Do you ever wish you could eat cookies for breakfast and not be judged for it? Well, you have two options. One, you can hide in a closet and eat cookies for breakfast so no one finds out and judges you. Or, two, you can make these Healthy Vegan Breakfast Cookies because, yes, they are healthy enough to eat for breakfast!
They’re made with wholesome ingredients like oats, almond butter, and seeds, and they’re not only vegan but also gluten-free, soy-free, and oil-free!
Why you’re going to like this recipe
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.
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. They’re vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, refined sugar-free, and soy-free.
Deceptively delicious. Healthy breakfast cookies might sound like they taste meh, but these are cookies you’d actually want to eat.
Versatile. Not only can you eat them for breakfast, but they’re also a great post- or pre-workout snack. My athletic friend Joanne (she runs marathons…yes, multiple marathons) said these cookies fueled her for a long run around Central Park. Oh, and of course, you can also eat them for dessert.
Easy to customize. Feel free to get creative with this recipe and mix and match your favorite ingredients. Customization ideas are in the next section!
How to Customize these Healthy Vegan Breakfast Cookies
Not a fan of coconut? Omit the shredded coconut and just add more oats!
Allergic to almonds or don’t have almond butter? Use any nut butter you like, such as cashew butter or peanut butter. Just be sure to use a smooth, not crunchy, variety, as the nut butter is the replacement for oil in this recipe.
For a nut free version, try tahini – make sure to use a smooth, non-bitter variety like Soom Tahini, Seed + Mill, or the Whole Foods 365 brand, and stir well. 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.
For the dried fruit, you could really use any variety you like. I used cranberries, but if you can’t find juice-sweetened cranberries and want to avoid refined sugar (most store-bought dried cranberries have sugar), use another dried fruit such as raisins, currants, or finely chopped apricots or mango.
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 you can also never go wrong with chocolate!
And if you don’t have pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds, you can use chopped nuts. Finely chopped walnuts or pecans would be my top choice.
This recipe is really easy to make, so there’s not much else you need to know! If you give this recipe a try, be sure to tag me on Instagram with your recreations and please comment with your feedback below!
Healthy Vegan Breakfast Cookies (gluten-free, oil-free)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed meal
- 2 cups rolled oats (certified gluten-free, as needed)
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3/4 cup smooth, creamy almond butter
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup dried fruit, such as juice-sweetened cranberries or chopped apricots
- 1/3 cup (50g) hemp seeds (also called hemp hearts)
- 1/2 cup (60g) pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds, chopped
Instructions
- Prepare the flax eggs. Combine the ground flaxseed meal with 5 tablespoons water. Stir and let sit for 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: prepared flax eggs, nut butter, maple syrup, and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.
- 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, hemp seeds, and pumpkin/sunflower 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 to scoop about 3 tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheet (this scoop holds about 3 tablespoons), spacing them about 1/2 inch apart. Alternatively, measure out 3 tablespoons and shape the dough into a round using your hands. Lightly flatten the top of each cookie with your hands or a fork.
- Bake the cookies for about 18-20 minutes. After 5 minutes, use a spatula to carefully transfer them to a cooling rack. Store leftover cookies in an airtight container or resealable bag on the counter for 2-3 days.
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These look delicious! Could the oats be substituted for something else ? I’m allergic to them . Would love to try these cookies :)
I just made these. They are wonderful! I added 1/3 c oat bran and cut oats by 1/3 c.Better tasting than Alyssa’s store bought cookies, similar ingredients and, of course, much less expensive. Thank you for another great recipe!
Also, I added 1/2 tsp cinnamon. I used 1/4 c raisins and 1/4 c mini vegan chocolate chips, 1/4 c roughly chopped pumpkin seeds and 1/4 c sunflower seeds. I only used 1 tbsp scoop to make smaller cookies, and I cut bake time to 12 minutes. It made 31 cookies.I was a little short on maple syrup so I added about 2 tbsp molasses to make up the 1/2 cup. Really great cookies. I plan to keep some in the freezer to have on hand and I am sure I will make these again.
I added chocolate chips and they were delicious! They were a perfect snack that was sweet but not too sweet. Thank you for sharing!
I literally make these every other week. Sooooo good! Have done a variety of different dried fruits, nuts, and chocolate. This recipe is a definite staple.
These cookies are awesome. I made as directed, but I’ll probably try again with different substitutions. Thanks for sharing.
Delicious! I forgot the oats though, but still came out wonderful!
I substituted tahini for the nut butter, since that’s what I had and added chocolate chips to the mix-ins. Delicious! They make such generously sized cookies. Can’t wait to enjoy one of these with my coffee tomorrow! Thanks so much for another masterpiece of a recipe.
Just made these and they are so delicious! Sprinkled cinnamon, cardamom and coconut sugar on top. Also did a mix of almond butter, peanut butter and cashew butter to use what I had on hand. Taste healthy and delicious.
I just made these and they delicious! I am so excited about having a quick grab breakfast this week! One question though, they were a bit dry when I was molding them to bake. Any suggestions?
I made these for a hike with my friends. We could NOT stop eating these delicious cookies.
So good! I used sunflower butter instead of nut butter and also put in some goji berries and cranberries. They smell delicious and can’t wait to try them ( the batter tasted great already ;) )