the dough into balls. Place them on a baking sheet in the freezer to freeze all the way through. Once frozen, transfer your cookie dough into a large Ziplock bag and return to the freezer. When you’re ready to bake, remove from freezer, let thaw slightly, and bake!
Tips and Tricks
- The most accurate way to measure flour is to spoon it into your measuring cup, leveling it off with the back of a knife.
- Do not overmix your batter. Overmixing allows the gluten to develop and too much gluten will give you a gummy and dense cookie.
- For cakier cookies, add an extra ¼ cup of flour and bake for 2 minutes longer. For chewier cookies, use all brown sugar and remove from the oven when slightly underdone.
- Let cookies cool on baking sheets 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack. This prevents cookies from falling apart as they cool.
- Try some variations. Add about 1 cup raisins, peanuts, chocolate chips, or pumpkin seeds to this recipe for a new flavor.
More Vegan Cookie Recipes
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Double Chocolate Cookies
- Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup vegan butter
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cup old fashioned oats
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.
- In a stand-up mixer, with the paddle attachment, cream together the vegan butter with brown and granulated sugars until thick and creamy, scraping down the sides as necessary.
- Add applesauce and vanilla extract and beat to combine. The dough may look curdled at this point.
- In a large bowl combine oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar mixer in 3 batches, scraping down the sides of the bowl between each batch. Mix until a uniform dough has formed.
- Wrap bowl in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes before baking.
- Once chilled, scoop out 2 tablespoons of dough at a time and round them between your hands. Place rounded cookies on the prepared baking sheet, about 3 inches apart from one another. Repeat until both cookie sheets are filled up. You will likely have extra dough for a 3rd sheet.
- Press each cookie down slightly with the palm of your hand and bake for 9-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. They will appear slightly underdone when you pull them out of the oven but will continue cooking on the baking sheet.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. The uncooked dough can be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Video
Notes
- The most accurate way to measure flour is to spoon it into your measuring cup, leveling it off with the back of a knife.
- For cakier cookies, add an extra ¼ cup of flour and bake for 2 minutes longer. For chewier cookies, use all brown sugar and remove from the oven when slightly underdone.
- Let cookies cool on baking sheets 10 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack. This prevents cookies from falling apart as they cool.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the
Leah says
Can I substitute oil for the vegan butter? What type of oil would you suggest?
Aimee B. says
These are perfect! My whole family loves them and they will be my go-to oatmeal cookie from now on. They aren't too sweet, which I appreciate. The only thing I did differently was to lower the salt because my vegan butter was already salted. I put in about 1/8 t. I made a half batch (ended up with 30 cookies) and baked them for about 8 minutes in my toaster oven on 350. Thank you for the wonderful recipe and the little taste of fall.
M L B says
I substituted flaxseed for the applesauce (1 tbls flaxseed to 3 tbls water), and the cookies were crispier, which is the way I prefer. This is my favorite oatmeal cookie recipe.
Michelle says
Great recipe, easy to follow, excellent instructions. I cut the sugar back to 1/2 cup brown and 1/2 cup granulated, and I think I cut it back too much. Next time I will only cut the granulated back to 1/2 cup and leave the brown at 3/4 cup. I used regular butter and quick cook oats since that is what I had on hand. I added walnuts. Then I quartered the batch and made 4 different varieties: 1) raisin 2) cranberry 3) chocolate chunk 4)peanut butter and chocolate chunk. Versatile recipe that you can adapt to what you have on hand. Thanks for the fantastic recipe!
LM says
These sound delicious! Wondering if I could sub coconut oil for the vegan butter. Would that work also?
Emma says
Instead of using vegan butter could I use almond butter?
Julie Mansius says
Thank you! I have been searching for vegan cookies that I can make that my non-vegan husband would also enjoy. These are absolutely amazing. I added raisins to the mix. My husband’s comment, “are sure these are vegan?” I think these would be amazing with vegan white chocolate chips and cranberries for the holiday season.
Gina Sullivan says
Hi! Can home made unsweetened applesauce be used? Thanks!
Sarah McMinn says
Sure. I would just puree it so that it's smooth.
Allyson says
These cookies were very delicious with the chewy texture I was craving! I added a little less than a cup of raisins & got thumbs up of approval from non-vegan family members. 🙂 Due to the fact I used salted earth balance, I did think they were a little too salty -- my family members did not think so. Next time I would reduce the amount of salt by a tiny bit!
Wanted to note that taking them out when appearing slightly underbaked did end up working great for the texture. The bottoms were browned but not burnt or anything.
Kathie says
Will you please, please make low sugar items? I read the recipes and pass on them when there is so much sugar. We are trying to eat very little sugar.
Vinny says
Should liquid be increased if using whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose? If so, by how much?