These cookies are made with wholesome ingredients like oats, almond butter, and seeds, and they’re not only vegan but also free of, gluten, soy, added oil, and refined sugars! Each cookie packs 5 grams of protein and 3g of fiber, so they also keep you full and energized.
Watch: How to make amazing breakfast cookies
And for more delightful vegan breakfast ideas, check out my vegan breakfast recipe round-up! It’s chock-full of fun plant-based breakfast recipes from me and other vegan recipe developers.
Why you’ll love these breakfast cookies
Wholesome. These are cookies you can feel good about! They’re made with ingredients that are perfectly acceptable for breakfast, which means you can happily eat cookies for breakfast. Deceptively delicious. Wholesome breakfast cookies might sound like they taste meh, but these are cookies you’ll actually want to eat. Delightfully chewy. If you’re like most people, you like chewy cookies. These cookies are incredibly chewy with crunchy bites of seeds and even more chewy bites from the dried fruit. Pantry-friendly and easy to customize. You likely already have all the ingredients in your pantry. You can also get creative and mix and match your favorite ingredients. Read more in the “how to customize” section! For a sweet snack that’s a bit more indulgent, try these seriously good Vegan Banana Muffins! Versatile. Not only can you eat them for breakfast, but they’re also a great post- or pre-workout snack. My athletic friend Joanne of The Korean Vegan (she runs marathons) said these cookies fueled her for a long run around Central Park. Oh, and of course, you can also eat them for dessert.
How to make vegan breakfast cookies
Gather your ingredients! Prepare your flax egg. Whisk together the ground flaxseed meal and water and set aside for 15 minutes to gel up. In a large bowl, together the dry ingredients: oats, coconut, salt, baking powder, baking soda. In a medium bowl, whisk together the liquid ingredients until smooth and thick: almond butter, maple syrup, vanilla, and prepared flax eggs. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry. Use a silicone spatula to combine the ingredients until it resembles cookie dough. Add desired mix-ins (chopped nuts or seeds and dried fruit or chocolate chips). Add hemp seeds. Stir to evenly incorporate the mix-ins. Scoop about 3 tablespoons of dough onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets and lightly flatten. Bake at 350ºF for 18-20 minutes, until lightly golden on the bottom. Cool the pans on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies directly to the wire rack.
How to customize these cookies
Not a fan of coconut or allergic? Omit the shredded coconut and just add more oats. Personally, I think the coconut adds a lovely texture. Likewise, if you don’t have hemp seeds, you can omit or add more shredded coconut. But you should really get some hemp seeds! Allergic to almonds or don’t have almond butter? Use any nut butter you like, such as cashew butter or peanut butter (they will taste like peanut butter cookies). Just be sure to use a smooth, not crunchy, variety, as the nut butter is the replacement for oil in this recipe. For the dried fruit mix-in, you could really use any variety you like. I have used raisins, currants, finely chopped apricots, finely chopped dates, and dried cranberries (use juice-sweetened cranberries to avoid refined sugar). And if you’re not a fan of dried fruit at all, feel free to substitute with dairy-free chocolate chips. I love the chewiness that dried fruit brings, but the chocolate chip version makes these taste more like a classic cookie (SO good). The chocolate chip version is a favorite in our house. For the seed and nut mix-in, pepitas, sunflower seeds, or any kind of nut works well. Just chop them up pretty good so you don’t get large pieces. Some flavor variations that we tried are below. My favorites are anything that contains chocolate chips (no surprise!), dried blueberries, and dried cranberries.
Mango Cashew: finely chop dried mango + raw unsalted cashews, chopped Chocolate Chip Almond: mini vegan chocolate chips + roasted almonds, chopped Cranberry Pecan: dried cranberries + pecans, chopped Blueberry Walnut: dried blueberries + walnuts, chopped Golden Macadamia: dried golden berries + macadamia nuts, chopped
If you love these breakfast cookies, be sure to tag me on Instagram with your recreations and please rate and review with your feedback below!
Big Vegan Flavor
Techniques and 150 recipes to master vegan cooking.
