This week I had a request from a local customer who wanted to purchase vegan oatmeal cookies. He said that he has been looking for a vegan oatmeal cookie that would obtain the approval of his children.
The only specification was that they could not have chocolate chips which is normally how his kids prefer oatmeal raisin cookies.
Not wanting to crush his dreams and tell him I actually didn’t have a vegan oatmeal cookie recipe in my ‘baking holster’, I smiled and said, ‘Of course I can make you some oatmeal raisins cookies. No problem!’
I knew I had some work to do. *gulp.
Batch #1 was an excellent attempt, but not quite there yet.
Batch #2 had me hook, line, and sinker.
That wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
The Ultimate Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookie
Inspired by Salt Kissed Chunky PB Chocolate Chip Cookies & Vegetarian Times.
Ingredients:
- 1 & 3/4 cups walnuts, toasted
- 2 cups regular oats, divided
- 3/4 cup white Kamut flour (other flours probably work!)
- 1/2 cup Sucanat (or brown sugar)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 tbsp almond milk
- 3.5 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup raisins
Directions: Preheat oven to 350F and grease a baking sheet. Place 1.75 cups of walnuts on the baking sheet. Toast walnuts in oven for about 10-12 minutes, until golden in colour. Watch carefully so as not to burn. When walnuts are toasted remove from oven and cool for a few minutes. Dump walnuts into food processor and process until just finely ground, no more. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, 1 cup oats, cinnamon, and Sucanat (or brown sugar). Now add the dry ingredients to the food processor and process for about 20-30 seconds until mixed. In a small bowl add the coconut oil and microwave for 20 seconds to soften (if necessary). In the same bowl, stir in the maple syrup, almond milk, and vanilla, and pour into food processor. Process until the mixture is thoroughly combined. Remove bowl from processor and dump contents into a large bowl. Mix in the remaining 1 cup of oats by stirring or with hands. Fold in the 2/3 cup of raisins. Take about 2 tbsp of dough, make a ball, and then flatten with fingers. Place on cookie sheet. Repeat. Bake for 10 minutes at 350F and no longer. Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes before placing onto a cooling rack for 10-15 minutes. Makes about 16 large cookies.
This was my first time baking with Kamut flour!
Kamut (pronounced ka-moot) is an ancient whole grain cultivated by the Egyptians in 8,000 B.C.
Like spelt, it may be a healthy alternative for people who are sensitive to wheat products. The benefit of Kamut over spelt flour is that Kamut is much lighter than spelt and won’t weigh the baked goods down. I have been excited to try it out ever since my friend Heather told me about it!
I bought some white Kamut flour and some whole grain Kamut flour. I started with the white Kamut flour first to ‘test the waters’.
After grinding the toasted walnuts and then processing with the dry ingredients…
Next, I processed in the wet ingredients and then folded in the oats and raisins…
=> the most delicious & rich & buttery cookie dough in the world.
Baking for just 10 minutes (not a second longer!) at 350F.
Damn.
The result was the most delicious oatmeal raisin cookie I think I have ever tasted. The toasted walnuts were magnificent and I am so glad I toasted them. The recipe is slightly ‘fussy’ but well worth the effort and it still didn’t take longer than about 35-40 minutes or so.
I have a feeling my customer’s kids will love these cookies.
Eric was silent for a while as he ate one and his eyes went into a far off daze. After snapping him out of it, he said, ‘These are incredible…mmmm…..’ and then he went back into a daze as he ate them.
He hasn’t been the same since.
I’m going to give my customer this batch on the house so he can test them out and see how they all like them.
I also made some mini cookies- just 1 inch in diameter (but they look much bigger in this deceiving picture!)
Mini cookies are fun for lunches when you want just a little something sweet.
Or you can go big or go home. ;)
Food for thought: If you could have one recipe made healthier and/or vegan what would it be?
Totally have to try this- just made flourless oatmeal cookies which turned out really well :)
raisins need to be organic…sugar needs to be organic…why doesnt anyone specify this when theyre baking ‘vegan’…being vegan and using what needs! to be organic is important (im a chef)
For the no-nut crowd: We have that situation in my house. I swapped the walnuts for 3/4 of a cup of ground flax (omega-3 is swappable, right?), and the almond milk for applesauce (because of course somebody had just polished off the rice milk and couldn’t leave two measly tablespoons), and I played with the flour a bit to eyeball the consistency in Angela’s photos. Results: the batter was delicious (and this could easily become a no-bake thing in my impatient world), and the cookies baked up (9 minutes instead of 10), but of course they are more dense. But for something tasty, vegan and won’t cause an allergic reaction, I call it a win the first time out.
Please tell me how many calories this Oatmeal Cookie has in it. Really trying to cut out sugar.
Angela,
these are delicious, thank you for sharing. I have made them twice in less than a week time.
My question is, how big are you making yours, or better, how thin, as I manage to make approx 13. decent size cookies, but maybe i make them too thick? Maybe an idea of the diameter? I used this time a ice cream spoon to measure out the dough.
Thank you :)
Elisa
Just took these out of the oven and they smell divine! Super easy to make as well. I substituted the Kamut flour for a gluten free baking mix I had on hand. I also really like the addition of walnuts in this recipe!
Thanks so much for the recipe! I made a batch for my mom’s temple – being Buddhist, it had to be completely vegan, which I thought would be a huge challenge. Your recipe was the perfect solution – they loved it! In fact, they loved it so much that they’ve asked me to donate/volunteer another 30 dozen of them for a big temple event in 1.5 weeks.. my oven’s going to be working overtime this week ;)
What could I substitute for the walnut? My daughter is allergic to dairy, eggs and nuts…
I love your recipes….. but, please, as one who advocates for healthy food, don’t use microwaves. I recommend you do some research on this. Much love.
well you’d be happy to know that I haven’t had one in my kitchen for over 2 years. :)
So happy to hear that! Hurray! :)
I made these for my b/f today…. Wow, they are delicious!! Even my 12 year old likes them..
Thank you for posting your recipe…
I made these cookies and they were awesome! I substituted pecans in place of walnuts (on account of an allergy), added a chopped-up dark chocolate bar, and omitted the raisins. I also used whole grain flour because it was what I had on hand. Definitely take the advice not to bake for more than 10min on 350. The cookies were very fragile when I took them out of the oven, but they cooled to a perfectly soft and chewy texture.
Thanks for another great recipe!
Mock chicken and dumplins – favorite comfort food from the South.
I made these yesterday and they have completely disappeared! I subbed oat flour and coconut flour for the kamut, and used agave nectar as a sweetener – they came out great! Thanks for another awesome recipe. I’m also working my way through your cookbook and it’s wonderful!
These vegan cookies are sooo delicious. I used untoasted nuts (1 cup walnuts and 1 cup cashews). Satisfying taste.
OMG. These were soooooo good. I just stumbled upon your blog- as I was looking for a resource for healthy, raw, vegan foods (I am newly converted). I am an avid baker and my specialty is specialty cookies. These are fantastic. I used whole wheat flour and they turned out great. One of the best oatmeal cookies I have ever baked. Thank you!
I just made these and they are awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!! im going to make banana ice cream and make cookie sandwiches out of them!
Made these but substituted a mashed banana and dates for the brown sugar and 1/2 of the maple syrup–as I usually try to limit added sugar. Came out great!
Thank you Angela for creating this recipe! I’ve made two batches of these cookies in the last two weeks and I’ve been getting compliments left, right and centre! Everyone loves them, so crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside… And it was my first time baking cookies! All the best!
I subbed rice flour & almonds as didn’t have kamut or walnuts, added a splash extra almond milk. Result? Delicious!! The smell while baking/cooling alone was amazing! Thanks for the great recipe.
I am always testing vegan cookie recipes and these are my FAVORITE TO DATE! The walnut flour realy adds a rich flavor that vegan cookies often lack. I didn’t do all of the food processor steps, just the nuts and dry ingredients, and they were still incredible. Nutty, just sweet enough, and PERFECT :)