My one-bowl Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies are hearty, sweet, and so chewy. Filled with chocolatey goodness, you can bake the cookies fresh or freeze the dough for later.
A hearty and rustic oatmeal cookie is so classic. Similar to my Iced Oatmeal Cookies, these Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies have all of the flavors you love from the classic recipe but with added chocolate!
The cookies are sweetened with both granulated and brown sugar to give them an extra rich flavor, while a touch of cinnamon and vanilla extract makes each bite warm and comforting. They’re the best cookies to dunk into a glass of homemade oat milk!
I think you’re really going to like these cookies. The chilled cookie dough balls need less than 15 minutes to bake before transforming into a dessert that is:
- Firm on the outside
- Chewy on the inside
- Made in 1 bowl
- And perfect for dunking!
If you don’t know what to do with all of your leftover oats, use them up by making my Vegan Overnight Oats and these chocolatey and easy No Bake Cookies.
What kind of oats are best in oatmeal cookies?
Old fashioned rolled oats are best here. They’ll give the cookies a soft and chewy texture while helping all of the ingredients stick together. Quick oats will also work if that’s what you have at home.
How to make vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
First, make the flax egg. While it sits, beat the vegan butter and sugars together. Pour in the flax egg and vanilla and mix again.
Mix the dry ingredients with the wet until the dough is just combined. To finish, stir in the chocolate chips using a spatula. Cover the bowl with plastic and let the cookie dough chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (this is necessary to keep the cookies from spreading too much in the oven.)
Afterward, scoop 1.5 tablespoons of dough out of the bowl and onto a prepared cookie sheet. Leave a little room in between each cookie so they don’t touch after you press them down slightly.
Bake the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies until set and then let them cool completely. They’ll firm up on the outside and still taste sweet and soft on the inside!
More mix-ins
Get creative with your cookies! They’d be delicious with any of these fun mix-ins:
- Dried fruit – Use raisins, cranberries, or other dried fruit in place of the chocolate chips, if that’s your thing!
- Nuts – Add in 3/4 cup of chopped walnuts or any other kind of nut you like.
- Peanut butter – Replace the vegan butter in the dough with creamy peanut butter.
- Spices – Add a pinch of nutmeg to make the cookies extra comforting.
- Chocolate – I like to use vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips from Enjoy Life, Trader Joe’s, or Costco. You can also use a dairy free dark chocolate bar and chop it into chunks.
Substitutions
- Gluten free – Use a 1:1 gluten free flour blend to replace the all purpose flour and make sure your rolled or quick oats are certified gluten free.
- Oil free – Use applesauce, peanut butter, or pureed pumpkin instead of the vegan butter.
- No flaxseed? Replace it with chia seeds, a vegan egg replacer, or a mashed banana instead.
Make ahead oatmeal cookies
The cookie dough can be prepared and refrigerated for up to 4 days before baking. Leave it in your mixing bowl with a lid or covered in plastic.
Alternatively, freeze the balls of cookie dough or the baked cookies instead. Freeze the balls on your baking sheet completely before transferring them to an airtight container or sealed freezer-safe bag. When it’s time to bake the frozen dough, make sure to add 2 extra minutes to the baking time.
Want more vegan cookies?
Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds
- 2.5 tablespoons water
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, softened (8 tablespoons)
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup dairy free chocolate chips
Instructions
- Mix the ground flaxseed and water in a small bowl and set aside to make your flax egg.
- In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the softened vegan butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar for 1-2 minutes until creamy.
- Mix in the flax egg and vanilla, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Stop the mixer and add the flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Turn the mixer on low speed and mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips until fully incorporated.
- Cover the bowl and refrigerate the cookie dough for 30 minutes before baking.
- About 10 minutes before the dough is done chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or lightly spray with oil.
- Using a cookie scoop or spoon, scoop about 1.5 tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving a little room between each one. Press each ball down gently to slightly flatten them, as these cookies won't spread very much in the oven.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes, until the tops of the cookies are set.
- Let cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. The cookies will firm up as they cool. Enjoy! Cookies will keep at room temperature for 3-4 days in a covered container.
Notes
-
Old fashioned rolled oats are best here, though quick oats will work. The texture is best with regular old fashioned rolled oats.
- Gluten free – Use a gluten free all purpose mix and make sure your oats are certified gluten free.
- Oil free – Substitute peanut butter for the vegan butter, or pumpkin puree or even applesauce.
-
Make ahead – The dough can be prepared and refrigerated up to 4 days before rolling and baking.
-
Freeze – You can freeze balls of cookie dough or the baked cookies. To bake from frozen, simply add an additional few minutes of baking time, about 2 minutes extra.
-
Use raisins, cranberries or other dried fruit in place of the chocolate chips, if desired. You could also add in 3/4 cup chopped walnuts.
Made these last night and my family literally cannot stop eating them. Even the non vegans were raving about them! Every single recipe I try on here is a 10/10!
Hi Kris. I appreciate you using my recipes, and am thrilled you are loving them! Thanks for your stellar review and feedback! Wishing you lots of happy cooking!
These cookies are not only delicious, they’re also magical…they disappear without a trace. Seriously, they were so good and easy. Thanks for another great recipe! You’re my go-to for vegan baking.
You are welcome, Kinara! I’m thrilled you love the cookies! I appreciate you sharing your awesome review! I feel honored that I am your go to for vegan baking! Thank you for using my recipes. Wishing you happy cooking!
Wow your recipes never fail. These are phenomenal. Used Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer instead of flax. I may have overbaked them slightly but the inside is still chewy. Forgot I was practically out of chocolate chips and only had about 10 left 🤦♂️ but had plenty of golden raisins, so I chopped some of those up and added them in. These are going to be gone so quickly. Thank you!
Another win, Nora! Thanks so much for the recipe—my husband, daughter, and I all love the cookies.
Thanks, Marta, for your wonderful review and feedback! I’m thrilled the cookies were a hit!
Hello Nora,
This was great. My parents were fooled.
They ended up being over baked and more crispy than soft. At 11min the top was soft and shining so I added 3 min. Not sure if that fooled me. I also love at altitude 7000 feet. Any advice? Thank you
Yes, I think that fooled you! You should just take them out sooner. 🙂 They will seem very soft, but they continue to firm up as they cool. So for chewy, not crisp, cookies, you need to take them out when they don’t quite look done.
Nora these cookies are so good, thank you. Love when my friends say, theses are so good can’t believe they are vegan. Don’t know what they think they should taste like, haha
You are welcome, Brenda! Thanks for sharing your encouraging words! Happy cooking!
I’m so used to the regular chocolate chip recipe I misbehaved and didn’t read through everything … skipped the refrigeration part. Still turned out amazing!!!! Great recipe as always. I can always count on this page to get an easy, delicious meal or treat!
Hi Marin. I appreciate your upbeat feedback and awesome review! Thank you for using my recipes! Wishing you lots of happy cooking!
I had a craving for oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for some reason and I knew just where to go to find a reliable recipe. I was a little worried because my dough looked more crumbly than yours. I couldn’t use a cookie scoop, so I just used me hands to form the balls. They turned out lovely. Very chocolatey, also the right amount of chew and oatiness. Thanks, again, Nora!
Nora these are perfect! I made them twice in a week! Thank you for your consistently awesome recipes.
Perfect!
I made these cookies with my daughter last night. She wants you to know that her name is also Nora and that these are the best cookies she’s ever had! She wanted to put her own spin on the recipe so she added a handful of Gorilla Munch cereal for some extra crunch. 😉
Hi Nora!! I’m soo happy that she loved the cookies enough to put her own spin on them! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful words and review 🙂
These are delicious! I’m making another batch. I used coconut oil instead of butter and only half the amount recommended. I used a tiny bit of almond milk to moisten enough to the hold the batter together.
These are AMAZING. They are literally the best cookies I have ever made in my life.
These were amazing! Thank you for the recipe! I’m trying to use more natural sugars when cooking and I’m wondering if subbing sugar for dates would work? Have you ever done this?
Thanks,
Allison
I’ve never tried using dates here, you kinda have to create recipes that are different when using dates (as in not a granulated sugar). It changes things quite a bit! I’m so glad you enjoying these. Date sugar would work quite similarly.
Hey, What temperature do i bake these at?
350ºF 🙂
Wonderful recipe. The cookies are indeed crisp and chewy at the same time. Thank you Nora for another great recipe!
You are welcome, Carolyn! Thank YOU for sharing your wonderful review ad feedback!
I am officially addicted to these cookies! These totally hit the spot as an allergen friendly dessert. The texture is perfect, love the hint of cinnamon, overall just a wonderful alternative to a classic!
Best Oatmeal Chocolate Chips I have tasted! But one question if I freeze the cookie ball don’t I have to thaw them out to press them down?
I’m so glad you like them! Thawing isn’t necessary but it can be done if you prefer flatter, less puffy cookies.
I subbed butterscotch schnapps for vanilla, almond butter for v. butter, added my favorite vegan vanilla protein powder and a small amount of several superfoods by reducing that amount of the WW flour. Only added half the sugar (protein powder was sweet/stevia as well as the schnapps). Blended up half the oats, kept the rest whole. Turned out fantastic with oat milk. Happy faces here.
I was tasked to make 100 vegan, dairy-free, nut-free, and gluten-free packed with flavor cookies for a wellness day presentation. I played with your recipe, using applesauce and then avocado oil buttery sticks for the oil part. The avocado oil sticks were the winner. I used King Arthur gluten-free flour, froze them in portions x 3 days, then defrosted them completely to bake. They were the hit of the day! I tried to post the photos, unable to do so.
Thanks for sharing your recipes, I am going to play with your ginger cookies next, I have some crystallized ginger in need of a home… Happy Baking!
That was a task indeed! I’m so thrilled the cookies were a hit! Thank you for sharing you baking experience and wonderful feedback! Happy baking to you!
Your recipes have NEVER disappointed, and this was no exception. So incredibly delicious and a hit at my house!!! Thank you so much, these are unreal!
You are welcome, Lila! I’m thrilled your family loved the cookies! Thanks for your wonderful review and feedback!
These are amazing (raw and cooked!!) They never last long and one batch is never enough
Awesome! Had to make it again because they disappeared…
Thanks for your fabulous feedback! I’m glad the cookies were a hit!
Amazing cookies! Super easy to make. I used chia seeds instead of flax seed and it worked well! I don’t like the taste of flax seed so chia seed is a great alternative. Thank you for creating the recipe!! 🙂
You are welcome, Katie! Thanks for sharing your idea and wonderful feedback! I’m thrilled you loved the cookies!
Since I started baking and cooking vegan I always find Nora recipe is the best as far as all recipe I tried..and this cookies is really great everyone loves this I just change granulated sugar into honey as they are not allowed to eat granulated sugar so far it’s excellent ..
Hi Karen. I’m thrilled you love the cookies! Thanks for your wonderful feedback and review! I appreciate you using my recipes! Happy cooking!