These sweet and spiced, vegan cranberry orange cookies are easy to make in 1 bowl in 20 minutes and are perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas or any time of year.

A stack of 4 cranberry orange oatmeal cookies sitting beside a cooling rack on a white surface.
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Ingredient Notes

  • Almond butter. I’ve made these with almond butter and tahini and like them both. Just make sure the nut or seed butter you use isn’t too dry. It should be thick but close to pourable.
  • Maple syrup. The cookies are naturally sweetened with maple syrup making them refined sugar-free. I have not tested any other sweetener but you should be able to sub agave if needed.
  • Orange. You’ll need 1 navel orange to grate some orange zest for these cookies.
  • Rolled oats. Old fashioned, rolled or large flake oats all work.
  • Whole wheat flour. You’ll need 1 cup of whole wheat flour. I have not tested a gluten-free flour but you should be able to use all-purpose flour if needed. I suspect a gluten-free flour blend such as Bob’s Red Mill would work just fine but I haven’t tested it.
  • Dried cranberries. Any dried cranberries work. I like apple juice sweetened cranberries best!
  • Chocolate chips. I like Enjoy Life dairy-free chocolate chips but any vegan brand works. If you can’t find vegan chocolate chips, chopped dark chocolate works too.

Method

Before you start: preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. You want it to be fully heated before you start baking the cookies.

Use a box or handheld grate or citrus planer to grate some orange zest off of an orange then add it to a mixing bowl with the nut butter and maple syrup and stir until smooth and creamy.

Grated orange zest on a cutting board.
Maple syrup and almond butter mixed together in a glass mixing bowl.

Fold in the dry ingredients and stir into at thick cookie dough.

Quick Tip: Use an inexpensive kitchen scale for accurate measuring and best results.

Raw cookie batter with cranberries, chocolate chips and pecans being mixed in.
Raw cranberry orange oatmeal cookie dough in a glass mixing bowl.

Drop 10 cookie shapes onto a parchment paper-lined baking tray and press each into a rough cookie shape. Bake the cookies for 13 minutes then let cool on the pan for 5 minutes before carefully transferring to a cooling rack.

Recipe Variations

  • For plain oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, omit the orange, pecans and cranberries and increase the chocolate chips to 1/2 cup.
  • Use vegan white chocolate chips for cranberry white chocolate cookies.
  • Try using almond extract instead of vanilla extract and replacing the pecans with slivered almonds.
Cranberry orange cookies stacked on a cooling rack with a few dried cranberries and chocolate chips sprinkled around.

Looking for more holiday recipes? Try my vegan turtles, no-bake Nanaimo bars, vegan rum balls, vegan eggnog or something from my collection of Thanksgiving recipes.

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A stack of 4 cranberry orange oatmeal cookies sitting beside a cooling rack on a white surface.

Cranberry Orange Oatmeal Cookies

  • Author: Deryn Macey
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 13 mins
  • Total Time: 23 minutes
  • Yield: 10 1x
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: Vegan

Delicious, vegan cookies featuring holiday flavours like orange, nutmeg and cranberry. These cookies are perfect for the holiday season! This recipe is refined sugar-free and oil-free!

★★★★★

5 from 3 reviews
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Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup (120 g) drippy almond butter or tahini 
  • 1/2 cup (145 g) maple syrup
  • 1 cup (120 g) whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup (100 g) rolled oats
  • 1 tsp finely grated zest from an orange (substitute with 1 tsp orange extract)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/4 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts, optional

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Add the almond butter, maple syrup and vanilla to a bowl and whisk until smooth.
  3. Add the flour, oats, salt, nutmeg and baking soda, stir to combine.
  4. Mix in the cranberries, nuts and chocolate chips.
  5. Line a baking tray with parchment paper or give it a light spray with non-stick cooking spray. 
  6. Drop 10 spoonfuls of the dough onto the baking tray, pressing each one into a rough cookie shape.
  7. Bake for 13 minutes. Let cool on the pan for 5 minutes then carefully transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.
  8. These can be stored at room temperature for up to 4 days but I like them best stored in the fridge. They’ll keep in the fridge for a week or so, or they can be frozen up to 2 months.

Notes

For plain oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, omit the orange, nuts and cranberries and increase the chocolate chips to 1/2 cup.

Keywords: best, ww, healthy, plant-based, oil-free