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!
Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed meal
- 2 cups (190g) rolled oats (certified gluten-free, as needed)
- 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 dried fruit (or mini vegan chocolate chips) such as cranberries, currants, blueberries (see Note 2)
- 1/2 cup (65g) pepitas, sunflower seeds, or nuts of choice chopped (see Note 3)
- 1/3 cup (50g) 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.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF/175ºC. Line two large baking sheets 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 about 40g 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
Can I use oat flour in place of rolled oats?
I’ve made lots of oatmeal cookies over the years but these were the best! Thanks so much for sharing your recipe – I added pecan pieces, dried cranberries and vegan chocolate chips, I got 20 cookies from the recipe. I’ll definitely make these again.
Awesome, Cathy. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
Love ALL your recipes,these were a hit! Thanks🥰
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Danishia!
Great cookies, taste is wonderful, I added a bit of ginger, cardamom…just one question: what is the purpose of baking powder and baking soda since there is really nothing that will rise in the recipe? I would love to know!
So glad you enjoyed the cookies, Lucia!
And as for baking powder and soda, that’s a good question! We did try these cookies without baking powder and baking soda and found the texture was slightly worse (flavor was the same). I don’t totally understand the science of it, so if you’d like to omit them, feel free to.
Hi I don’t really like coconut. Is there something I can add in its place. I would love to make these. Thank you
Hi Evi, you can omit the shredded coconut and just add more oats if you’re not a fan!
This is so tasty and healthy. Hope my kids will enjoy them as much as I did.
We hope they did too, Rain! Thanks for trying the recipe out :)
Ok. My son has a very refined pallette. He rarely eats fiber rich foods, let alone something with flaxseed and oats and “healthy”. I stopped pushing him to eat foods I know he doesn’t like. So I made these for my husband and myself and left some ( approx 8 cookies) on the counter. Guess who ate the rest? Yep, my son and he asked me to make it again!! …need I say more… Thanks
Yay, now that’s a win, Mary! :) Thanks for sharing! So great to hear the cookies were a hit with the whole family.
These are incredible! I don’t usually write reviews, but these cookies are so worth making! I’ve been baking for over 55 years and don’t often come across a new recipe that’s a keeper. I made them with the dried fruit and they came out so delicious. I have a real sweet tooth so I did add a few packets of Splenda, but that’s just me. My husband loved them also, even though he tends to shy away from the more healthy desserts.
Aw, thanks for the lovely review, Laya! It’s so nice to hear you and your husband are both fans of the recipe! :) Thanks for leaving a review!
I made half the recipe (first time) thinking I’d get 12 cookies. I weighed my cookies based on 30-40 grams and only got 9 even though some are much smaller, only 30g. What’s up?! Should I use quick oats instead of large flake rolled oats?
Also I wanted them to be school safe so I used wowbutter we’re trying to get rid of “in things” bc my son doesn’t like it by itself 😂 and mixed it with some extra vegetable oil and it seemed to work!
Hi Amanda,
I’m not sure why that happened! I re-tested these last year and got 22 cookies with the full batch.
And my recipe tester just re-tested these yesterday with the full recipe and got 24 cookies. The dough for one full batch weighed 884g (so 442g for a half batch). She used a heaping 2 TBSP dough for each cookie, and on average, each cookie dough ball weighed 36 grams.
With a half batch, then, 30g cookies should yield 14 cookies in a half batch; 40g cookies should yield 11 cookies in a half batch.
It’s possible that the WowButter works a bit differently (I am not familiar with it but see that it’s made from soy instead of nuts). It’s also possible that depending on the mix-ins used, things might shake out a bit differently. Hope that makes sense.
Oh my, I love these breakfast cookies! My 2 year old did too. In fact, I think he liked the batter as much as the baked cookies. :) I didn’t have ground flaxseed so I substituted ground chia seeds (2 tsp. in about 1/3 c. water). So chewy, so delicious, just sweet enough to be a treat. Thank you for all your recipes, I’m enjoying them so much!
Hi Rachel, we’re delighted to hear the breakfast cookies are a fave of yours! Thank you for being a loyal member of the RPL community! :)
Trying to wean myself off of “bready” breakfasts—this is the breakfast recipe I’ve been looking for. Thank you!
Awesome, Paula. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
Thank you for this wonderful recipe! My husband wanted a healthy breakfast cookie and I found this recipe in my search. They are a big hit in our home as well, even with our two young kids (both under age 4)! I’ve made them three times now trying different mix in combinations. I especially love tart cherries in them! I ran out of maple syrup with this last batch and used some date syrup, I will definitely do that again, turned out just as delicious! Thanks again!
So awesome to hear the breakfast cookies are a hit with the whole family, Alleen! Thanks for sharing :)
These are delicious! This has become one of my go-to cookie recipes. I add chopped dates and figs for the fruit, and a mix of chia and sesame seeds instead of hemp.
Thanks for sharing, Meredith! Those cookies sound quite delicious~
Obsessed! I added goji berries, and then half macadamia nuts, half pistachios. I used slightly less syrup too. They’re incredible. Thank you! :)
Hi Caroline, it’s great to hear you had success with the recipe. Those mix-ins sound delightful! Thanks for the review!
Making now for the 2nd time. Big hit in our home! Used less that a 1/4c maple syrup since adding cranberries for sweetness. Also added pumpkin seeds for a little crunch. Very simple easy cookies. Definitely recommend refrigerating dough. I didn’t do that the first time and the batter was oh so sticky
Thanks for sharing your experience, Erica! :) We’re happy you enjoy the cookies.
I have been making these for a year and a half and they’re beloved by my four kids! We use finely chopped walnuts and chocolate chips and just refer to them as cookies. I always just go for a double batch and we have no problem getting through them, but they also freeze well. I love how wholesome and filling they are and pack in six whole plants in a cute little cookie package. Thanks Nisha!
We appreciate your feedback and support, Mary. Thank you for leaving a review!
4 stars for the recipe as is but please try them like this. These are so good. I mixed everything in a food processor. I added pepitas, pecans, dried cranberries, and frozen blueberries and a dried fig. The taste of the dough was soooo good. I ate a lot of it, like I’d never had sugar before. After baking, they were pretty good, but not as delightful as it was raw. So, I “frosted” the cookies with the leftover uncooked cookie dough. My kids did a taste test unfrosted and frosted and we alI loved them frosted. I told my kids later that the “stuff” on top was the cookie just not cooked. They loved it. This is a new favorite.
I also added cinnamon.
Wow, love the ingenuity, Danika! Thanks for sharing!
Love these and how versatile they are! I made mine with sour cherries and pecans. Didn’t add coconut, cut the syrup in half and they were still plenty sweet for me. Also added cinnamon so that they tasted more like a granola cookie!!
Thanks for sharing your experience with us, Nicki! We are delighted you loved the breakfast cookies.
Just made these using cranberries and mini chocolate chips and pelicans. Took them camping. So good!
Sounds delish, Sandy! Thanks for sharing :)