These vegan and gluten-free oatmeal raisin cookies are the perfect combination of soft and chewy. This is a classic cookie recipe made healthier with nutritious ingredients. The cookies are full of warm and comforting flavors like cinnamon and vanilla that are perfect for this time of year. I love this easy recipe because the ingredients are simple, no dough chilling is required, the cookies cook quickly, and you don't need any fancy equipment.
This time of year, I love to bake healthy cookies to enjoy as a snack or dessert. Homemade cookies are just the best and always feel so home-y. I love this vegan and gluten-free oatmeal raisin cookie recipe because they are soft in the middle and a little chewy on the outside. They have amazing flavor and most importantly they are loaded with nutritious ingredients you can really feel good about eating.
These cookies are allergy-friendly and made without any nuts, soy, dairy, eggs, wheat or gluten. Plus, they are refined sugar-free and don't contain any butter.
I pack these cookies in my kids' lunches sometimes and offer them as a special after-school snack. I love to enjoy them as a mid-morning snack at my desk during the workday. My husband loves them after dinner as dessert. They really work anytime of day. With oatmeal raisin cookies you just can't go wrong!
What you need to make these vegan and gluten-free oatmeal raisin cookies:
This recipe comes together with these simple, wholesome ingredients:
- gluten-free rolled oats and raisins are the stars of this recipe and add a natural sweetness to the cookies
- ground flaxseeds help bind the cookie together
- coconut oil is used for richness and moisture in place of butter
- pure maple syrup is used to naturally sweeten the cookies
- baking soda acts as a leavening agent
- cinnamon & vanilla provide a sweet and warming flavor
- salt makes all the flavors pop
Pretty simple! These are ingredients that I typically have on hand in my pantry making this recipe so convenient. And you will notice this recipe doesn't use any unhealthy oils, butter, flour or refined sugar.
What are the health benefits of oats?
According to the Whole Grains Council, oats are higher in protein and healthful fats and lower in carbohydrates than most other whole grains. I love to incorporate oats and oat flour into my desserts because they are full of soluble fiber and help me feel fuller longer. This cookie recipe is healthy enough to enjoy as a mid-morning snack or give to kids as an after-school snack that is both filling and nutritious.
More vegan and gluten-free cookie recipes you'll love!
If you are a cookie monster like me you are always baking cookies! These are some of my favorite vegan and gluten-free cookie recipes (some are actually no-bake!).
- Dark Chocolate Chunk Almond Flour Cookies with Flaked Sea Salt
- Grain-Free Cookie Dough Energy Bites
- Classic Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Protein-Packed Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
- Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies
- Sugar Cut-Out Cookies
- Healthy Raw Cookie Dough Energy Balls
- Best Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Now, let’s make some vegan, gluten-free and nut-free oatmeal raisin cookies!
I cannot wait for you to give this oatmeal raisin cookie recipe a try. Let's get baking!
When you try this recipe, use the hashtag #eatingbyelaine on INSTAGRAM for a chance to be featured in my stories.
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Soft and Chewy Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (gluten-free and nut-free)
- Total Time: 18
- Yield: 12 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These vegan and gluten-free oatmeal raisin cookies are the perfect combination of soft and chewy. This is a classic cookie recipe made healthier with nutritious ingredients. The cookies are full of warm and comforting flavors like cinnamon and vanilla that are perfect for this time of year. I love this easy recipe because the ingredients are simple, no dough chilling is required, the cookies bake quickly, and you don't need any fancy equipment.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed + ¼ cup water
- 1 cup gluten-free quick cooking oats
- 1 ¼ cup homemade gluten-free oat flour*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- ⅓ cup organic unrefined virgin coconut oil, melted (or melted vegan butter)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup raisins (plus more for topping the cookies if desired)**
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a half baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine ground flaxseed and water and whisk. Leave it to thicken for a couple minutes while you prepare the rest of the cookie batter.
- In a large mixing bowl stir together the dry ingredients (oats, oat flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt) until well combined. Add the wet ingredients (maple syrup, melted coconut oil and vanilla) and use a hand mixer to combine well. Add the flaxseed + water mixture and use the hand mixer again to combine. Fold in the raisins until evenly distributed.
- Use a cookie scoop to place ~2 tablespoon scoops of cookies on the baking sheet about an inch apart. Use wet fingers to gently form and flatten 12 cookies until they are ½ inch thick. (The cookie dough will not stay together well when uncooked so just clump them together with your wet fingers). Optional: If some of the cookies have no raisins showing on top, place a few extra raisins on the tops of the cookies.
- Bake for 8 minutes until edges are light golden brown. The center of the cookies will still be very soft.
- Remove from oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 30 minutes before carefully moving to a cooling rack to completely cool. Alternatively, you can place the baking sheet in the freezer on a hot plate to cool them quicker. Enjoy once fully cooled or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days.
Notes
*To make the oat flour add 1.5 cups of oats to a completely dry high speed blender and blend from low to high speed until the oats turn into a fine powder. No chunks should be present.
**You can use a combination of golden and regular raisins. For best results, I recommend plumping up the raisins before adding them to the batter. To do this, place the raisins in a bowl and cover with boiling hot water. Leave them for a few minutes to soak. While you prepare the recipe the raisins rehydrate and plump up. Be sure to drain them well and dry them on a paper towel before adding to the batter so they don’t add too much moisture to the cookies. Sometimes I also swap chocolate chips for the raisins - delicious!
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 8
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
Keywords: healthy vegan and gluten-free oatmeal raisin cookies
Dianne says
These cookies are perfectly delicious and super easy. I added shredded coconut and walnuts in addition to the raisins. They are the perfect sweet treat!
Elaine Gordon says
OMG yum! Love your additions! I'll try that next time! So happy you are loving this recipe!
Dianne says
I’m so in love.....I’ve made 3 batches in the last few days. ?They are perfect for the kids too. I just love a healthy cookie that I can feel great about eating and sharing. I’m on the hunt for recipes that are very low sugar too.
Elaine Gordon says
Haha! That's awesome! I love it! I need to make them again soon! It has been too long!
KamalaDevi Venus says
Can I make these as a cookie bar instead of cookie? I deal with health & energy issues so need to make it as easy as possible. What would the cooking time be?
Elaine Gordon says
Yes! This is such a great idea! I think it would work great if you pack the dough tightly into a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I haven't tried it myself with this exact recipe but I think it would work out. If you give it a try please let me know. I also have these easy chewy no-bake granola bars (you can substitute raisins or dates or cranberries for the chocolate chips if you prefer): https://www.eatingbyelaine.com/no-bake-5-ingredient-homemade-granola-bars-vegan-gluten-free/ (so good - highly recommend).
Danielle says
Super easy to make! For some reason my food processor wasn't grinding the flax seeds down to a powder, so they weren't binding well. I decided to add egg which really helped! I added shredded coconut too, they tasted great!!
Elaine Gordon says
Thank you, Danielle! So happy to hear you enjoyed them and were able to adjust the recipe to meet your needs 🙂 Best, Elaine
Frances barker says
Thanks for this, was searching for a gluten/ dairy/coconut/ sugar free cookie recipe that wouldn’t fall apart. I can’t have coconut or salt so used sunflower oil. I did 1 cup oat flour and 1/2 cup ground almonds. Also used oat syrup and 2 spoons of fructose to make up to 1/3 cup instead of maple syrup.
The uncooked consistency was great, not too sticky like some recipes turn out. The cookies needed 14 mins to cook but I loved them. Next time I will try lemon zest ( might help make the flavours pop in place of salt) and maybe some seeds.
Thanks so much for a recipe that works.
Elaine Gordon says
Thank you, Frances! And thank you for sharing your swaps - always helpful to readers. If you are able to have vegan butter that would work in place of the coconut oil here. Thanks again for taking the time to write this review and give this recipe a five star rating! Best, Elaine
Brigitte says
I just made these cookies , I don’t like sweet but I added 3 tsp coconut palm sugar , more cinnamon and spices , I baked them longer I like crispy cookies they lacked flavor they are very blend even with more spices. I will not make them again . They are very crumbly prior to baking . Just giving my opinion but everybody has different taste Thank you very much .
Elaine Gordon says
Hi, Brigitte. I'm so sorry to hear you had a less than enjoyable experience with these. These are one of my favorite cookie recipes but it has been awhile since I made them so I'm running to the kitchen now to retest and make sure everything is written down correctly and there are no mistakes. I'll report back! Best, Elaine
Elaine Gordon says
Hi Brigitte: I retested these a couple more times with some tweaks and updated the recipe. I think you will like it a lot better now! Perfectly sweet flavor and not crumbly after baked. They will be slightly crumbly before you bake them but that is normal. I added 2 flax eggs (ground flaxseed and water which together form a vegan egg) to help hold them together. Please let me know if you get a chance to try these again. Please make sure to follow the new directions carefully 🙂 Thank you again for the feedback. Best, Elaine
Daisy says
Hello! Just made this recipe and they really turned out well! I did notice a slight baking soda taste. And also I noticed in the introduction, you had mentioned baking powder? Just curious if you’ve used both and if so, which one you’ve had better success with? Thanks so much for the recipe!😊
Elaine Gordon says
Hi, Daisy: Thank you so much. I'm sorry it should be baking soda. Best, Elaine