Vegan Cookie Recipes Without Oil! That is correct, no oil or vegan butter is used to make any of these recipes! Only nuts and seeds and chocolate are used for the fat and richness for each recipe. But don’t let that fool you, these are every bit as decadent as all the traditional cookie recipes that rely heavily on unhealthy oils and butters. Many gluten-free options as well!
VEGAN COOKIE RECIPES WITHOUT OIL
I didn’t earn the title Cookie Monster years ago for no reason. Creating amazing vegan cookie recipes oil-free has always been one of my favorite things to do and it is so much fun in vegan baking. My hubby has joked many times that I could run a blog solely on cookie recipes, LOL. Perhaps it’s a passion of mine because I love eating them so much, haha.
Naturally when we think of cookies, we think sugar, butter or oil and not very healthy, right? Well, like I proved on these 15 Vegan Muffin Recipes Without Oil post, you don’t need oil for successful baking. You don’t even need vegan butter. That post got a lot of love and it seemed only fitting to do a vegan cookie recipes collection showing you all my tips for super decadent, fudgy, crispy and buttery cookies.
WHAT CAN I USE IN PLACE OF BUTTER OR OIL FOR COOKIES?
That is right, NONE of these recipes rely on oil or butter to make them. Additionally, my vegan cookie recipes stand up to any made with oil or butter and white sugar. In fact, many of my cookie recipes are your favorites you’ve ever had, even compared to the ones you grew up on. Cookies do require some differences than muffins though. To create delicious oil-free vegan cookies, you do need fat and richness.
Without fat, cookies take on a muffin/cakey texture and will not be fudgy or get crispy edges. Oil-free does not mean fat-free. It just simply means we are using full whole food fats instead of processed oils. I use fats for richness and texture in my cookies and they will please the pickiest of eaters. Some of my main fats I use are almond flour, nut butters and seeds. Be sure to review my guide on How to Cook and Bake Without Oil for more tips.
There is a cookie for everybody here. Some made with oat flour, brown rice flour,white rice flour, almond flour, oats, different starches, you name it.
“These are my new all-time favorite cookies, thank you so much Brandi! They really do taste like the original snickerdoodles. This is a recipe I will return to make over and over again.” – Marie
“THESE COOKIES ARE AMAZING!! They are in the freezer and HARD TO LEAVE ALONE as I am bringing these as a food gift for Easter, sooooo good!” – Joyce
3. VEGAN OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
“Hi Brandi — I’ve made many of your recipes, including various cookie ones, but this one is the BEST! I made these cookies today and wow, they taste & look like the chocolate chip cookies I loved before going vegan & oil free.” (full review on recipe) – KD
“I made these again and it still amazes me that there is no butter in these sugar cookies. They totally remind me of a true sugar cookie, very soft and buttery tasting. I can’t keep them in the house or make them fast enough.” – Estee
5. VEGAN LEMON COOKIES (also called puffs)
“I severely underestimated just how light and fluffy these cookies could be. Eating gluten free for nearly a decade, I’ve grown accustomed to denser, heavier baked goods. But these cookies are remarkable. I’ve made them a few times now and find something new to appreciate each time. From the cloud-like fluffiness, to the zesty lemon freshness, to the wonderful texture, these cookies are straight delicious.” – John
6. 5 INGREDIENT ALMOND BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
“Made these today and they were FANTASTIC!! I even sprinkled a tiny bit of coarse sea salt on the top of them before baking and that added a nice little bit of flavor, too. Thank you for the recipe!” – Joe
7. 4 INGREDIENT PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES
“We’ve made these cookies multiple times and they turn out A-MAZ-ING every time! Quick, easy, soft on the inside, crispy on the outside and incredibly peanuty! Makes the perfect number of cookies too, about 12. Just the right sized batch. Thanks for another winner!” – Cathrine
8. VEGAN OLD-FASHIONED ICED OATMEAL COOKIES
“These are absolutely amazing and truly taste like old fashioned oatmeal cookies! Will definitely be making these again for my family on Christmas!” – Carolyn
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9. LOW-FAT ICED OATMEAL COOKIES (the Low-fat version of the above!)
“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!” – Denise
10. VEGAN ALMOND BUTTER BLOSSOMS
“These are amazing–and healthy!! Super quick and easy, and a recipe that I’m adding to my no-fail go-to recipe book. 🙂 I’m no master-baker (ha!), but if I can figure out the chocolate kisses, anyone can (note: when making a ziplock piping bag, allow the chocolate to cool just a tad and cut a teeny hole. My first kisses looked like an oil spill!). So yummy and pretty–the first batch of these went straight into holiday gift bags for the neighbors.” – Jen
11. VEGAN GRAIN-FREE CHOCOLATE COCONUT COOKIES
“Oh my GOODNESS!! These are absolutely incredible… I may have eaten three within 30 minutes of them coming out of the oven! Oops! So easy and simple! I will definitely be making these one of my regular rotation cookies! Thank you!” – Andrea
12. 6 INGREDIENT CRISPY VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES (spicy ginger version available)
“My favorite cookie EVER! I make these at least 2-3 times a month. (I don’t use ginger and I add walnuts.) Perfect every time. I am SO addicted.” – Becca
13. VEGAN DOUBLE CHOCOLATE ESPRESSO ALMOND COOKIES (my personal favorite cookie I’ve ever created!)
“These cookies are amazing! I had just the right amount of everything to make a batch of these, and like all of Brandi’s recipes—not only did they not disappoint, they exceeded our expectations! These cookies are the real deal, and will win over anyone who likes a sweet treat!” – Mairead
14. PECAN BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES (these are beyond incredible, yet many don’t know about them b/c it’s an old recipe!)
“Literally the BEST cookies I’ve ever had, vegan or not!!!! Thank you for your amazing recipe!!!!” – Annie
15. 6 INGREDIENT VEGAN PECAN PIE COOKIES
“Just made these cookies for the first time and they are amazing! No need to ever make pecan pie again! I decided to ice them with your icing recipe from the oatmeal cookies recipe and then sprinkled with pecan pieces.” – Nina
16. VEGAN PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
“We LOVE these cookies!! We even made a video on it lol and the kids loved them too. So simple, and so yummy! It’s been decided- you’re a genius.” – The Bonus Bunch
17. VEGAN PUMPKIN PIE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
“Just made these cookies… Amazing!!!!! Even my non-vegan parents loved them. Also made your rice, black bean and avocado bowl and my parents loved that as well! Seriously I have tried sooo many of your recipes and loved every single one.” -Lindsay
18. VEGAN CHAI COCONUT COOKIES
“Brandi, these are wonderful! My husband even loved them, and he doesn’t usually like chai (or my attempts at healthier baking, for that matter)! These will be a fall/winter/holiday staple from now on. Now on to your Snickerdoodles, which my mom has been raving about and has already made twice!” – Brenna
I hope you all really loved this collection of Vegan Cookie Recipes Without Oil! Who knew vegan oil-free cookies could be so amazing!
If you make any of these recipes, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
I want to try ALL of them. They look so good! Thank you Brandi. Can’t wait to get baking cookies 🙂
My pleasure, I hope you love the recipes!
These look great! I have been looking for some cookies for my husband who only recently started eating whole food plant based with me.
Thank you Patty, enjoy!
We have just tastes your double chocolate espresso cookies. It’s so addicted. Just like ☕. They are the perfect dessert! Thank you!
Wonderful!! So glad you enjoyed them!!
So many of the recipes call for almond flour. Can I use regular flour?
Hi Crystal! Yes, since my recipes are oil-free, I use fats to give them richness and moisture. Replacing almond flour with regular flour will not work. They would be extremely dry and tough, since the 2 flours are extremely different. Almond flour isn’t really a flour that can be subbed, since it is replacing all the oil or butter used in traditional recipes. Since I create 95% of my recipes different than traditional, the ingredients will be a bit different. I do have cookie recipes that don’t use almond flour on the blog though.
Your cookies look delicious but I have one problem with them all……..they all have fat. My friend has pancreatitis and cannot have any fat or saturated fat. Most nuts do. I would love to make him some cookies but I cannot find any recipes anywhere that taste half way good. So Ms. cookie expert can you come up with a good tasting cookies using no fat?
Hi Kerry. Well, the reason why all the cookies you’ve tried don’t taste good and that is because of that very fact that there IS no fat. Unfortunately, fat-free cookies just aren’t good. They need fat for them to taste like a cookie. It’s what gives them their classic fudgy moist interior and crispy edges for most cookies. Without ANY fat, they will be very dry or have a very unpleasant texture. They will be much more of a muffin like texture, not chewy and fudgy. I’ve seen those banana and oat type of cookies all over online that are supposed to be really fat, but of course even those have fat because oats have fat in them. So, having something completely 100% fat-free is rather difficult. So, I’m not sure if you are referring to even fat from flours, oats or just nuts/seeds? I do have one low fat cookie recipe on my blog, but even those have a small amount of sunbutter in them, because without it, they were too dry. https://thevegan8.com/low-fat-gluten-free-vegan-iced-oatmeal-cookies/
Thank you Brandi! I pretty much knew what you were going to say. I’ll just keep trying to produce a succulent cookies without fat (oil, butter, nuts, oats, coconut….all have fat. Pancreatitis is a growing illness in America and it would be nice to help these people have some enjoyment while eating. My friend is limited to 2 grams of fat per meal and even then he sometimes gets sick. A challenge to be sure!
Huge fan here
Wondering if you have ever made a gluten free oil free spritz cookie (press cookie)
Hi Mandy! I have, yes! I’ll have to add one to the blog, I’ll put it on the list!.
I’m hoping you can make a lemon shortbread cookie with no butter or oil. These look really good!