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)
- 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
Such an easy and healthy breakfast for my husband who has a ton of food allergies. These are awesome! Thank you 😊
Hi Tina, we are so glad your family loved these cookies! Thanks for the awesome review :)
I made this breakfast cookies for my backpacking trip to Grand Canyon. They had just right amount of sweetness and chewiness, we get tired of store bought bars so this was a nice change. I would make them again for my next trip.
Awesome, Eiko! We are so happy this recipe helps you bring fresh plant based food to your backpacking trips!
.
Absolutely delicious! Substituted maple syrup for date paste and perfect 👌
I made these cookies for breakfast and they were delicious! I love that they are customizable, I may add cinnamon and chocolate chips next time. I hate buying packaged granola bars because they are always full of sugar and preservatives, these are a great alternative and will save you money! Thank you!
Yummy! I added chocolate chips but just enough to get one or two in each cookie. These are easy, filling and delicious! I will be making these for my elderly mom as she loves cookies but needs nutrition. I have had a wonderful introduction to vegan food. Please make more gluten free recipes! Thank you so much.
Lisa, So glad to hear you loved this recipe!
The recipe looks delicious!! I am definitely going to make them. Quick question-do they freeze well? I would like to make them in advance & wondered how they would turn out. Thank you.
Made these tonight and they quick, easy, and SO GOOD!!!
Glad you love these cookies as much as we do, Kim!
These cookies were SO GOOD!!!! I substituted maple syrup with honey, and added pumpkin, sesame and chia seeds, and chocochips instead of dry fruits(not a big fan of dry fruits). I’ll be making these often. It was super easy too, didn’t require much work.
I love your videos Nisha, you’ve truly helped me see how delicious plant based food can be.
Hi Shreya, we’re thrilled to hear you enjoyed this recipe! 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!
Hello there……
I made the cookies this morning and they were delish! A hit with the family. I was wondering, do you have the nutritional facts for these cookies, ie calories per cookie, fat and fiber content etc. Please and thank you if you have it.
PS love your recipes and videos and of course your awesome personality makes watching addicting!
Approximate totals for me – although I substituted half a chocolate bar (endangered species 88%) for the coconut flakes:
Entire recipe (divided each by the cookie quantity):
Calories: 3022.3
Fat: 182.0g
Protein: 95.4g
Hi Deanne, so happy you enjoyed this recipe! We don’t include nutrition facts on our recipes for a few reasons. If you’d like to read more as to why, you can do so at this link: https://rainbowplantlife.com/welcome/.
Many of our readers use apps like MyFitnessPal to calculate nutrition facts for their own purposes. Hope that helped!
Cookies look amazing I am going to try this !!!!!
Hope you enjoy this recipe, Kiran!
i don’t know why i only got 16 cookies and they lost shape – to be true they refused to take shape – but they taste insanely good and i have to fight against eating them pre workout all at once
can’t wait to share them with my two year old granddaughter who loves cookies and should not eat so much sugar
lg birgit
Hi Birgit, we find that sticking the uncooked dough in the fridge for about 10-15 minutes helps make the cookies more easy to handle. Packing them tightly or rolling them into a ball on a cutting board before placing on the baking sheet are two ways to get the cookies to hold their shape. Hope this helped!
thank you so much 😊
i tried to put them in the fridge and the first cookies looked a little bit like shaped onesies so i will try to cut the dough in portions – next time i had not enough big rolled oats and tried the softer flakes – tastie as well but not so crispie – i‘m still learning and on the hunt after a scoop – a 1/3 cup is a little bit to big – the whole family is in love 😍
We are so happy to hear that. Cheers, Birgit!
Made these puppies last night. Came out great! My wife, the prolific baker, had her doubts using flax seed instead of butter but to her surprise they formed up well.
I would suggest the top end of 20 min’s baking time to produce a crunchier cookie.
Thanks for the recipe!
MikeD
Tampa Fla
Thanks for sharing your experience, MikeD! So happy to hear you loved these breakfast cookies.
Made these puppies last night. Came out great! My, the prolific baker, had her doubts using flax seed instead of butter but to her surprise they formed up well.
I would suggest the top end of 20 min’s baking time to produce a crunchier cookie.
Thanks for the recipe!
MikeD
Tampa Fla
Very good and filling. I used my stand mixer because the dough was hard to mix. Even my husband (who usually does not have anything to do with my “health foods” enjoyed them.
We are glad the stand mixer worked for you, Ellen. Thanks for the wonderful review!
Could these be made with quick rolled it’s?
Hi Anna, you can definitely use quick rolled oats instead of traditional rolled oats in this recipe. Be aware the texture may come out a bit different because quick rolled oats have a little less flake to them. We hope you get to make and enjoy this recipe!
Question:: maple syrup is to sweet for me, can I use a couple of teaspoon s or dose it have something with holding the ingredients together?
Mary
Hey Mary, you can use a little less maple syrup if you’d like but because this recipe is oil free we don’t suggest omitting it completely as it is a liquid binder. If you want to reduce the sweetness in another way, you can omit the dried fruit.
While these look amazing, I’m wondering the carbohydrate percentage? I’m supposed to eat healthy, whole food but also keep my carbs at a minimum.
Thanks!
Rhonda
Hi Rhonda, we don’t include nutrition facts on our recipes for a few reasons. If you’d like to read more as to why, you can do so at this link: https://rainbowplantlife.com/welcome/.
Many of our readers use apps like MyFitnessPal to calculate nutrition facts for their own purposes. Hope that helped!
Is there a substitute for the oats? I come across a lot of yummy recipes that oats are in and my son can’t have oats. I’ve read that quinoa flakes are a possible substitute for oats. What are your thoughts?
Kimberly- unfortunately because oats are the main ingredient in this recipe, we don’t have any great substitution recommendations for you. If you try something out and it works well please let us know!
These look lovely, as do a lot of vegan recipes but my daughter has a nut allergy, so we don’t have nuts or nut butters in the house. Is there anything we can use as a substitute in this recipe?
Jane, I sometime use a seed butter, such as sunflower seed butter.
Mary
Thank you Mary, I will see if I can find some. Do you have any ideas about what to substitute generally for nuts ? I put extra seeds in , and pine nuts are ok because she’s not allergic to them, but any other ideas would be appreciated.
Hi Jane! We love using tahini in place of almond butter which is made from sesame seeds.