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
I was pleasantly surprised by this recipe! I was worried that the dough was too sticky and the cookies wouldn’t stick together once baked, but they did! It was much easier to roll them after refrigerating for 15min. I used dried cranberries, chocolate chips, toasted pecans and sunflower seeds as mix-ins. I only had 1tbsp of ground flax so substituted the second tbsp with ground hemp hearts and that miraculously worked. I also made the cookies larger (I made 14 large cookies) and baked them for 18 minutes which was still perfect for slightly chewy, moist cookies. Thanks for a great recipe!
Thanks for sharing your experience with us, Allie! It’s great to hear you are a fan of the recipe.
If I have sweetened shredded coconut, can I use less maple syrup so it’s not too sweet? Or does the maple syrup help bind the ingredients together?
Hi Alan, the maple syrup does help bind the ingredients together, so using less could make the cookies dry. If you want to reduce the maple syrup by 1 or 1 ½ tablespoons, I’d suggest adding in 1 tablespoon of neutral-flavored oil when you add the liquid ingredients, just to ensure there’s enough liquid ingredients to moisten the dry ingredients.
Are we to be using all 1 and 1/3 cups of mix-ins? Or just choose nuts or seeds or fruit?
Hi Nathan, you’ll use the whole 1 1/3 cups! Enjoy!
Can I skip an add in or will that ruin it? I would like to skip the hemp seed.
Hi Julie, yes you can skip the hemp seeds if you’d like. Enjoy the recipe!
I was looking for a seed cookie recipe and made this yesterday. Everyone loves them. This is a keeper Kaitlin…thanks!!!!
Hi Cate, we’re thrilled you love the recipe! The credit can’t go to me, Nisha is the mastermind behind every recipe on the site :)
Las acabo de hacer y están deliciosas. Delicious!!!!
Thanks for the wonderful review, Sylvie!
Love this recipe! I even reduce the amount of nut butter and maple syrup to make granola like clusters, and they’re very good with milk in the morning!
Yum, that sounds like a great idea, Raven!
May I use chicken egg in place of flax egg? If so how many?
Hi Ashley, we’re vegan and don’t cook with chicken eggs, so I’m afraid we cannot advise you about whether it will work in this recipe.
This is everything I want in a bowl of oatmeal, but in cookie form. I’m 8.5 months pregnant and these have been great to grab and go in the morning. They’re perfect for meal prep and have saved me time and energy, not to mention they’re delicious! I’ve been making them on repeat :)
It makes us happy to know having these cookies on hand is coming in handy during the pregnancy, Christine! Thanks for sharing :)
Wow! A tasty, healthier breakfast cookie that even non vegans in the family enjoy. I substituted sunflower butter due to nut allergies.
Thanks for the outstanding review, Tammy!