These Low-Fat Vegan Gluten-free Iced Oatmeal Cookies are healthy, oil-free, low-fat and yet so delicious. They are super soft, moist and made with sunbutter and sweet potato!
LOW-FAT GLUTEN-FREE VEGAN ICED OATMEAL COOKIES
No, your eyes are not deceiving you, this is not the same photo as the other decadent Vegan Iced Oatmeal Cookie recipe that I posted 2 days ago. Crazy how similar the cookies look though, right? Remember what I said in my last post, I like performing cookie magic, because hey, I am a self-professed cookie monster. I know how many of you have been waiting for this low-fat and nut-free version!
I’m beyond giddy to already see so many remakes on Facebook and Instagram of the Vegan Old-Fashioned Iced Oatmeal Cookies I just posted. Here is the low-fat version. Receiving 2 cookie posts in the same week can’t really be a bad thing, right? Ok, don’t answer that.
If you are NOT watching your fat intake or are not avoiding/allergic to nuts, then I highly suggest you make the original version. It is the one that tastes just like the classic ones we grew up on and they are so good I could cry.
Regardless how awesome those reviews are, these Low-fat Gluten-free Vegan Iced Oatmeal Cookies are certainly awesome in their own right. BOTH my hubby and daughter loved them.
HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY VEGAN COOKIES TASTE GOOD
The cookie magic low-fat secret?? Sweet potato and sunbutter!
The sunbutter and sweet potato combo worked amazing. So amazing. I tried with applesauce and um, nope. It made them too sticky and fell apart, so don’t ask me to sub the sweet potato! The sweet potato is very starchy and when baked, it acts as an incredible binder and really worked soooooo much better than applesauce. I know this because I’ve baked with it multiple times, like with these Sweet Potato Cinnamon Muffins. I chose sweet potato baby food puree because it’s so smooth. Worked a charm.
I only used a small amount of sunbutter for the 18 cookies. The cookies do need some fat in order for them not to be nasty and dry, but just enough to give cookie moisture without raising the fat content too much. These babies are only about 2g fat per cookie!
Since they are low-fat though, they are not fudgy or as decadent as my original version, obviously. They are more soft and have a cake-ier, muffin-like texture. But, don’t let that fool you, they are still SO DELICIOUS.
As you can see from this photo, the batter is soft and loose, not stiff like a typical cookie batter. That is so these cookies spread, puff up and are moist.
SUBSTITUTIONS
Regarding the rice flour, I don’t know if x, y or z flours will work. I know for a fact that white rice flour holds much better in these than brown rice flour. Do not use coconut flour or almond flour, those definitely will not work. You can try white all-purpose flour if you like, but I cannot vouch if it works or not. I can only guarantee the written recipe. I use white rice flour a lot in my baking and it’s super cheap, so it is worth the investment, so go out and get some!
I can’t even tell you how delicious eating one….two of these with a cup of hot coffee was.
I hope you love these Low-fat Gluten-free Vegan Iced Oatmeal Cookies!
OTHER VEGAN LOW-FAT DESSERTS
- Fudgy Vegan Low-fat Brownies
- Vegan Gluten-free Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Vegan Cranberry Orange Muffins
- Vegan Cinnamon Applesauce Quick Bread
Low-Fat Gluten-Free Vegan Iced Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (150g) old-fashioned GF rolled oats, NOT quick oats
- 3/4 cup (120g) white rice flour, DO NOT use brown, they will not hold together*
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3/4 cup (240g) pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup (120g) cooked/pureed sweet potato (I used baby food sweet potato b/c it's so smooth)
- 4 tablespoons (64g) sunbutter (Make sure there is no oil added. I used the Sunbutter brand, it has a little sugar and salt and is delicious.)
CLASSIC WHITE ICING
- 1 tablespoon (15g) water (Or lemon juice would be yummy, or any plant milk. I used coconut in the photos. If using coconut, increase to 1 1/2 tablespoons)
- 3/4 cup + 1 1/2 tablespoons (105g) powdered sugar, sifted if it is very lumpy
NOTE
- Since these are low-fat, these will be soft and have a moist muffin-like texture, but still so delicious. If you are wanting a more decadent cookie, then refer to my original Old-Fashioned Iced Oatmeal Cookies!
Instructions
- Make sure your sweet potato is completely smooth and pureed and cooled before making these cookies. You don't want chunks or bits of potato because it is the smooth potato and starch from the potato that helps to bind these. I used baby food but if you cook it, make sure you either bake or microwave it. Do not steam it, as that will impart too much water in it. Then mash it well before measuring.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line 2 large sheet pans with parchment paper.
- To a large bowl, add the oats, rice flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt and stir until combined well.
- If not using the sweet potato baby food, it might be best to mix the liquids (syrup, potato, sunbutter) separately with a whisk or blend them just to make sure the potato is smooth. Then pour the syrup, sunbutter and sweet potato puree over the dry ingredients. Stir for at least 2 minutes vigorously until the mixture thickens up very well. The longer you stir, the more it will thicken.
- Drop by large spoonfuls (I used a soup spoon), about 2 tablespoons worth, onto the pan and space them about 2 inches apart. The batter should be soft, not stiff, and slightly spread out a bit once you drop the batter on the pan. You do not need to flatten out the dough.
- Bake one pan at a time for 12 minutes until they have spread some, puffed up and have a nice golden color.
- Cool on the pan 10 minutes and then transfer to cool completely on a rack before icing. These are tender, but will firm up as they cool. They should be very soft but hold their shape.
- For the icing, add the sugar and water (or milk) to a small bowl and whisk very well until it comes together and is completely smooth. Do not be tempted to add more liquid. Add the icing to a baggie, cut a small tip off the corner and drizzle it on. I store mine in the fridge because it makes them a tad firmer and somehow more moist.
I loved oatmeal cookies when I was a little kiddie – ha! But NO raisins, which you didn’t include! 😉
Oh yes, there are no raisins in the classic iced oatmeal cookies! I’m not a big fan of raisins either, much prefer chocolate chips!
OH THESE COOKIES! I made these when my non-vegan children (adult children) came to dinner. The cookies became an appetizer as well as the dessert!
They were so simple to make. I ground raw cashews for the cashew butter, very easily done! Seriously I was so pleasantly surprised by the results!!!
The cookies tasted even better than the Mothers Oatmeal Cookies (a pre-vegan) favorite of mine!
These are now on my very short list of things to share with everyone, vegan and non-vegan alike!
Thank you so much for your lovely review Denise!! I’m so very happy to hear they were enjoyed by all! And what a compliment that they tasted better, yay!
The texture of these looks TO DIE FOR. There’s something so magical about oats in cookies, you really can’t go wrong, but you’ve made them even more dreamy with that lovely drizzle!! Plus, I’m a total sweet potato addict and the idea of putting them into cookies is just too much to handle, in the best way. These look amazing, Brandi!
Thank you so much for your kind words Sara! Sweet potato totally did some yummy magic in these cookies!
Sweet potato, I should’ve guessed it! But the sunbutter bit is not something I saw coming at all. I have yet to try baking with it yet but these cookies are pretty darn convincing I must say. I know you highly suggest the original version still, but I don’t know those golden edges and still incredible inside texture of these lovely low-fat ones is looking pretty irresistible right about now. Or perhaps it’s my love of purple that is swaying me lol. Well worth the day late wait because whoa these photos are amazing! The glaze drizzling one especially, but I love the pop of that purple cloth in all of them. Also when can I move in? To your cookie factory I mean–promise I will only be a help 😉
Haha, yes, you know my love for sweet potatoes very well!! The sunbutter I have used in cookies, raw desserts and brownies before and I tend to forget about it because I love almond butter more. Sunbutter is pretty strong, so it needs another good flavor to balance it out well and since I only used a small amount, it worked out perfectly in these!
Aww thank you so much Natalie for the photo compliment, you are so sweet and made me smile!! Lol, girl you can move in anytime, hahahaha. I need help with eating the desserts!
I’m definitely an all in on the fat when it comes to cookies but these are perfect for those watching those fat calories! Now everyone can enjoy!
Yes, and that’s what I’m all about, which is why I posted the decadent version before these, haha! Options for everybody, but these sure still are damn good even for being low-fat, lol!
These are THE BEST oatmeal cookies I have ever made. Thank you so much for the recipe.
Aww, yay! Makes me so happy to hear Twlya, thank you so much for the review!
Healthy and delicious vegan recipe Brandi, I will try this soon!
Thank you for sharing it.
Congrats for your amazing blog.
For all readers that would like to discover what really a vegan lifestyle is, there is a great guide out there :
http://stop-animal-cruelty.org/the-ultimate-guide-to-vegan/
Please share it with your friends.
Thank you so much Hercules for your wonderful feedback! So glad you enjoy these!
I noticed the green the next day. They are still delicious!! My daughter said, “Perfect for St. Patrick’s Day!”
Haha, yes, good point!
These look perfect Brandi! The drizzled icing is beautiful! I love oatmeal cookies, so I am going to be making these ASAP!!! <3
They look so good! Wish I had one right now to go with my cup of tea 😀 I’ll be dreaming about these all afternoon!
thank you so much Nadia!
I really wanted to make these so I used what I had on hand-pumpkin purée instead of sweet potato and cashew butter in place of sun butter. I think they turned out well! The oatmeal was very chunky so I might give it a little whiz in the cuisinart first or maybe cook just a little longer to soften the oats. Thanks!
Hi Demetra! Thanks for trying them! Glad you enjoyed them! Sweet potato works much different than pumpkin in these, so I would definitely try them with the listed sweet potato next time. While these are of course meant to be oaty, since they are oatmeal cookies, my oats are always moist enough, so my guess is because you subbed with cashew butter and pumpkin. The sweet potato really adheres to the oats well and the sunbutter has a higher natural oil content than cashews, so that is likely why your oats may have not tasted soft enough. Hope that helps!
Omg I happened to visit this blog. Literally fell into a rabbit hole and here it is, a wonderland!
Loving your works, especially cookies, and how you include gram measurements on the recipes! Cup measurements pushes me away no matter how nice the final products are. Bumming : /
Please keep your awesome works going and yes, subscribed! XX
I have a funny, but happy story about this recipe. I recently bought potato flour for another recipe. I knew that I had to make these cookies, so I went to the store and bought white rice flour. I had both packages in the cupboard.
This morning I decided to finally make these. I went to the cupboard and got out the ingredients. I mixed everything and was just about to put them in the oven when I realized that I had used the potato flour instead of the white rice flour. Needless to say I was upset, I spent time making these and my family was eager to try them. Instead of throwing them away my husband suggested I bake them to see what would happen.
Well I did and they turned out great! My husband and sons loved them so much that they each ate 3 today and they will also be included in lunch boxes tomorrow.
The did turn green as you said today; but the taste was excellent.
I can’t wait to make them again (this time with the white rice flour)!!
Haha, that is too funny but so glad to hear they still worked out Susannah! Thank you so much for letting me know!
Brandi! Thank you for this idea, oh my gosh, I’m so excited to try it.
What exact flavor of Sunbutter did you use? There are 4 and they differ so much so I’d love your input.
And I love how generous you are in your recipes to share your mistakes — I might have tried applesauce!
And your staging is amazing. Thank you for another great recipe!
Dee xx
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Hi Dee! I used the brand called Sunbutter and it has only sunflower kernels, salt and sugar in it. It’s delicious! You are so welcome. Yes, people tend to always think subbing ingredients is an easy switch but so often, it ruins the recipe and my standards are high with texture and taste so I don’t want people subbing with ingredients that will give them mediocre results 🙂
I just found out about your wonderful blog and your award winning recipes are going to be life changing especially in this hermit life we all live in now!! I am so grateful I found you!! I look forward to more recipes and following you on Pinterest!! Here’s to 2020 quarentine vegan8 cookathon!! Wish me luck!!! Xoxoxo
Thanks for the great recipe! I am new to cookie low fat and vegan, so I would never have thought that sweet potato and sun butter would work so well! I made several small modifications because I didn’t have everything on hand, but I still really love the result. I didn’t have rice flour so I used whole wheat instead. I also only had walnut butter so I used that in place of the sun butter. Also used half baking soda and half baking powder and it’s nice and crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, just like I love. My batter didn’t turn out quite as liquify either because I used a pressure cooked sweet potato and part maple syrup and part allulose because I ran out of the maple syrup. They still turned out great! It’s such a forgiving recipe. I love it. 🙂
Well I must say, the taste of these cookies, being gluten free, low fat, and nut free, is very very good and very very moist.
Now, as for the ‘green’ issue…the cookies I made are the deepest darkest shade of green imaginable on the planet. At first it was just the inside. I froze them since I made a bunch to send to people and I saved a few for myself. I’m sad that they won’t look presentable when they are received, but hopefully they can look past the algae green color to taste that the cookie is still very delicious.
You should mention earlier on in your blog post that the chemical reaction between sunflower seed butter and baking soda causes things to turn green, otherwise I would’ve used this recipe with a different nut butter.
Glad you enjoyed the cookies! As far as them turning green, it is mentioned right on the recipe card under NOTES! That is the place on a recipe card where notes about the recipe would go, there is no other place on a recipe card to mention something like that, as it is a “note” regarding the recipe, not the ingredients or instructions. Definitely use almond butter if you prefer. The reason I used sunbutter is because this recipe is advertised as nut-free.
We love these. Even my husband, who doesn’t like sweet potatoes. And the green color is kind of a bonus. I cut the nut butter in half and substituted applesauce. They turned out great! Definitely more than the sum of its parts. I made the icing with lemon juice, which adds a nice tartness.
Thank you Laura for the amazing review!
Too much baking soda thats all I could taste Wasted alot of real maple syrup and counn’t taste it at all just bading soad. Might be good if less baking soda. Texture good
Hmm that is odd, I don’t taste baking soda at all.