Gluten-Free Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Soft and chewy, moist and tender, these vegan oatmeal raisin cookies are made with nothing but healthy ingredients. Made with mashed banana and coconut oil instead of butter or shortening and naturally sweetened, these sugar-free flourless cookies are the perfect guilt-free snack (or breakfast!). These are also gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free and nut-free.

Cookies for breakfast? Yes, please! I mean, who said cookies weren’t supposed to be eaten first thing in the morning?

Unjust! Nonsense!

Enough with the tyranny, break conventions, shatter the rules… Let’s have those for breakfast, today!

(And every other day of the week!)

That is basically what I told myself when I made 3 batches of these last Sunday. And it was awesome.

This recipe was adapted from my very popular 3-ingredient banana oatmeal cookies recipe. I added a few ingredients but the method remains the same:

Process some of the oatmeal into oat flour (so you don’t have to use all-purpose flour) and mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Couldn’t be more simple that, right?

No fussy recipe steps, no need to chill the dough for X amount of time. Nope.

Traditional oatmeal raisin cookies usually call for eggs and butter. But we’re making a vegan version of these today right?

So, in order to make the best, most tender and soft oatmeal raisin cookies the vegan way, you have to replace those two crucial ingredients with something that has the same baking properties.

Eggs can be replaced with either mashed banana, applesauce or even silken tofu on a ratio of 1/4 cup per egg asked for in any baking recipe, with very surprising results (very surprising as in you won’t be able to tell the difference).

You could also make ground flax seed or chia eggs by mixing 1 tablespoon seeds for 3 tablespoons water and wait 15 minutes.

To replace butter, we are using coconut oil and salt.

These cookies are also flourless, so instead of using all-purpose flour, we are going to process some of the (gluten-free) oatmeal into a fine flour. If you are used to baking with nothing else than traditional wheat flour, you are in for a (very pleasant) surprise.

How to Make Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (Without Eggs or Butter)

Start by mashing 1 1/2 large bananas into a puree. This should leave you with 3/4 cup mashed banana.
In a small saucepan, melt 1/4 cup coconut oil over low heat. Remove from heat as soon as it has finished melting.
Turn 1 cup rolled oats into a fine flour using a food processor, mixer or grinder.
Mix all of the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir gently.
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Scoop about 1/4 cup of dough for each cookie, roll into balls and place on the baking sheet.
Press gently the cookie dough balls into the baking sheet using a fork. The dough will not expand while baking.
Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350F.

Cook’s Tips and Tricks

What can I use instead of coconut oil? Coconut oil is not mandatory here and could be replaced with a plethora of other ingredients. What I suggest, for the sake of simplicity, is to use 1 cup banana instead of 3/4 and skip the oil. If you fear that the banana taste is going to be too strong, you could also replace coconut oil with margarine or butter (for a non-vegan version) and skip the salt. The same amount (1/4 cup) of mashed avocado or pureed silken tofu would also do the trick.

Can I replace the raisins with something else? Sure! Chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, dried cranberries and chopped walnuts are all great choices to replace raisins if you’d like to do so.

Can oatmeal raisin cookies be frozen? Yes. They can be stored in the freezer in an airtight container for up to three months or 1 week in the refrigerator.

Can I freeze the cookie dough for future use? Yes, It actually is a very good idea! Perfect for when you have unannounced guests coming or simply when you want to eat freshly baked cookies, but don’t feel like preparing them. First, you will portion the cookie dough before freezing. Simply scoop the cookie dough into individual portions on a baking sheet and freeze it. Place the frozen dough balls into a freezer bag and remove as much air as possible.