This healthy plant-based Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies recipe is an easy flourless cookie recipe made with clean, real food ingredients that you can feel good about eating. You'll love how they're made without eggs, butter, white flour or white sugar!
These flourless healthy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies are a perfect snack and even healthy enough to eat for breakfast!
The BEST Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
I LOVE to make healthy and flourless plant-based cookies and desserts and have been making them for many years now.
Some of my favorite gluten-free vegan flourless cookies are my Chocolate Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies, Fudgy Chocolate Avocado Cookies, Chocolate Fudge Mint Cookies, and Chocolate Pistachio Cookies recipes.
You don't have to give up cookies just because they typically contain white flour, white sugar, eggs, and butter.
My healthy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies version is just as sweet, has a nice crispy texture and has the chocolate chip + oatmeal combination you love!
Are these Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies Healthy?
In my opinion, yes!
We all know what kind of ingredients are used to make traditional S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) cookies.
Store-bought brands usually contain an ingredient list that looks like this and homemade versions are not much better:
S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) Quaker Breakfast Cookies: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip - Ingredients: Whole Grain Rolled Oats, Whole Wheat Flour, Invert Sugar, Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (Sugar, Chocolate Liquor, Cocoa Butter, Dextrose, Milkfat, Soy Lecithin, Natural Flavor, Vanillin [an artificial flavor]), Sugar, Corn Syrup, Modified Wheat Starch, Polydextrose, Water, Glycerin, Canola Oil, Palm Oil, Palm Kernel Oil, Dried Apple Puree. Contains 2% or Less of each of the following: Calcium Carbonate, Egg Whites, Dextrose, Nonfat Dry Milk, Mono and Diglycerides, Fructose, Sodium Bicarbonate, Dried Whole Egg, Salt, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Modified Food Starch, Corn Flour, Sodium Alginate, Malic Acid, Vitamin E Acetate, Reduced Iron, Vitamin A Palmitate, Niacinamide*, Tricalcium Phosphate, Potassium Sorbate (a preservative), Sodium Phosphate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride*, Thiamin Mononitrate*, Riboflavin*, Cyanocobalamin*. *One of the B vitamins.
S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) Homemade Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies - Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, 1 cup butter, 1 egg, 1 1/2 cups white flour, 2 cups oats, salt, baking soda, vanilla, chocolate chips
Unless you use a clean brand of chocolate chips like these, the chocolate chips can contain a list of ingredients themselves - including soy and dairy.
My healthier version is made with clean, real food ingredients and is plant-based, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, egg-free, and contain no refined sugar.
How To Make Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies | Step-By-Step Instructions:
This is an easy one-bowl recipe that can be prepared in less than 10 minutes and I'll show you how to make them step-by-step below.
Before getting started, pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
Prepare a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and set aside.
Step 1: Gather and Measure The Ingredients
- Firstly, you'll need to prepare a flax egg. Just add 1 tablespoon organic ground flax seeds + 2 tablespoons filtered/purified water to a small bowl and whisk together. Set it aside while you work on the rest of the recipe.
- Next, gather all your ingredients to make the cookies, measure everything and add the ingredients to a medium-sized mixing bowl.
- Re-whisk the flax egg and then add it into the bowl with the cookie ingredients.
- Stir everything together until it's well combined and all the ingredients are evenly distributed.
Step 2: Add All Ingredients To A Mixing Bowl + Stir
Secondly, once the cookie mixture is ready, you'll add the chocolate chips.
Just stir them into the cookie mixture until they are evenly distributed.
The cookie mixture should firm and hold together well enough to form a ball.
Step 3: Add The Cookies To A Cookie Sheet
Thirdly, transfer the cookie dough onto the prepared cookie sheet.
I like to use a 1-1/2 inch cookie scoop so the cookies are all evenly shaped, but if you don't have a cookie scoop you can just use a regular spoon.
Take out a scoopful at a time (or about 1 tablespoon if you're using a regular spoon) and transfer the cookie dough to your prepared cookie sheet.
Flatten out each cookie into a flat, 2-inch round shape.
Step 4: Bake The Cookies
Lastly, place the cookie sheet in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 18-20 minutes, or until they are golden.
It's very important that you allow the cookies to cool completely before removing them from the pan.
Removing the cookies too soon will cause them to crumble apart due to the coconut oil being over 75 degrees.
Once the coconut oil cools down, it will "solidify" and hold the cookies together.
Store your cookies in an air-tight BPA-free container.
Karielyn's Expert Tips + Ingredient Substitutions for Vegan Oatmeal Cookies:
Here are some of my expert tips to make this recipe perfectly:
Oat Flour. If you don't have oat flour on hand, not to worry. You can easily make oat flour by using organic gluten-free quick rolled oats and putting them into a Vitamix and blending until the oats turn into a flour. This is the method I use and can't remember the last time I actually purchased a bag of oat flour.
Quick Rolled Oats. You'll want to make sure you use "gluten-free" quick rolled oats if you need the cookies to be gluten-free. I haven't tested the recipe using any other variety of oats so I don't know if another kind of oats would work.
Coconut Sugar. Feel free to substitute with organic brown sugar or your favorite organic granular sweetener.
Coconut Oil. I don't care for the flavor or smell of unrefined coconut oil so I used organic refined coconut oil which does not have a coconut flavor or coconut smell. Keep in mind that if you use unrefined coconut oil it could change the flavor of the cookies.
Tapioca Flour. I added this ingredient to give the cookies a crispy texture. I haven't tested them without it.
Tahini. I added this to add a little healthy fat to the cookies but you could omit it if you prefer.
Vanilla Bean Powder. You can substitute with 100% pure organic vanilla extract in the same amount, or alcohol-free vanilla extract if you need them to be Medical Medium compliant.
Chocolate Chips. I like to use Enjoy Life semi-sweet chocolate chips but if you need the recipe to be 100% Medical Medium compliant, you will need to omit the chocolate chips or use organic bittersweet 85% cacao dark chocolate chips if you aren't sensitive to chocolate/cacao.
Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
For the flax egg:
- 1 tablespoon organic ground flax seeds
- 2 tablespoons water (filtered/purified)
For the cookies:
- 1 1/4 cup organic oat flour
- 1/2 cup organic gluten-free quick rolled oats
- 1/2 cup organic coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup homemade almond milk
- 1/3 cup organic coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons tapioca flour
- 1 tablespoon organic tahini
- 1/2 teaspoon organic ground vanilla bean powder
- 1/2 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
For the add-in:
- 1 cup Enjoy Life semi-sweet chocolate chips*
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Prepare a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Set aside.
Prepare the flax egg:
- Add all ingredients for the flax egg to a small bowl and whisk until well combined. Set aside.
Prepare the cookies:
- Add all the ingredients for the cookies to a medium-sized mixing bowl.
- Re-whisk the flax egg and add to the mixing bowl with the cookie ingredients.
- Stir until well combined and all ingredients are evenly distributed.
- Add the chocolate chip add-in to the mixture and stir until they are evenly distributed.
- Using a 1 1/2-inch cookie scoop, take out a scoop at a time and place it on the prepared cookie sheet. If you don't have a cookie scoop, you can use a regular spoon and take out about 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Flatten out the cookies into a 2-inch round shape.
- Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 18-20 minutes, or until they are slightly golden.
- Allow the cookies to cool completely before removing them from the cookie pan or they will fall apart.
- Store in an air-tight BPA-free container.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
Want More Healthy Gluten-Free and Vegan Cookies?
Check out these:
- Vegan Cut-Out Iced Cookies
- Flourless Caramel Thumbprint Cookies
- Lemon Chia Seed Cookies
- or my CLEAN DESSERTS Cookbook with 72 Plant-Based No-Bake Vegan + Gluten-Free Dessert recipes made with clean, real food ingredients just like this one that you will love!
Did You Make This Recipe?
I'd love to hear about! Please give it a rating and leave a comment below...it would make my day! 🙂
Hi, I'm Karielyn! I'm the published cookbook author of CLEAN DESSERTS and content creator of The Healthy Family and Home™ website since 2012. I specialize in creating easy, healthy plant-based and Medical Medium® compliant recipes that are gluten-free + vegan and made with clean, real food ingredients that you can feel good about eating.
Cindy M. says
The instructions mentioned "flax egg" but I don't see it under the list of ingredients. Can you clarify how many flax eggs? Thanks!
Karielyn Tillman says
Hi there Cindy! I'm so sorry I omitted that information from the recipe.
It should read (1) flax egg which is made by whisking (1) tablespoon ground flax seeds + (2) tablespoons water. Let it sit for a few minutes while you prepare the rest of the recipe then re-whisk before adding to the cookie mixture.
I've updated the recipe and thank you again ~so~ much for letting me know about the omission 🙂