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.
I’m not vegan, but love when I find a vegan recipe that doesn’t feel like you’re “missing” anything. Thank you for sharing your genius!
Also, I didn’t have brown sugar so I subbed it with 1/3 c real maple syrup. Came out great!
I’m so happy you loved the cookies! Thanks so much for sharing your terrific review!
Wonderful recipe, thank you SO much!
You are welcome! I’m thrilled you love the cookies! Thank you for sharing!
These cookies were delicious and super easy to make! Made them for my vegan daughter, but our. non-vegan family and friends quickly ate them up :). I might add less chocolate chips next time, but otherwise wonderfully tasty cookies!
Thank you for your wonderful feedback!
These were fantastic! I used peanut butter instead of vegan butter, but added two table spoons of vegan butter ultimately for more moisture. The dough still felt crumbly so I also added about 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce which made everything stick together very nicely. I used vegan chocolate chunks and added about 1/3 cup extra. Yummy. Rest of the family isn’t vegan and they loved them too. I only had quick oats so looking forward to trying them with old fashioned oats next time.
Thank you for sharing your feedback! Glad you loved the cookies!
These cookies are amazing! Thanks for this delicious recipe!
You are welcome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!
Absolutely delicious cookies. I made them for a cookie exchange and they received many rave reviews from skeptical non-vegans. My family and I also love them. The recipe is easy to follow and clean up is simple. Thank you!
Hi Carolyn! I’m so glad you and your family love my cookies! Thank you so much for taking time to share your fantastic review and comments!
these cookies were incredible. best i’ve ever had. every time i bake anything i search up noracooks and have never been disappointed! thank you for all the perfect recipes : )
side note: for anyone who may not have flaxseed, i replaced the flax egg with 1/4 cup applesauce and the cookies turned out great!
Thank you for taking time to share your wonderful review, comments, and ideas! I am so glad you love the cookies! Your kind words for my blog warm my heart. Thank you!
these cookies!!!! they are so good, nora! thank you for your never-failing recipes.
Thank you for using my recipes, Ashley! I am so glad you love the cookies! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review and comments!
These were everything an oatmeal cookie should be. I skipped the chocolate chips and added half coconut and half raisins. They were delicious. Will be my new go to recipe. Thank you!!
Hi Tammy! I’m thrilled you loved the cookies, and that they will be your new go to oatmeal cookie recipe! Thank you for taking time to share your wonderful review and comments! Happy cooking!
Mmmmmm, so good. I found vegan butterscotch chips and added walnuts. I can’t wait for my son, daughter and grandson to try them. They always give rave reviews when I make your recipes.
Thanks for sharing
Joanne
Hi Joanne. You butterscotch chips sound like a great find, and so delicious! Thank you for using my recipes! I’m glad you loved the cookies! I appreciate you taking time to share your great review and comments. Happy cooking!
These are the best oatmeal chip cookies I’ve ever had, vegan or non! Whenever I’m looking for a recipe and I see Nora Cooks, I know it will be good- as usual, this one did not disappoint! Thank you for this wonderful recipe – it’s a keeper!
Thank you so much for sharing your review and wonderful comments! I’m so glad that you love the cookies! I appreciate you using my recipes, and am so glad you are enjoying them! Happy cooking!
Absolutely the best cookies I’ve ever made. I love oatmeal chocolate chip and when I started eating DF, I was worried I’d have to give up my favorite cookies. Everyone I have made them for loves them! Perfect recipe.
I am so glad you love the cookies! Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful review and comments! I’m really glad you don’t have to give up your favorite cookie!
Hi! Looks great- wondering if I can replace the flaxseed with the equivalent amount of Bob’s Redmill egg replacer?
Thanks and excited to try!
I bet you could! Hope you enjoy the cookies.
Delicious! I doubled the cinnamon and swapped the chocolate chips for raisins to make oatmeal raisin cookies, and they were super tasty! I even used some of the leftover oat pulp from my homemade oat milk in place of some of the dry oats and they still turned out well. Thank you!!
I’m glad you loved the cookies! Thanks for sharing your review and comments!
Just made these! These are the first successful vegan cookies I’ve ever made! I halved both sugars but made no other adjustments. Will make again.
I’m so glad that cookies turned our great for you! Thank you for taking time to share your wonderful review! Happy cooking!
Is there a sub for flax seeds?
I haven’t tried anything else, but I’m sure you could use another egg replacer to replace 1 egg.
Fantastic!! Really good! Easy to make too!
Thank you for sharing your review! Glad you loved the cookies!
These cookies are delicious. I put in walnuts but forgot to refrigerate for 30 minutes. They did spread and were not as soft as the first time I baked them but still very good but flatter and crunchy.
Thank you for sharing your review, Surae! I”m glad you enjoyed the cookies!
Perfect!!!
Thanks Heather!
Stellar recipe as always! We used buckwheat flakes instead of oats and had great results.
I’m glad you loved them! Thank you for sharing your review!
I made these with whole wheat flour, peanut butter instead of vegan butter, and raisins/chopped nuts instead of chocolate. Still so good with the subs!!! My dough was pretty dry and crumbly before and after baking, I added some almond milk while mixing but I probably could’ve done more. That was def a result of my substitutes though and the recipe was adaptable anyway.
Thanks for letting me know how they turned out, I’m glad you enjoyed them! Whole wheat flour will certainly make the dough more dry and dense, as well as subbing peanut butter. But it’s fine to add almond milk until it comes together. Thank you!
I opted for the oil free version and used peanut butter. It needed about 6 tablespoons of additional liquid to come together as a dough. Not sure if the additional liquid was needed because of the type of peanut butter I used (organic no palm oil) or for another reason – maybe the quick rolled oats? The flavor is amazing and I want to make it again with addition of cranberries! I also plan to try the recipe as is soon.
It could have been the peanut butter or the quick oats, and it certainly works better with vegan butter, but I’m glad you still enjoyed them! Thank you!
This recipe is amazing!! I love these cookies. I used a gluten free flour and it worked well.
Thank you for posting:)
Thank you for sharing your review, Chantal! I’m glad you love the cookies! Good to know the gluten free flour works well!
Just took these out of the oven. They look perfect! I chilled them for the minimum amount of time (because I’m a bit impatient when it comes to baking) and they spread a little but not too much. I love the addition of cinnamon.
Thank you for sharing your review, Hayley! I’m glad they turned out perfect!
Would applesauce work in replacement of vegan butterfly this recipe?
I’m not totally sure as I haven’t tried it. They would likely be very soft and not so chewy.
Can we used coconut oil or Tahini instead of butter?
Yes, I think either of those would work here. Thanks!