These breakfast cookies are for all the times you wish you could eat cookies for breakfast and not feel bad about it (which, for me, is most of the time).
These cookies are made with wholesome ingredients like oats, almond butter, and seeds, and they’re not only vegan but also free of, gluten, soy, added oil, and refined sugars! Each cookie packs 5 grams of protein and 3g of fiber, so they also keep you full and energized.
Even better, they’re infinitely customizable so you can modify them to your heart’s content!
Watch: How to make amazing breakfast cookies
And for more delightful vegan breakfast ideas, check out my vegan breakfast recipe round-up! It’s chock-full of fun plant-based breakfast recipes from me and other vegan recipe developers.
Why you’ll love these breakfast cookies
Wholesome. These are cookies you can feel good about! They’re made with ingredients that are perfectly acceptable for breakfast, which means you can happily eat cookies for breakfast.
Deceptively delicious. Wholesome breakfast cookies might sound like they taste meh, but these are cookies you’ll actually want to eat.
Delightfully chewy. If you’re like most people, you like chewy cookies. These cookies are incredibly chewy with crunchy bites of seeds and even more chewy bites from the dried fruit.
Pantry-friendly and easy to customize. You likely already have all the ingredients in your pantry. You can also get creative and mix and match your favorite ingredients. Read more in the “how to customize” section!
For a sweet snack that’s a bit more indulgent, try these seriously good Vegan Banana Muffins!
Versatile. Not only can you eat them for breakfast, but they’re also a great post- or pre-workout snack. My athletic friend Joanne of The Korean Vegan (she runs marathons) said these cookies fueled her for a long run around Central Park. Oh, and of course, you can also eat them for dessert.
How to make vegan breakfast cookies
Gather your ingredients!
Prepare your flax egg. Whisk together the ground flaxseed meal and water and set aside for 15 minutes to gel up.
In a large bowl, together the dry ingredients: oats, coconut, salt, baking powder, baking soda.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the liquid ingredients until smooth and thick: almond butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and prepared flax eggs.
Pour the wet ingredients over the dry.
Use a silicone spatula to combine the ingredients until it resembles cookie dough.
Add desired mix-ins (chopped nuts or seeds and dried fruit or chocolate chips).
Add hemp seeds.
Stir to evenly incorporate the mix-ins.
Scoop about 3 tablespoons of dough onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets and lightly flatten. Bake at 350ºF for 18-20 minutes, until lightly golden on the bottom. Cool the pans on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies directly to the wire rack.
How to customize these cookies
Not a fan of coconut or allergic? Omit the shredded coconut and just add more oats. Personally, I think the coconut adds a lovely texture.
Likewise, if you don’t have hemp seeds, you can omit or add more shredded coconut. But you should really get some hemp seeds!
Allergic to almonds or don’t have almond butter? Use any nut butter you like, such as cashew butter or peanut butter (they will taste like peanut butter cookies). Just be sure to use a smooth, not crunchy, variety, as the nut butter is the replacement for oil in this recipe.
For the dried fruit mix-in, you could really use any variety you like. I have used raisins, currants, finely chopped apricots, finely chopped dates, and dried cranberries (use juice-sweetened cranberries to avoid refined sugar).
And if you’re not a fan of dried fruit at all, feel free to substitute with dairy-free chocolate chips. I love the chewiness that dried fruit brings, but the chocolate chip version makes these taste more like a classic cookie (SO good). The chocolate chip version is a favorite in our house.
For the seed and nut mix-in, pepitas, sunflower seeds, or any kind of nut works well. Just chop them up pretty good so you don’t get large pieces.
Some flavor variations that we tried are below. My favorites are anything that contains chocolate chips (no surprise!), dried blueberries, and dried cranberries.
- Mango Cashew: finely chop dried mango + raw unsalted cashews, chopped
- Chocolate Chip Almond: mini vegan chocolate chips + roasted almonds, chopped
- Cranberry Pecan: dried cranberries + pecans, chopped
- Blueberry Walnut: dried blueberries + walnuts, chopped
- Golden Macadamia: dried golden berries + macadamia nuts, chopped
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, use seeds instead of nuts for your mix-ins and sub the almond butter with tahini.
You’ll need to use a smooth, non-bitter variety and stir well. I love Seed + Mill and Soom Tahini (affiliate link) and the Whole Foods 365 brand is pretty decent.
Or you could try Sunbutter sunflower seed butter. It will likely tinge your cookies green (that’s what happens when you bake with sunflower seeds) but the taste will be great.
Yes, they freeze perfectly! And they take just 15ish minutes to defrost, so you can enjoy them really any time. After baking, allow the cookies to cool completely. Store them in a freezer-safe zip-top bag and label with the name and date. They should be good for about 3 months.
That’s fine! If salted, you can use a scant 1/2 teaspoon salt in the recipe.
If you love these breakfast cookies, be sure to tag me on Instagram with your recreations and please rate and review with your feedback below!
Big Vegan Flavor
Techniques and 150 recipes to master vegan cooking.
Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed meal
- 2 cups (190g) rolled oats (certified gluten-free, as needed)
- Heaping 1/2 cup (50g) unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3/4 cup (190g) smooth, creamy variety of almond butter (can sub cashew butter) (see Note 1)
- 1/2 cup (160g) pure maple syrup
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Mix-Ins
- 1/2 cup (~75g) dried fruit (or mini vegan chocolate chips) such as cranberries, currants, blueberries (see Note 2)
- 1/2 cup (70g) pepitas, sunflower seeds, or nuts of choice chopped (see Note 3)
- 1/3 cup (48g) hemp seeds (also called hemp hearts)
Instructions
- Prepare the flax eggs. Combine the ground flaxseed meal with 5 tablespoons water. Stir and let sit for 10-15 minutes to gel together.
- Arrange two racks in the top third and bottom third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350ºF/175ºC. Line two large sheet pans with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: oats, coconut, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the wet ingredients: almond butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and prepared flax eggs. Whisk until smooth and thick.
- Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients, using a silicone spatula to mix everything until the mixture resembles a cookie dough. Fold in your desired mix-ins (dried fruit, chopped nuts/seeds, and hemp seeds) using the spatula.If the dough is too sticky to handle, refrigerate it for 10-15 minutes to firm up slightly.
- Use an ice cream scoop or large spoon to scoop a heaping 2 tablespoons or scant 3 tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 1/2 inch apart, 12 cookies per sheet pan (they don't really spread).I have a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop and do a big heaping scoop of that. It's 35g to 40g of dough per cookie. Alternatively, measure the dough out with a spoon and shape into a round using your hands. Lightly flatten the top of each cookie with your hands.
- Bake the cookies for 18-20 minutes. After 5 minutes, use a spatula to carefully transfer them to a cooling rack. Store leftover cookies in an airtight container on the counter for 5 to 7 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
Five stars! I love having these for breakfast. Just enough sweetness and full of healthy grain, protein and seeds. I use pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and dried blueberries. They are also great frozen and defrosted when you want to eat them.
We appreciate your feedback and support, Nina. Thank you for leaving a review!
I added some pumpkin spice and pureed pumpkin and these turned out very well! I love Nisha’s recipes.
Sounds tasty, Natalie! Thanks for trying the recipe!
Can you sub oat bran for oat meal ?
Any suggestions on the amount of mix ins?
I love fruit, seeds and hemp hearts!
A cup total? More or less?
Hi Dex, yes, a cup sounds about right!! Enjoy the cookies and let us know how they turn out :)
I have tried many a breakfast cookie trying to find one all of my kids will eat. This is FINALLY it. The search is over, and we are making these on repeat. Everyone is happy! 😊
Your positive feedback is the best reward for our hard work. Thank you, MamaR!
Really delicious. I used peanut butter as that’s all I had on hand.
Thank you for your lovely comment, Cheri! It makes us happy to know that you enjoyed the recipe.
These were the perfect portable snack/meal for me to bring when visiting a place with no vegan options. So easy to make and delicious!
Thank you for your lovely comment, Mandy! It makes us happy to know that you enjoyed the recipe.
I have made this recipe so many times now the cookies are delicious and this is a nice simple and affordable recipe.
Hi Andrea, Thank you so much for such a fantastic review! Appreciate you taking the time!
These are great! My husband, who usuallly only likes “unheathy” cookies, etc. liked these!!
Thank you!
Awesome, Teri. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
Is there a way to make these more crunchy vs. chewy?
Hi Luciellen, You might need to look for a different recipe, but if you still want to try this one, you could try flattening the cookies before baking them.
Can these be cooked in an air fryer?
Hi Sueann, we haven’t tried this ourselves but would advise against it because the cookies would require multiple batches in the air fryer when they can be done all at once in the oven. Also, they might dry out too much in the air fryer vs. the oven.
Im wondering can you use frozen fruit instead of dried?
Hi Micah, we haven’t tried this ourselves but we’d advise against this if possible. The dried fruit is exactly that, dried (& moist free!). Even after thawing and draining all excess liquid from frozen fruit, it’ll still produce a much more moist cookie, probably overly moist as they are already perfectly moist with dried fruit!
Wonderful recipe! I used this to make for my sugar sensitive valentine for our camping trip. YUM!
Zoe, Thank you for your thoughtful review! We’re so happy to hear that you enjoyed the breakfast cookies.
I LOVE this recipe. Been having one cookie for breakfast for a few years now (sometimes I cheat ;-) and they are so satisfying. Holds me until lunchtime / salad time. Thank you!!!
Wow, that’s amazing, Diane! :) Thank you so much for sharing. So cool to hear this recipe has become a staple of your daily life. Cheers!
I’m not a fan of coconut, can I simply omit it or should I adjust the recipe in some way?
Hi Stephanie, you can omit the shredded coconut and just add more oats! We hope you love the recipe.
These are delicious! I used unsalted Sunbutter, chopped dates, chopped pumpkin seeds and Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips. I forgot to buy the hempseed so I simply added a little ground flaxseed instead. I was looking for a quick, healthy breakfast/ power snack and I am so glad I found this recipe! I was getting bored with my limited diet (GF, vegan, low added sugar, tree nut allergy) while still trying to get enough protein. Thank you, Nisha! I just found your website and am excited to try more of your recipes and sign up for your meal plans as well!!
Hi Leslie, thank you so much for the support! We’re delighted you enjoyed this recipe and cannot wait for you to get started making the other RPL recipes :)
Amazing breakfast cookies, my family and friends absolutely LOVE them. Thank you!
AR
That’s so great to hear, Angie! Next time, would you mind leaving a rating alongside your review? Star ratings are big help to readers who are thinking of making the recipe. Thanks!
So good, and easy to make. I use them for dessert!
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Janet!
This recipe was easy to follow and produced fantastic results! I ended up using about 50/50 peanut butter and tahini because that’s what I had available. Was too lazy to scoop and measure so I used the weight (190 grams). I added walnuts and mini chocolate chips. I will definitely make these again! Thank you for this recipe.
Thanks for the amazing review, Rita! We appreciate it!