Soft, chewy, and bursting with spices, these vegan oatmeal raisin cookies taste just like the ones you grew up eating, but without any eggs or dairy! They're super easy to make and perfect for dunking.
It's that time of year! I'm really enjoying the cooler temperatures and being able to fire up the oven (comfortably) once again. Lately it seems like it's been a parade of sweets coming out of my kitchen, and fall flavors are prominently featured.
Are you guys craving some sweet fall flavors? Because oatmeal raisin cookies are just about the easiest way to satisfy that. I love my vegan oatmeal cookies any time of year, and I've got a lot of different recipes for them (check out my chocolate chip peanut butter oatmeal cookies or my blackstrap molasses peanut butter oatmeal cookies).
But oatmeal raisin cookies in particular are perfect for this time of year. They're packed with spices, make your house smell wonderful, and, bonus: this is one of those recipes where you just might already have all the ingredients on hand.
Let's talk about how it comes together!
Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Ingredients
I grew up making the vanishing oatmeal raisin cookie recipe that's under the lid of Quaker Oats, so I adapted that recipe in order to create this vegan oatmeal raisin cookie recipe. Here's what I used:
Flour. Just regular old all-purpose flour.
Oatmeal. Obviously!
Sugar. A little bit of brown sugar, for the hint of molasses that it adds, and a little bit of white. Use organic for both to keep the recipe vegan.
Baking soda. To make those cookies rise.
Spices. Most oatmeal raisin cookies just include cinnamon, but I'm all about the spices, so I added ginger and cloves!
Salt. It's a flavor enhancer, so make sure you include it.
Vegan butter. I used Miyoko's cultured vegan butter for these, which is my favorite vegan butter brand for pretty much everything lately.
Applesauce. Did you know that applesauce works as a vegan egg substitute? It does! And as an added bonus, it adds some sweetness and goes very well with the spice you'll find in oatmeal cookies!
Vanilla extract. This will help bring out the flavor in those spices.
Raisins. As indicated by the recipe title!
Walnuts. These aren't required, but I love the crunch they add.
How to Make Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
Start with your butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl. Your butter should be at room temperature, so slightly soft. Grab an electric mixer and beat them together until thoroughly mixed. Ideally, we want the mixture to get creamy, but some vegan butters have a tendency to separate. Don't worry if this happens!
Next, beat it the applesauce and vanilla.
Dry ingredients go in next. Start by stirring in your oats. Once they're incorporated, you can add the rest.
I kept this as a one-bowl recipe and here's the trick: add your flour to the bowl, and then sprinkle everything else on top of your flour before stirring — baking soda, spices and salt. Make sure to sprinkle the baking soda around a bit so it doesn't all hit the liquid at once when you begin stirring.
Stir it all up!
Fold in your walnuts and raisins last.
Roll your dough into balls and arrange them on a couple of cookie sheets lined with parchment paper. Flatten them out just a bit before popping them into the oven.
Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, keeping the time near the lower end of this range for softer cookies, and towards the higher end for more crisp cookies.
FAQ & Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Tips
- Make sure to take your butter out of the fridge an hour or so before you begin baking. You want it to be soft enough to whip with the mixer, but not melted.
- My cookies didn't rise. Why not? Usually this means your baking soda is old. Test it by sprinkling a bit in a glass of vinegar. If it doesn't fizz, it's time to toss your box of baking soda and get a new one.
- Where can I buy vegan butter? Most regular supermarkets carry vegan butter in the refrigerated or natural foods section. Look for brands like Miyoko's and Earth Balance
- Why does the sugar need to be organic? Most sugar in the United States is processed using animal bones. Organic is processed differently, so it's considered vegan.
- Can these cookies be made gluten-free? Possibly! An all-purpose gluten-free flour blend like Bob's Red Mill or King Arthur's might work, but I haven't tested the recipe with either, so no promises. You'll also need to make sure your oats are certified gluten-free.
- Can I make the dough ahead of time, refrigerate it, and bake the cookies later? I don't recommend this. Baking soda begins acting once it's mixed with the liquid ingredients in this recipe, and by the time you bake your cookies it may have fizzled out, resulting in flat cookies.
Need some extra guidance on how to make these cookies? Check out my video!
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Classic Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Soft, chewy, and bursting with spices, these vegan oatmeal raisin cookies taste just like the ones you grew up eating, but without any eggs or dairy! They're super easy to make and perfect for dunking.
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegan butter, at room temperature
- ¾ cup organic brown sugar
- ⅓ cup organic granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups rolled oats
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup raisins
- ½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
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Use an electric mixer to beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat for about 1 minute, until fully blended.
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Beat in the applesauce and vanilla.
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Stir the oats into the mixture by hand.
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Add the flour to the bowl, then sprinkle the baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt on top of the flour.
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Stir the ingredients together until they're fully blended and form a dough.
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Fold in the raisins and walnuts.
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Roll the dough into balls, using about 3 tablespoons of dough per ball.
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Arrange the dough balls on the baking sheets, with at least 2 inches of space between them. Flatten out each dough ball slightly with your hands.
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Bake the cookies until soft and slightly browned, for about 10 to 12 minutes.
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Transfer the baking sheets to a cooling rack and allow the cookies to cool slightly before removing the from the baking sheets.
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Serve the cookies immediately, or store them in a sealed container for up to 2 weeks.
Recipe Notes
Adapted from Quaker Oats Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.
Why so much sugar?
They're not intended to be healthy or low sugar cookies. :)
Can you substitute apple sauce for the butter for oil free cookies?
I'm not sure, although I did try to make a reduced oil version and I found them to be pretty dry and overly sweet. I'd definitely reduce the sugar a bit if you try!
Oatmeal cookies are my favorite cookies! Neither chocolate, nor any other ones can compare with it. Oatmeal cookies are the taste of my childhood. At first I cooked them with my mother and added various dried fruits, such as raisins, dried apricots, prunes and others, and then I began to cook these cookies myself almost every weekend, my family also loves them. I like that your recipe is not as simple as anyone else, and contains spices and nuts. Thank you for your blog!
Thanks so much Ann! I'm glad you're enjoying the blog. :) I LOVED oatmeal cookies growing up as well!
I have made that vanishing oatmeal recipe many times using the alternative baking method for a bar cookie. Will it work with your vegan version?
I haven't tried it, but I can't see why not! I'd love to hear how it works out if you try.
Bang on--what a perfect cookie! I had a trail mix I needed to use up, so I chopped up a cup of that instead of straight raisins. I can't stop eating them.
Thank you for this recipe! I’ve attempted these twice, and both times they turned out flat, dark, and crispy, almost crystallized. I’ve checked my baking soda with vinegar; it fizzes well so I don’t think it’s that. And checked, and doubled checked, the recipe and oven temp. Any suggestions?
Sorry to hear that! If you've checked everything else, my only other thought is to try a different baking surface, since some conduct heat differently from others. For reference, I used a couple of metal cookie sheets made by Wilton, lined with Reynolds parchment paper. You could also try chilling the dough for a bit - 30 minutes or so, before shaping the cookies and baking.
Can't believe these only have two reviews. Oatmeal raisin cookies are my husband's favorite. This was his first vegan version and he LOVED them. Very easy. Perfectly spiced. I tried to underbake just in case but the recommended 12 minutes was perfect.
I typically use Spectrum organic shortening in my oatmeal cookie recipe. If so, I have read to add a little water. Have you ever tried organic shortening instead of vegan butter? Did it need water?
I haven't tried making these with shortening, but my understanding is that vegan butter has some water added, so you probably would need to add some. I'm afraid I'm not sure how much though! I'm thinking a couple of tablespoons, but can't say for sure.
These are absolutely wonderful. I am so thankful for this site. My daughter and I have been making all kinds of recipes (blueberry muffins, vanilla cupcakes, and now these) during the quarantine.
I just made these last night and they were soo so good!!! I served them to my non-vegan family and they all loved them! I will say though that I didn't have applesauce so I replaced it with 1/2 a cup of chia egg and the cookies still came out perfectly. thank you for this recipe!!!
Amazing! I'm overflowing with sourdough discard, so I left out about 3 Tbsp of butter to add 1/2 cup discard, and it turned out delicious! This is exactly the kind of oatmeal cookie I was looking for.
Superb recipe. I did not have applesauce so I substituted 2 mashed bananas. Thanks so much. I make these cookies often.
this is the BEST VEGAN COOKIE RECIPE I've ever tried. Couldn't recommend it enough. So so gooey and delicious. Have made it at least 5 times over the last month!!
I used 3/4 cup of vegan butter and added more applesauce because that’s all I had and they came out delicious. Also added some sugar free dried cranberries
These are delicious! I crank up the spices, and use dried cherries, chopped apricots, dates, cranberries (and occasionally dark chocolate chips...yum!)
Could I substitute honey, mashed ripe banana, and/or maple syrup for the sugar for a more arthritis-friendly cookie? And how about some almond flour for some of the flour?
I'm glad you enjoyed them! I'm not sure about any of the sugar substitutes you mentioned - your safest bet would be to stick with other granulated sugars, like coconut or turbinado. You might be able to get away with subbing a small amount of almond flour - I'm thinking a third or so, but I can't say without some experimenting!
These are awesome. I wanted a bit more health in them and to experiment with other flours. I used 1/2 cup oat flour, 1/2 cup all purpose flour, and 1/2 cup cashew flour. I also added a scoop of vanilla plant-based protein powder (KOS brand). I split the dough in half and made half with chocolate chips and half with raisins. These were PHENOMENAL!!!! I also used all-spice instead of ground ginger since I didn’t have the ground ginger. I may experiment to add saffron and nutmeg somehow next time.
These are great. Like the flavor. Oatmeal raisin walnut cookies are my go to. Sometimes I had a few chocolate chips. Next batch with add more spice for a wow affect. I made 6 to begin with to check the taste. Yum I ate them all.
I put 1/4 c of maple syrup instead of white sugar no apple sauce. 1 Tblspn flax meal with3 Tblspns of water, 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup of yogurt to replace 1/2 of butter. The dough was a bit stick so I put in refrig to stiffen.
Will make again and again.
Grateful for your sharing. : )
Hi, Just found your recipe and can't wait to bake my first batch. How did you measure the brown sugar? Most recipes say to pack it lightly or firmly. Thanks : )
Pack it lightly. Enjoy!
Thank you. I'm baking a batch today.
Sooood goood! I chose your recipe because of the spice mix and the applesauce - I had some leftover that I wanted to use.
Made some modifications though...
- used whole grain flour instead of all purpose
- used 3/4 teaspoon vanilla sugar instead of extract
- used only 3/4 cup of cane sugar (instead of both sugars)
- subbed the walnuts for (vegan) chocolate chips
Will definitely recommend :)