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?
I never thought I would love oatmeal raisin cookies so much. These are phenomenal! I made a few adjustments based on what I had and they came out great. I used spelt flour and date sugar, and upped the cinnamon a tad. Thanks for the recipe!
These just came out of the oven. They are absolutely delicious. I skipped the sweeteners and subbed with 6 packages of stevia (diabetic in the family). I didn’t have any walnuts, so used sunflower seeds.
This is a keeper. Thanks for the recipe.
I made mine with sunflower seeds instead of walnuts like you did since I also had no walnuts in the cupboard. But the next day the middle of my cookies were green. Is this normal?
Yum! Do you have any gluten free flour suggestions in replace of the kamut flour because I would love to make these!! :) ????
I am blessed with not having a sweet tooth.
However, on the rare occasion that I crave something sweet, my go to is either vegan carrot cake or vegan oatmeal raisin cookies.
These cookies blew my mind!
So easy to make, so yummy and so addictive.
Crunchy and chewy and not overly sweet.
In a word, perfect!
Thank you so much to coming up with these and sharing.
Just made these and they turned out great, nobody could tell they were vegan.
Hi Angela!
My family and I absolutely love your blog (and book)! We are mostly plant based and my mom has celiac disease so your blog has been a godsend! My dad’s all time favorite cookie is “Oatmeal Scotchies”. Do you think I could put butterscotch chips instead of the raisins in this?
I love your recipes. I am allergic to walnuts and hazelnuts. Are you able to suggest substitutions for these nuts? Thank you!
Just wondering what the nutritional info was on these cookies?
Hi Angel, I absolutely love your blog! I tried the vegan oatmeal raisin cookies (but with more oats rather than walnuts -I’m not a fan). One recipe I would really love to see made refined sugar, dairy and wheat free is caramel squares/millionaire’s shortbread. There are so many recipes online, but many a raw; its is a baked base one that I am looking for!
Thank you so much for all the great recipe ideas
Hi Angela, I absolutely love your blog! I tried the vegan oatmeal raisin cookies (but with more oats rather than walnuts -I’m not a fan). One recipe I would really love to see made refined sugar, dairy and wheat free is caramel squares/millionaire’s shortbread. There are so many recipes online, but many a raw; its is a baked base one that I am looking for!
Thank you so much for all the great recipe ideas
This recipe looks fantastic! I will definitely be making these in the near future. Unfortunately, my wife does not eat nuts. Is there a substitute since there is a fair amount of walnuts in the recipe? I’m sure she’d love to share with me.
I wish there was a healthy carrot cake recipe. With cream “cheese” icing. I’ve yet to find one that doesn’t call for so much white sugar that it makes my teeth decay just reading the recipe.
I came across this recipe on Facebook and decided to give it a try. Love the toasted walnuts, nice touch! The only thing I did differently was use date sugar instead of brown sugar. It usually requires a bit more liquid, but it was perfect here. Yum!
Perfect! One of the best oatmeal cookies I have ever tasted. Made a few (minor) replacements: sesame oil for coconut oil, honey instead of maple syrup, whole wheat flour, and added the rind and juice of one orange. Came out beautiful, crunchy around the edges, chewy in the middle, you can taste the toasted walnuts and the cinnamon, wholesome, great texture and sweet enough to satisfy your craving for something sweet after dinner! Thank you Angela, love your blog, and your book!!
I just made these cookies as they sounded gorgeous! And they are!! Just perfect! The batter is also to-die-for! Thank You once again Angela! I also substituted the kamut flour for wholemeal flour and the maple syrup for agave!
I was desperately craving oatmeal cookies tonight and thankfully found this recipe. The cookies are absolutely heavenly. I substituted kamut for spelt flour because it’s what I had in the pantry. The combination of brown sugar, maple syrup and pulverized walnuts make for a deliciously, multi-layered cookie. I can’t wait to make these again.
Hi Katherine, I’m glad to hear these cookies hit the spot! :)
Angela! These are amazing! We are having a spring snowstorm here in NB and these are just what we needed to warm hearts and bellies :)
Just made this amazing cookies!!! The yummiest!! Instead of raisings Inused cranberries…
I’ve been craving oatmeal cookies. I just made these but used craisins instead of raisins and they are delicious! I will be making these again. Thank you for the recipe.
That sounds like a great twist on the recipe, Sue! So glad you enjoyed the cookies.
I used whole wheat flour because I didn’t have kamut, I used apple sauce instead of maple syrup, I used coconut sugar instead of sucanat, I forgot to put in the baking soda, I didn’t put it in a food processor and I added 3 chopped dates, and they were still so so good!
Haha, I’m so glad they turned out with all the subs, Aly!! Thanks for sharing :)