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Gluten-free Vegan Oatmeal Cookies are a healthy homemade cookie without eggs, great for snacking or desserts (or even breakfasts). This recipe makes a big batch and mixes up super fast.
I’ve made these cookies three times this week, and I love how quick and easy they are to make!
These allergy-friendly cookies are also VAD-friendly and a great source of healthy fiber.
Ingredients in Gluten-free Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
Gluten-free Vegan Oatmeal Cookies use common basic ingredients, and perhaps a couple of ingredients you haven’t used before:
- oats — I use rolled oats, not quick. (Quick oats are more likely to be contaminated with mold.)
- white rice flour
- chickpea flour (I’m going to whip up another batch with an alternative, so let me know in the Comments if you need a variation from this ingredient.)
- coconut sugar, or preferred granulated sweetener
- psyllium husk whole — This seed husk is my favorite egg-free baking ingredient. It’s a gentle form of fiber. I do recommend you choose the brand I link to in the recipe (also here), as brands vary. Be sure you choose psyllium husk whole.
- coconut oil, or butter if preferred
- basil seeds (what are basil seeds), chia seeds or extra psyllium husk whole
- You can make this recipe with basil seeds or chia seeds, or for seed-free, you can use extra psyllium husk whole, an option I give in the recipe (for VAD).
- baking powder, baking soda and sea salt + optional cinnamon
- optional diced apples, raisins or chocolate chips — We make ours plain or with peeled, diced apples, which is wonderful. The day I photographed the recipe, I also used raisins, which are classic.
Free of inflammatory ingredients
The best vegan gluten free cookies are free of unhealthy ingredients!
A couple variations are included that allow this recipe to be free of xanthan gum and other gums, free of flax and free of potato flours!
A word on these, to explain for those who are interested:
- Gums cause inflammation.
- Flax is estrogenic and actually dangerous for many people to eat.
- Most gluten-free flour mixes and recipes combine grains and potato-sourced flours, a combination which is hard to digest for many people. These potato flours are also usually conventional, and potatoes are important to choose organic. So in my gluten-free baked good recipes, I never use potato flours with grains, or flour mixes.
How to make Gluten-free Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
This simple cookie recipe can be whipped up in 15 minutes. Simply:
- Place dry ingredients in large bowl.
- Add wet ingredients, and mix well.
- Allow batter 1 hour to set up and thicken.
- Scoop onto cookie sheet, and flatten each mound of batter slightly. Bake 15 minutes.
- Allow to cool, and enjoy!
How to store cookies
Place cooled cookies in sealed storage container. Leave on the counter overnight, in the fridge if storing longer than one day, or in the freezer for long term storage.
Cookies keep well in the fridge for up to 5 days, and in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Gluten-free Vegan Oatmeal Cookies (no gums, flax or potato flours)
Equipment
- electric beaters or similar
- large "half sheet" baking pan or 2 cookie sheets
Ingredients
- 2-¾ cups rolled oats (260 grams )
- 1-⅓ cups coconut sugar (266 grams), or other granulated sweetener of choice
- 1 cup rice flour (140 grams)
- ¾ cup coconut oil (168 grams) melted and cooled, or butter
- ¾ cup water room temp or warm, not cold
- ⅓ cup chickpea flour (46 grams)
- 2 Tablespoons psyllium husk whole (<-- This brand is best.) (9 grams) OR 5 Tablespoons (22g) if you'd like to omit the basil or chia seeds
- 2 Tablespoons basil seeds or chia seeds, 20 grams OR: Omit seeds for VAD or if preferred, and use 5 Tablespoons psyllium husk whole (instead of 2)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda sifted
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Add-in: 1-¼ cups apples peeled and diced, or raisins or chocolate chips
- Optional: 1 teaspoon cinnamon Omit for VAD
Instructions
- Place all dry ingredients in large mixing bowl. Give them a good stir so they're pretty well mixed.
- Add melted fat and water. I use an electric handheld mixer on low speed. Mix well until thoroughly incorporated. Add optional diced apples (or raisins/chocolate chips), and briefly stir in with spatula.
- Set batter aside, and allow it to thicken for 1 hour.
- Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Scoop 2-ounce portions onto cookie sheet. Wet fingers or the palm of your hand, and flatten each one to about ¾" thickness.Bake cookies 14 to 15 minutes. Cool completely before eating. (Cookies are a little crumbly, but have a lovely texture.)
- If you wish, store in wide-mouth jar, separated by small sheets of parchment.
Nutrition
You can Pin Gluten-free Vegan Oatmeal Cookies here:
Anna says
Megan, This recipe looks wonderful! I don’t have any chickpea flour on hand, so I’m curious what flours you are subbing with. I might try oat, sorghum, cassava or maybe I’ll make a nut or seed flour.
Thanks, again for the recipe!
Megan says
Hi Anna, I need to do a little more experimenting, which I might get to tomorrow. I tried oat so far, but the cookies were too crumbly, so you may want to wait until I figure it out. Otherwise, cassava would be a great option because it’s got that stretch that will combat the crumb issue. 🙂 (Update, other readers, see below for alternative to using chickpea flour.)
Anna says
Megan,
What do you think about collagen as a sub for the chickpea flour?
Megan says
Hi Anna, interesting thought. Collagen tends to add a great je ne sais quoi cakiness to bread products, so it may help/work here, but I’m not sure. The main issue is to prevent the cookie from being crumbly while also creating the right crumb.
Anna says
Thank you for all your thoughts, Megan! I’ll let you know how it goes and what I try.
Megan says
Great, Anna! I did have a chance to try a new version, and we loved it! Here’s what I did:
1 cup rice flour –> 1 cup oat flour (So, I subbed oat flour for the rice flour.)
1/3 cup chickpea flour –> 1/3 cup oat flour (subbed)
1/4 cup psyllium husk powder (4 Tablespoons)
1/4 cup collagen (Added this.)
1 Tablespoon gelatin (Added this.)
(And then I omitted the basil/chia seeds.) So this is a fully VAD version. The texture was chewy, with lovely very crispy edges. No crumbs.
CS says
Hi Megan,
You’ve recommended a specific Oat Flour blend in the past.
Do you still recommend it or would you suggest some other brand here?
It lists xanthan gum as an ingredient.
Thanks!
Megan says
Hi CS, no, I haven’t ever recommended an oat flour blend. I make my recipes with individual flours only. 🙂 (No xanthan gum, just organic oat flour.)
CS says
Apologies. Not sure where I got that rec then.
I made these with just blendered rolled oats for the oat flour and they turned out well.
Though I used butter and they definitley melted into a larger area than I had anticipated. 🙂
Megan says
No problem. 🙂 Yes, butter is famous for that lol. I’m glad they mostly turned out well for you.
Heidi says
If you didn’t want to do the collagen, what could you sub for that?
Megan says
Sorry, collagen affects the texture, so there isn’t a sub for it.
Heidi says
Ok. I thought collagen wasn’t allowed on the VAD diet. Maybe I am wrong. That’s why I was wanting to substitute.
Megan says
Hi Heidi, I understand. Sometimes when you meet with Dr. Smith, you learn things from him in person that you don’t hear him discuss publicly, and that’s because he publishes the broader protocols he prefers and espouses, but when he works with clients one on one, he understands nuances not only of patients but of foods and is happy to consider that sometimes benefits of one ingredient outweigh drawbacks. This is the case with collagen. It’s okay to use if it agrees with you or you find it helpful. He just doesn’t consider it a super food or want people loading up on it, as they often do in other health circles.
Heidi says
That makes sense. Thank you for the great explanation!
Megan says
Happy to help! 🙂
Anna says
Megan,
I made these egg free cookies today with the adjustments you suggested here in the comments. My guys loved them! They are a wonderful cookie, and just how you described. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Megan says
I’m so glad to hear it, Anna! Thanks for coming back to share! 🙂