That’s right—it’s finally time to satisfy your inner child’s dream of eating cookies for breakfast.
These Breakfast Cookies are the best of both worlds: they’ll satisfy your sweet tooth and they’re nutrient-dense. Each cookie contains 5g of protein, 3g of fiber, no refined sugar or added oil and—bonus!—they’re naturally gluten-free!
With endless customization options, I encourage you to riff to your heart’s content and freeze a batch or two for mornings when you need a quick-yet-wholesome start to your day. (P.S. They also make great post-workout and travel snacks!)
In this post:
A cookie that can do it all
Let me put it this way: if this cookie had a resume, it would be impressive. I don’t know a single other cookie that thrives in so many roles:
- As a wholesome, satisfying, genuinely good-for-you breakfast
- As a pre-workout snack (true story: my marathon-running friend Joanne, of The Korean Vegan, told me these cookies powered her for a long run around Central Park)
- As a delicious travel snack (I make a batch of these whenever I travel—and I can confirm that TSA will not confiscate them!)
- As an easy, on-the-go snack for busy weeks (keep a batch in the freezer and thank me later)
One more thing: don’t be fooled by the use of the word “wholesome” throughout this post—I know this often translates to “tastes boring and healthy,” but trust me, these are cookies you will actually want to eat. (One of my favorite flavor variations includes mini chocolate chips!)
🎥 Watch the video
With over 430K views on my YouTube channel, these breakfast cookies are a massive hit with my community. I hope you love them just as much!
Ingredient notes
Rolled oats
Old-fashioned rolled oats give these cookies their deliciously satisfying chew. Don’t sub with steel-cut oats (they’ll be too chewy and won’t cook through) or quick-cooking oats (they’ll change the texture of the cookie).
If gluten-free: Oats are technically gluten-free, but to avoid contamination risk, be sure to buy certified gluten-free rolled oats!
Flaxseed meal
In addition to being a nutritional powerhouse (containing fiber, protein, and omega-3 fatty acids), flaxseed meal is a key functional component of this recipe—you’ll mix it with water and let it sit until it thickens and gels, creating a “flax egg,” which provides the binding that eggs contribute in non-vegan baked goods.
Unsweetened shredded coconut
I love the flaky texture this adds to these cookies, but coconut-haters, never fear—simply omit!
Creamy almond butter
The almond butter is the replacement for oil in this recipe, so it’s important to use almond butter with a smooth, almost runny consistency (translation: avoid the thick stuff at the bottom of the almond butter jar, as well as crunchy varieties).
Substitute: You can use peanut butter or cashew butter if you’d prefer. If you’re nut-free, try tahini or sunflower seed butter—see the first FAQ for more information on nut-free substitutions.
Maple syrup
Pure maple syrup (look for bottles with a single ingredient: 100% pure maple syrup) contributes so much more than the one-note sweetness of refined sugar—it adds caramelly, woodsy layers, building the depth of flavor of these cookies.
And since these cookies don’t have added oil, the liquid consistency helps bring the dough together.
Step-by-step instructions
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, stir 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.
Combine: 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) and 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
Substitutions
Not a fan of coconut or allergic? Omit the shredded coconut and just add more oats.
Don’t have hemp seeds? My first suggestion is to get some hemp seeds. Seriously, they’re protein-packed game-changers. My second suggestion: omit, or add more shredded coconut.
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.
If allergic to all nuts, use tahini. Or, an unsweetened sunflower seed butter (note: sunflower seed butter might tint the cookies a green-ish color).
Get creative with the dried fruit/seed/nut mix-ins. You could really use any variety you like!
- Dried fruits: I’ve used raisins, currants, finely-chopped apricots, finely-chopped dates, and dried cranberries (use juice-sweetened cranberries to avoid refined sugar)
- Seeds & nuts: Pepitas, sunflower seeds, and all kinds of nuts work well. Just thoroughly chop them so you don’t get large pieces.
Not a fan of dried fruit? Feel free to substitute with chocolate chips (these are my favorites)! I love the chewiness that dried fruit brings, but the chocolate chip version makes these taste more like a classic cookie (SO good).
Flavor combinations
Looking for inspiration? Below are the flavor combos we tried (and loved!) in the RPL kitchen.
My faves are anything that contains chocolate chips (duh), dried blueberries, and dried cranberries.
- Golden Macadamia: dried golden berries + macadamia nuts, chopped
- 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
Frequently Asked Questions
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.
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 Foods 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.
That’s fine! If salted, you can use a scant 1/2 teaspoon salt in the recipe.
We recommend using a digital scale for the most precise results.
However, every time I have made this recipe, even without using a digital scale, it always yields 22-24 cookies.
It’s possible that if you live outside of the U.S., your tablespoon measures are different. For instance, in Australia, 1 tablespoon = 20 mLs; whereas in the U.S. and many other places, 1 tablespoon = 15 mLs.
Did you love these versatile, nourishing, delicious Breakfast Cookies? If so, please let me know by leaving a review and rating below 🫶🏽
Introducing
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 to 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
- 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 or 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 to 15 minutes to gel together.
- Arrange a rack in the top third and in the 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, salt, and cinnamon if using.
- 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, seeds or chopped nuts, 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 a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop, small ice cream scoop, or large spoon to scoop 35 to 40g of dough per cookie onto the prepared sheet pans (that's 2 to 2.5 tablespoons per cookie).Alternatively, measure the dough out with a spoon and shape into a round using your hands. Space them about 1/2 inch apart, 12 cookies per sheet pan (they don't really spread).
- Lightly flatten the top of each cookie with your hands, then transfer the pans to the oven. Bake the cookies for 18-20 minutes, or until the bottoms are lightly golden.
- Remove from the oven and rest for 5 minutes, then use a spatula to transfer the cookies 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.
Video
Notes
- It’s important to use a smooth, fairly runny variety of almond butter since there’s no oil in this recipe. Don’t use the crusty bottom of the jar! If nut-free, use tahini.
- If you want to keep these cookies entirely refined sugar-free, use a naturally sugar-free dried fruit like currants, sultanas, or chopped mango or apricots (most varieties of dried cranberries and blueberries have added sugar).
- If you want something a little more traditional cookie-like, these are REALLY good with mini vegan chocolate chips (I love the chocolate chips from Enjoy Life).
- Nut options we’ve tried: almonds, walnuts, pecans, cashews, macadamia nuts. They all work! Just be sure to chop nuts well so you don’t get big pieces. You can keep seeds whole.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love this? Leave a rating below!
Is the coconut in the cookies required? Is there something else I can use to substitute instead of coconut?
Absolutely delicious, we already made double batch and ate all of them during the week. I used peanut butter, and it worked well. Combination of dried fruit and nuts, paired with yoghurt, so yummy !
I love your recipes, most recently I made your jumbo banana muffins. They are amazing! For the breakfast cookies, can I substitute the rolled oats for quinoa? If so, would it be the the same measurement as the rolled oats?
Can you use peanut butter instead of almond butter?
Definitely saving this one! Can you develop a similar one adding red bean flour? Inspired loosely by asian cakes and pastries, it would add more protein to complement oats. I’ve been trying, using date syrup and finely ground nuts/applesauce as subs for maple syrup and nut butter, even healthier. I bet you would develop an irresistible recipe! My husband won’t eat healthy so but that he would eat. Thank you for your recipes and discussion!
The cookies have great flavor and consistency. I used almonds and raisins for a traditional cookie.
I bought hemp seeds but didn’t get to use them because children are not supposed to eat them. ( since they could be contaminated with THC)
These cookies actually changed my life. Everyone that has tried one has asked me to make them a full batch! This recipe has made it to my forever recipe book as a tried and true.
Thanks for this great recipe (not the first one I’ve tested, but I decided I should rate and comment from now on!). I tried these without shredded coconut (I didn’t have any), with a mixture of peanut butter and tahini, and pecan and apricots: they’re so good and they proved to be very versatile indeed!
Just one question: the’re very crunchy when you eat them right out of the oven, but after that, not at all. Is there any way to bring back some crunchiness if you eat them after some time?
I love this recipe as do all that I have shared with, even, my non-vegan friends!
These cookies are delicious, and such a hearty snack! I hate baking, and this is one of the only recipes that I’m willing to actually bake regularly. I make them for myself as an easy snack or breakfast when I know I’m going into a busy time, and have also made them for friends who are new moms. They’ve turned out great every time and area always a hit! My go-to mix-ins are dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and a bunch of hemp hearts. I usually split the dough in half and add chocolate chips to half, to make some that are a bit more of a healthy breakfast option, and some that are a bit of an extra treat. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Thanks for sharing, Ellie! It’s great to hear this recipe’s become a staple for you!