Vegan Gluten-free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies made in just 1 bowl, 8 ingredients and are oil-free! So unbelievably delicious, just as good as the classic version!
VEGAN GLUTEN-FREE OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES
Most cookie recipes, even the vegan ones, call for butter or oil and white sugar. It is standard and easy to do. That is how I use to make them honestly. But I prefer to challenge myself more creatively with my recipes these days and try to make them a lot healthier. Honestly, though, these taste better than the ones I grew up eating AND if they are healthier and taste better, then why not?! I promise these do not taste like oil-free cookies one bit!
Eating oatmeal cookies that were full of junk was a regular thing before and I would eat so many that I would get sick and wonder what in the world was I thinking. I didn’t earn the title “Cookie Monster” for nothing. If you aren’t a fan of raisins, then you must try these Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies! They are a different recipe than these and are out of this world.
These have a wonderful caramel-like flavor thanks to using roasted almond butter, maple syrup and a good dose of vanilla. Roasted has such a deeper sweeter flavor than raw almond butter. It’s a no-brainer for baking in my opinion. The batter is so incredibly delicious, it’s hard to make it to the actual baking.
I have received numerous requests for a classic oatmeal raisin cookie over time that was healthier than the traditional. Specifically, one reader, Estee, told me about a skillet oatmeal raisin cookie recipe she saw on the Rachel Ray show. Of course it was not vegan or remotely healthy. I knew I could make them taste just as yummy, but a whole lot healthier. Cookies are universally loved and these are easier than skillet cookies and I knew most of you would ask how to just make them as regular cookies, LOL!
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN GLUTEN-FREE OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES
You only need a few simple ingredients to make these Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies:
- oats
- tapioca starch
- cinnamon
- baking powder
- maple syrup
- roasted almond butter
- vanilla
- raisins
They are so simple, soft, chewy, moist and sweetened with delicious maple syrup, unlike refined sugars in traditional oatmeal cookies. Don’t worry if you are allergic to nuts, sunbutter can easily be subbed, but keep in mind that it will leave a sunbutter taste. For the dry ingredients, I used just tapioca starch and oats. The tapioca is very important here, as it is what binds the cookies well since there are no eggs, as well as helps them to brown and keep moist. I use tapioca a TON in my baking and in these 6 Ingredient Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies!
I hope you love these Vegan Gluten-free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies!
MORE VEGAN COOKIE RECIPES
- Old-fashioned Iced Oatmeal Cookies
- Grain-free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Best Vegan Gluten-free Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER
- Chocolate Coconut Cookies
- Vegan Snickerdoodles (#1 cookie on my blog!)
- Chai Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
Vegan Gluten-Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (100g) old-fashioned rolled oats (I used Bob's Red Mill gluten-free)
- 1/4 cup (32g) tapioca starch (this helps to bind the cookies and make them crispy)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (120g) pure maple syrup
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (160g) roasted creamy almond butter (see Note)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons (30g) water
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (60g) raisins (or 90g chocolate chips)
NOTE
- If you are allergic to nuts, sunbutter can easily be subbed in place of the almond butter, but keep in mind that it will leave a sunbutter taste. It's important to use a very smooth butter so that the batter mixes properly. If yours is stored in the fridge, then heat it up just a bit to loosen it before measuring.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350 degrees and line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, add the oats, tapioca starch, cinnamon, baking powder and salt and whisk really well.
- To the same bowl, pour in the syrup, almond butter, vanilla and water. Stir until well combined. Add the raisins and stir again until it all comes together. It should be very sticky and wet. Try not to eat all the batter. Warning.
- Drop by heaping tablespoons or a heaping cookie scoop, leaving a couple of inches in between. I only put a dozen on my first pan, then the remaining batter on another. I got 18 cookies about 2 inches wide. If you want large cookies, do about 2 tablespoons worth of dough. Do not flatten out the dough. It should be a little wet, but very sticky and hold it's shape. Refer to the above photo. They will spread some but poof up a lot more than they will spread. Bake the first pan on the middle rack for 9 minutes. They should be poofed up and a nice light golden color. They may seem a bit undercooked but they will finish cooking as they cool, you do not want to overbake these. Then repeat with the second. This will produce a nice moist and chewy cookie with a golden color. I don't recommend baking any longer so they don't dry out.
- Let them cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to completely cool on a rack. Store in a tight ziplock bag.
Nutrition
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Delicious! Plus, quick & easy. Will make again (and again)
Could I cook these as a bar instead of cookie? * deal with health & energy issues so need to make it as easy as possible. If yes, what is the cooking time?
Hi! You can always try it, but I think they might be a tad crumbly. Bars require much more binding than I’m afraid the cookies will provide, but of course you can always test it out, I’ve just never tried that personally. I’d do them at 350°F but I can’t tell you for how long because I’ve never tested it and I don’t know what size pan you are using. But typically with bars, you want to look for them to be firm and starting to turn golden brown.
Brandi! The first batch is even better today! The flavours are stronger the next day. definitely adding this one to my recipe book. Thank you!!
Awesome!
Oh one more thing, I’m debating your grain free chocolate chip cookie next. I made the oatmeal raisin because that’s my favourite cookie of all time but I just realized I forgot to add the vanilla! OMG that’s what was missing. Definitely making again and going to rate again.
Hi! Yes, I would make sure to use the listed roasted almond butter and vanilla. Roasted almond butter is what gives so much flavor. I’m not sure if you used raw or something else? I would cook them longer if yours were undercooked in the middle. Ovens vary so much.
So my 4-year old decided that, rather than make her favourite cookies (your crispy almond flour chocolate chip), we needed to make her baby doll’s favourite, which had oatmeal and chocolate chips (what? why wouldn’t you want your own favourite? oh child brains…). My former go-to has some oil in it, so I checked here and of course came across a winner! We made a few subs based on chickie’s demands (chocolate instead of raisins, tahini as the nut/seed butter, and oat milk instead of water, because she insisted that the recipe had oat milk in it!).
I’m not feeling super well today, which is probably the only reason I was able to exercise any restraint in dough-eating 😀 The finished product is amazing, as ever. Thank you for being such an amazing resource for plant based and oil free goodness!!
Wowza! I thought the vegan oatmeal chocolate chip were my favorite, but now I think these are! YUM!
Oh Brandi, Brandi, Brandi! You’ve outdone yourself, these cookies are out of this world! I froze them in bags of 2 cookies each for quick grab-and-go snacks. This morning, my husband texted me: “I’m on my second bag. These are freaking delicious!!” Thank you so much for sharing all these amazing recipes, I’d be lost without them!!
Yay, really amazing to hear that Nancy!! Glad your husband loved them too!
Brandi! I am such a big fan of your food! I’ve been following you for a while now and just thought you should know you are doing a wonderful job! Thank you so much for sharing it all for free and for making it vegan and oil free! You are absolutely amazing! I made these cookies for the first time yesterday and had to make them again today! They are so good!! Thank you again for sharing all of your goodness!
I forgot to add the stars!!
Best vegan oatmeal cookies I’ve made! Love how all of these recipes are vegan, soy free, and oil free!
Thank you Delainie, that’s awesome!
I made these today and I’m so mad I did not double the recipe! They are absolutely delicious. Chewy, right amount of sweet, crispy on the outside, pillowy soft yumminess on the inside…I could go on and on. Make these cookies, you’ll be happy you did. 🙂
After making your Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies the other day, I noticed you also have this recipe. The others are long gone, so today it was time to make more. But which recipe to use?! Oh, the decisions!! So today I had The Great Oatmeal Cookie Bake-Off, with the help of my husband as my very willing taste-tester.
We decided they’re both excellent, although they’re very different from each other. For anyone wondering, these obviously have raisins, but they’re also much more poofy and soft on the inside. The others are more crispy. I love the addition of vanilla in these and might add it to the other recipe next time I make them. I think I’ll have to make them both several more times so we can really be sure about which one is our favorite. 🙂
That’s so wonderful to hear you loved both recipes, thank you Brenna!
I made these last week and they are DELICIOUS!!!! I left them in the freezer at work so I can pop a few out for a snack each day. Yum!!! Thank you so much! 🙂
Can you sub peanut butter in these cookie recipes that call for almond butter?
You can always try! I can’t vouch for something I haven’t tested but it technically should work. The only thing is that peanut butter is much thicker and not as oily smooth or drippy as almond butter, so it will change the batter consistency and how they bake up/spread in some recipes.
Mmmmm….so good! I did not have raisins so I used chocolate chips but next time I will try with raisins. Just delicious!
I made these tonight – They are delicious!! I have made many from different recipes, and they were “okay”. But now I don’t need to look any more. These are the ones!! My husband loved them. It’s funny that you say to store them in a tight ziplock bag……like there’s going to be any left to store!! LOL
Oh yay, this made me so happy to read Ann, thank you so much for the lovely review! And I laughed out loud at your last sentence, hahaha! So true! We honestly hardly ever make it to the 2nd day on cookies!
Made these cookies tonight and we really like them. Will make them again! I couldn’t find tapioca starch in the 3 stores I tried so I ordered online.
We are a fairly new vegan family of 5, youngest is a 16 year old boy. It helps that I can make some things that still feel “normal” for him.
Wonderful Nathalie! So happy to hear you all really liked these! Thank you for the lovely review!
Just made these and subbed peanut butter for almond butter.. I have four kids and well the price of almond butter is insane. They are the best plant based cookies I have made so far! They are sooo good. Normally they don’t come out right but these came out like cookies i used to make before we went plant based two years ago!
Oh wow, that is a huge compliment, thank you so much Patterson! I definitely need to try these with peanut butter! Yum! Thank you for the amazing feedback!
You haven’t let me down yet Brandi!! Delicious cookies. Thank you for another wonderful recipe. Next on my list are your sunflower brownies!
Yay!! So happy you loved these Nicola! Aww, thank you so much! Can’t wait to hear, those are some of my fav brownies ever!
These are the best oatmeal raisin cookies! You nailed the taste on these. Another great recipe!!
Thank you so much Debbie for the amazing review! I’m so happy you loved these so much!
Just bought a home and wanted to try something delicious to test out the convection oven. Wow were these good! So glad I doubled the recipe because they will be gone in a flash!
Yay!! So thrilled to hear you loved them! And congrats on your home purchase, how exciting!
These are awesome!!! Love. I ate 5 tonight!!! Could not stop myself. Thank you for making them gluten free and vegan!!!
Ha, awesome to hear that Monya, thank you so much for the lovely review!
Made these tonight. A double batch with half raisins and the other half dark chocolate. A total hit. Thanks to you!
So awesome to hear that Jennifer, thank you so much! If you could star rate the recipe next time also, I would be so grateful, thank you!! Mmmm, dark chocolate sounds incredible!
I made these tonight and they were so delicious! I’ll double the recipe next time! Thank you for always sharing your amazing recipes.
So happy to hear that Jennifer and thank you for your kind words and review!
Just found your recipe and can’t wait to make. I am a facilitator for a plant based program we have at work. CHIP has really made a difference in my life. Am going to make this recipe for the class to try. Thank you
Wonderful! I hope you enjoy them, let me know how they turn out!
Firat time baking these cookies and they turned amazing! New to becoming veganand these cookies make it easy! My kids thank u as well!
Yay, so glad to hear that Marisol, thank you for the feedback!