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
Hey, I love your recipes, videos and book and I plan on trying these cookies. I just wanted to call out that maple syrup is, in fact, added sugar. It’s the same amount of sugar by volume as cane sugar. Maple syrup is very *slightly* lower GI, meaning it will take just slightly less time to metabolize. If you’re adding sugar, you may as well use it, because it does have a slight amount of minerals, so why not? But we don’t get off scot-free. I’m going to make mine with erythritol-monk’s fruit syrup and flavor it with maple, but if I didn’t need to worry about sugar, I’d certain go for the syrup.
Hi there Melody, thanks for your comment! On the blog post, we note the cookies are refined-sugar free, not free of added sugar. Sorry if there was any confusion!
Delicious! I plan to make them again and serve them to Fuller Center bikers who are bicycling from Seaside, Oregon to Sebago Lake, Maine. I used dried cranberries and pecans. Next time I think I’ll use pepitas for a change.
Hi Betty, 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!
I’ve made this so many times! It works with lots of kinds of dried fruit. I feel like I’m maybe not buying the ideal kind of almond butter for this, but it works anyway.
Great to hear you’re a fan of the recipe, Amy! We personally love the whole foods and sprouts brands of almond butter. You want to get one that’s roasted and stir it before use. You can also store the almond butter upside-down to make the stirring process a bit easier!
Could I use eggs for this recipe? If so, should I use 2? For my daughter, she only needs to be dairy free. I love watching your videos, you’re so awesome!
Thanks so much!
I’m allergic to flax. Is there a sustituye for Flax meal and or Flax eggs? I’d love to make these Breakfast cookie.
Hi Vicki, you can use a chia egg or the vegan “JUST egg”! We hope you love the cookies :)
I can confirm that chia eggs work very well. There are a couple different version out there — the one I used for previous breakfast cookies is 3T water to 1T chia seed, but if the texture isn’t right, you could try the 2 to 1 version.
These are great! We are packing them for flight snacks. My partner twisted my arm into adding fruit AND chocolate chips., He made a good call haha.
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Rach!
Fantastic cookies! I made a batch when I was pregnant and froze them. I’m now three weeks postpartum and love them as a quick breakfast or snack. They defrost super quickly!
Thanks for sharing, Bettina! So wonderful to hear you’ve been enjoying the cookies :)
Delicious and healthy! Made these with a mixed nut butter from Costco and pepitas, cranberries and chocolate chips. Omitted the coconut because I didn’t have and don’t like. They didn’t hold together as firm as I would have liked but it doesn’t matter because they are yummy AND my husband loves them too.
Thanks for sharing, Cris! Sorry they didn’t hold together with the omission of the coconut.
Super easy to throw together and they taste amazing. Followed every instruction and they turned out soo good. Would definitely make these again.
Awesome, Paul. Thanks for your comment and for taking the time to review!
The print button above the recipe doesn’t work! I love this recipe, but want it in a hard copy for my recipe collection. Please fix! Love your recipes, too!
Hi Shelley, it’s working on our end! It pops up in another tab so it not showing up may have something to do with your browser’s settings!
Hello! If I don’t have flaxseed meal and I don’t mind using a non-vegan egg, how many eggs would I use for this recipe? Thanks so much in advance!
Hi there Lisa, one tablespoon of flaxseed mixed with water = one egg. So this recipe calls for two vegan eggs, which would be the equivalent of 6 tablespoons of JUST egg. We hope you love the recipe!
So 2 regular eggs? I’m confused. If I’m not using a boxed egg mixture then how many chicken eggs does this recipe call for?
These turned out fantastic even with my modifications. This recipe is very forgiving and super customizable! I only had “natural” no stir peanut butter spread and it worked just fine. I used pecans, dried cranberries and mini chocolate chips but I also added chia seeds.
Thanks for sharing, Alice!
I was so happy to come across this recipe while looking for new breakfast ideas. Yesterday I had made a batch of your muesli, but my children didn’t care for it. I can’t eat oats, and was sad that the muesli may go to waste. So I was very happy to find this breakfast cookie recipe that has a very similar ingredients list. I just had to mix in all of the wet ingredients to my already prepared muesli. The children say the cookies are a hit! Thank you!
My son can’t have oats either so I’ve found a good substitute for the oats to be quinoa flakes. I haven’t made these yet but have made a similar version and look forward to making this one! Yummy!! 😋
Interesting, thanks for sharing Kimmie!
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Nicole! So glad you were able to repurpose the muesli!
These turned out delicious! Great suggestion to freeze them so always had a delicious snack on hand for the week!
Kiran, So glad to hear you loved this recipe!
So delicious!! I always have some in my freezer for a mid morning snack or a treat at night. We love pecan and chocolate chip the best! My whole family loves them and they have no idea they are vegan cookies.
Thanks for sharing, Michelle!
Thanks Nisha for posting the nutritional info!
You’re welcome, Sue!
Hi Nisha,
Can I just thank you for putting metric measurements in your recipes? I have had your cookbook for a while now. The first day I got it, I went over every page and converted everything. There’s lots of notes in there (thanks for not using glossy paper!).
I hadn’t checked your website for a while now. And now I see all those lovely newer recipes have the metric measurements in them already! Thank you so so much (probably on behalf of all non-American people on your website)
<3 <3 <3
You’re welcome, Paulien! Thanks for making the recipes :)
Greetings from Sweden! These cookies turned out YUMMY! Used what I had at home, so substituted almond butter for peanut butter, and added chopped dried melon and cashew nuts for the mix ins. Will definetely use this recipe again, and try other mix ins.
Eva, So glad to hear you loved this recipe! Thanks for sharing :)
Amazing cookies! My husband asked for them every week! They are a hit. I cannot get the nutritional info to show up – can you post please??
So great to hear you love the cookies, Sue! Nutrition facts have been updated. 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!
I loved these! One question, I used 1/2 the maple syrup as I like things less sweet. It made the cookies a little hard to shape. I’d love a suggestion for a sub for a little more moisture. Would a splash of almond milk work?
Sometimes I use half the sweetener required also. But I use half the maple syrup called for and the other half water. That way you keep the amount of liquid needed for that specific recipe without getting the total sweetness. It works for me!!!!
Hi Nicole, I think a splash of almond milk or applesauce would work (although applesauce will add in some sweetness). If you’re not opposed to using oil, a tablespoon or so of that would also help.
Hi Nisha, is there a replacement for the maplesyrup? It’s about 9 euros (10dollars) a bottle here and I’d rather not go broke after baking a batch of cookies… Thanks!
Hi Shan, you can use agave instead!