Vegan Almond Flour Oatmeal Cookies
on Nov 17, 2023, Updated Sep 01, 2026
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These vegan almond flour oatmeal cookies are soft, chewy and packed with chocolate chips. They’re easy to make in one bowl with simple ingredients and are naturally egg-free, dairy-free and gluten-free when made with certified gluten-free oats.
Why You’ll Love Almond Flour Oatmeal Cookies
- Crisp edges and chewy centers. They have a lightly crisp outside with a soft, chewy middle.
- Easy one-bowl recipe. The dough comes together quickly with minimal cleanup.
- Sweet, chocolatey and slightly salty. Chocolate chips and a touch of salt make these cookies so satisfying.
- Simple ingredients. Made with almond flour, oats and everyday baking staples.
- Vegan and gluten-free. They’re naturally egg-free and dairy-free, and easy to keep gluten-free with certified gluten-free oats.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Please see the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post for the full list of ingredients with measurements.
- Almond Flour: This recipe is for fine almond flour, not almond meal. You can use store-bought almond flour or make your own from blanched finely ground almonds.
- Oats: Rolled oats (old-fashioned oats) are suggested for this recipe though you could use quick oats if that’s what you have available. Do not use steel cut oats. If needed, use certified gluten-free oats.
- Vegan Butter: Use your preferred plant-based butter. I recommend butter sticks for easy measuring. Softened coconut oil can also be used, though the texture may be slightly different.
- Brown Sugar: Light brown sugar or dark brown sugar is suitable. You can substitute coconut sugar.
- Sugar: Use any white granulated sugar. You can use organic cane sugar if preferred.
- Flax: Be sure to use ground flax and not whole flax seeds. This acts as the “egg” in the recipe and is needed for binding and structure.
- Chocolate Chips: You can use dairy-free chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, chocolate chunks or chopped dark chocolate. Substitute raisins or use half chocolate and half raisins.
Variations
- Swap the chocolate chips for raisins or use half chocolate chips and half raisins.
- Add up to ½ cup shredded coconut.
- Add ½ cup chopped walnuts, pecans or almonds.
- Add ½ teaspoon cinnamon, or a combination of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.
How to Make Almond Flour Oatmeal Cookies
Before you begin preparing the cookie dough, preheat the oven to 350 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
Step 1: Mix together the ground flax and water in a small bowl and let it sit for 5-10 minutes while you prepare the rest of the dough. After 5-10 minutes, the flax “egg” should be thick and somewhat slimy – like an egg!
Step 2: In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well combined and the sugar is all broken up. Beat in the flax egg and vanilla as well.
Step 3: Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, then fold in the chocolate chips. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes.
Step 4: Scoop approximately 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into balls. Place them at least 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
Step 5: Bake for 13–15 minutes. If baking in batches, keep the remaining dough refrigerated until you’re ready to bake it.
Step 6: Once the cookies have finished baking, let them sit on the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. The cookies will be fragile straight out of the oven but will firm up as they cool.
Expert Tips
- Do not over bake the cookies. They will finish baking as they cool so remove them from the oven when they’re slightly underdone.
- Chill the dough. It’s recommended to chill the dough for at least 30 minutes before baking. Though not required, this prevents the cookies from over spreading.
- Measuring. Use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients for accuracy, following the listed weights, for best results. If you do not have a scale, spoon the almond flour into the measuring cup and level the top off with a knife.
- Substitutions. Other than swapping out the chocolate chips or adding things like nuts or coconut, I do not recommend substituting the other ingredients as this recipe was developed specifically for almond flour and requires the ingredient ratios listed.
Recipe FAQs
This recipe was developed specifically for fine almond flour and has not been tested with other flours. I don’t recommend substituting coconut flour, oat flour or another flour without adjusting the recipe, as different flours absorb moisture differently. If you’d like to try an oat flour cookie, these Vegan Chocolate Chip Zucchini Oatmeal Cookies are a good option. You can also try these Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies.
I recommend chilling the dough for at least 30 minutes. Because almond flour contains more fat than wheat flour, chilling helps prevent the cookies from spreading too much and helps create a thicker, chewier cookie. You can skip the chilling time if needed, but expect the cookies to spread more. If you do, leave plenty of space between the dough balls on the baking sheet.
You can, but the texture will be different. Almond meal is coarser than almond flour, so the cookies may be darker, more crumbly and may not bind as well. For the best results, I recommend using fine almond flour as written.
Make sure you’re using ground flaxseed rather than whole flaxseeds and allow the mixture to sit for 5–10 minutes. If it remains very thin, your flaxseed may be old or have absorbed moisture during storage. For the best results, use fresh ground flaxseed. Whole flaxseeds can be ground as needed and stored in the refrigerator or freezer to help maintain freshness.
The most common reason is skipping the chilling time. Make sure the dough is chilled for at least 30 minutes before baking and that your vegan butter is softened but not melted. Also check that the almond flour was measured accurately.
That’s normal. The cookies will be quite soft and fragile when they’re hot and will firm up as they cool. Let them sit on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack. Be careful not to overbake them, as they can become dry once cooled.
Yes. You can replace the chocolate chips with raisins, dried cranberries or chopped nuts. You can also leave them out for a simple almond flour oatmeal cookie.
How to Store
- Let the cookies cool completely before storing. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- To freeze, place the cooled cookies in a freezer-safe container or bag, separating layers with parchment paper if needed. Freeze for up to 4 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving, or enjoy them straight from the freezer for a firmer texture.
If you make this recipe, please consider leaving a comment and a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the comment section below. It helps others who are thinking of making the recipe, and I love to hear from you. Thanks for trying my recipes! – Deryn
Vegan Almond Flour Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp flaxseed meal + 3 tbsp water
- ½ cup vegan butter, softened (113 g)
- ¼ cup brown sugar, 38 g
- ¼ cup granulated sugar, 50 g
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup packed almond flour, 90 g
- 1 ½ cups rolled oats, 171 g
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup mini or regular chocolate chips, 45 g
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together the flaxseed meal and water and let sit for 5-10 minutes while you prepare the rest of the dough.
- In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until well combined and no large sugar chunks remain. Beat in the flax “egg” and vanilla extract until well combined.
- Add the almond flour, rolled oats, baking soda, and salt to the bowl. Mix until the dough is uniform. Then, mix in the chocolate chips until just combined.
- Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Chilling the dough helps prevent the cookies from overspreading. When you're ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350˚F (177˚C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Use a small cookie scoop or roll the dough into ~2 tbsp balls and place at least 2 inches apart on the first baking sheet. Place the first baking sheet in the oven and bake at 350˚F (177˚C) for 13-15 minutes, until the cookies are a nice golden brown. While the cookies bake, you can roll the dough for the second baking sheet.
- Cool cookies on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. The cookies will finish up baking as they sit. You can also start baking your other tray of cookies in the meantime.
Delicious and super easy. I will use this recipe very often.
Thank you for sharing!
Great recipe! It came together, super quick and easy.
However, if I can make a suggestion on the steps: if the dough needs to sit in the fridge for half an hour, you should consider waiting to heat up the oven until after the dough is made. Unless you have a veerryy slow heating oven, theres no sense for it to be the very first step 🙂
Thank you, I updated the steps.
These are amazing! Super crispy and just what I was looking for. I will be making these often 🙂