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Learn how to make the best classic vegan oatmeal raisin cookies. These cookies are soft and chewy, perfectly sweet, and just so dang good!
We can’t believe that after this many years of having a blog, we haven’t put out an oatmeal raisin cookie recipe. Our friend Monica has been requesting this for a long time, so we are finally making it happen and are we super excited to share this recipe!
If you are a fan of these cookies, you may also like:
- Gluten-Free Lemon Poppyseed Breakfast Cookies (10-Ingredients + 1-Bowl)
- Pecan Cranberry & Orange Shortbread Cookies
- No Bake Peanut Butter Cookies (3-Ingredients + Gluten-Free)
- Classic Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Growing up, oatmeal raisin cookies were always one of my favorites. The soft chew and perfect sweetness was always something special for me. Since going vegan, I’ve only had a few oatmeal raisin cookies, but none quite as good as this.
This recipe is really something special. It also doesn’t require any fancy ingredients. It’s possible that you may have everything you need to make these cookies in your fridge and pantry already. Let’s break it down:
- Rolled Oats: Not to be confused with instant or steel-cut oats. Rolled oats are larger and heartier, perfect for these cookies.
- Flax Egg: To make a flax egg you simply need to mix 1 part flaxseed meal with 3 parts water. If you don’t have flaxseed meal, you can also use chia seeds.
- Raisins: Classic for oatmeal cookies but you’re not a fan, you can substitute them with either chocolate chips or dried cranberries.
- Vegan Butter: Softened to room temperature, we recommend Miyoko’s or Earth Balance stick butter for this recipe.
- Sugar: When it comes to sugar, we are using a mix of organic brown sugar and granulated sugar. It’s also important to note that not all sure is vegan, so get organic when possible.
- Vanilla Extract: A splash of vanilla extract adds the perfect depth of flavor to these oatmeal raisin cookies.
- All-Purpose Flour: AP Flour works best for this recipe, but if you’d like to add some whole wheat flour, you can substitute up to 50% of it. In terms of gluten-free options, we have not tested it in this recipe but based on success with similar recipes in the past, we recommend the Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-free Baking Flour.
- Spices: Keeping it simple on these spices, we just stuck with cinnamon but feel free to add whatever else you would like!
Make sure you tag us on Instagram @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris and hashtag #sweetsimplevegan if you recreate any of our recipes, we love to see your photos!
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The Best Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 18 cookies
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Learn how to make the best classic vegan oatmeal raisin cookies. These cookies are soft and chewy, perfectly sweet, and just so dang good!
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup (102g) organic raisins
- 1 cups boiling water
- 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon flaxseed meal + 3 tablespoons water)
- 1/2 cup (110g) vegan butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (79g) organic brown sugar, packed
- 6 tablespoons (92g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (136g) all purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon (2g) baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon (1g) salt
- 1 1/2 cups (157.5g) rolled oats
Instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl, add in the raisins along with the boiling water and allow the raisins to soften while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
- Prepare the flax egg by mixing together the flaxseed meal and water in a small bowl and setting it aside for 15 minutes to thicken.
- Preheat to 350°F and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a large bowl (or the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment), add in the soften vegan butter and whip on medium speed for about 30 seconds to 1 minute until it starts to fluff up. Add in both sugars and mix again until fluffy, 1 to 2 more minutes. Add in the prepare flax egg and vanilla extract and mix once more until combined. Set aside.
- In another medium bowl, add in the all purpose flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Mix together until everything is evenly distributed and then pour the dry ingredients into the large bowl with the wet ingredients. Using your hand mixer on low speed (or standing mixer), mix together the dry ingredients with the wet until a smooth cookie dough forms. Be sure to scrape any excess dough off of the mixer attachments. Set aside.
- Drain the raisins in a colander and then transfer them to a clean kitchen towel. Gently squeeze them to dry. Be sure not to squeeze too hard as you don’t want to mash them.
- Add the raisins into the cookie dough mixture along with the rolled oats and mix them through using a spatula until they are well incorporated into the moist cookie dough.
- Using a tablespoon-sized cookie scooper, scoop out some cookie dough, roll it into a ball in the palm of you hands and place it onto the baking sheet. Continue until you have rolled out all of the dough (we rolled out 18 cookies total). Be sure to spread the cookies apart of the baking sheet as they will spread out while they bake. We put a max of 12 cookie dough mounds on 1 baking sheet.
- Place the baking sheet(s) into the oven and bake for 13-15 minutes, or until golden brown. The cookies will be very soft when you pull them out but don’t worry! They will set as they cool.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the pan for at least 5 minutes and then using a spatula, transfer them to a cooling rack to cool for 10-15 minutes more to set.
- Serve with a tall glass of plant-based milk and enjoy!
Notes
- These cookies can be stored in an airtight container on your counter for up to 1 week.
- If you would like to save this dough for later, you can freeze it! Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and use a cookie scooper to evenly scoop mounds of the dough. You can line them up close together since you are not baking them. Once you have scooped out all of the dough, place the baking sheet into the freezer for 30-60 minutes (the longer the better). Remove the dough mounds from the trays and transfer them to a freezer safe bag. Be sure to keep note of when you freeze them + what time and temperature you need to bake them at! Since the dough is frozen, it might require 1 to 2 minutes or even longer for baking.
- If you don’t have flaxseed meal, you can also use chia seeds.
- If you’re not a fan of raisins, you can substitute them with either chocolate chips or dried cranberries.
- We recommend Miyoko’s or Earth Balance stick butter for this recipe.
- All-Purpose Flour works best for this recipe, but if you’d like to add some whole wheat flour, you can substitute up to 50% of it.
- To make these cookies gluten-free we recommend that you use gluten-free rolled oats. To swap out the flour, the Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-free Baking Flour is what we would recommend– we have not tested it in this recipe but based on success with similar recipes in the past, it is what we would use.
- We just stuck with cinnamon for spicing this up but feel free to add whatever else you would like!
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Cookies
- Method: Oven
Nutrition facts label provided by Nutri Fox.
Disclaimer: The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional’s advice. This page may contain affiliate links, which simply means that we earn a commission if you purchase through those links, but your price remains the same. Thank you for supporting Sweet Simple Vegan!
I made these for a vegan friend and have never baked vegan cookies before. I was SUPER skeptical they’d turn out but they ended up tasting delicious!! Super soft and chewy, well spiced, and as good as any non-vegan oatmeal raisin I’ve had!
This is my second time making these cookies and I can’t speak highly enough about them! Delicious, simple to make and vegan/nut friendly. I encourage everyone to give them a try! 10/10
Best vegan version of an old favorite! I had to use chia and when boiling the raisins…long ago i started soaking them in a bourbon/water mixture and I always do a version of that to plump up raisins.
These look so good! Can any egg replacement be used (such as Just Egg). I always have Just Egg on hand but I don’t always have ground flax seeds.
We haven’t tested this recipe with JustEgg, but it should work!
Really tasty and chewy. Bookmarked to make these again!
This is a super good, easy recipe. I even reduced the sugar a bit, used a 1T scoop and got 30 bite-sized cookies, plenty to even freeze some.
YUM just made these and subbed half the butter w/ applesauce — still amazing!!!!
Easy and quick and delicious! Thank you. I used half the sugars and currents instead of raisins. Will be making these again!
These are by far the BEST oatmeal/raisin cookies I have ever made! This is also the first recipe that I’ve seen that boils the raisins. What a difference this step makes! I made a few alterations to the recipe (just personal preference). I used 1/2 tsp. more of vanilla (I love vanilla!!), I used a chia egg instead of flax and last but not least…I added 3/4 C. of vegan white vanilla baking chips. Perfection! The family cannot keep their hands off of these. Next up…I’m going to make your lemon poppyseed breakfast cookies. I can’t wait! Thank you for making these recipes available!
Delicious! Chewy and crispy!
WOW!!!! These are absolutely AMAZING!!!! I followed the recipe exactly and I also added some dried cranberries!!! Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! They only lasted about 1 hour in my house with 2 growing boys and my hubby!!!
These are perfection! Made them twice and each time they were addictive. I only change one thing, instead of all vegan butter, I half it with vegetable shorting and I just love the texture!
I just made these cookies…and they warmed my heart! They are absolutely delicious!!!!
Awesome & easy!
These cookies are delicious! The recipe made two dozen cookies when using a tablespoon cookie scoop.
Made these Saturday morning, and my brother and I had eaten them all by Sunday evening haha! Really great. Going to make them again this week but will try to pace ourselves better with them.
These were my favourite biscuits pre-vegan so I was very excited to find this recipe and it definitely hit the spot. So good! Thanks so much 🙂
This is a great, classic oatmeal recipe, I loved it. The edges are nice and crisp with a soft chewy center. I made mine with dried cherries instead of raisins and added some dark chocolate chips. A solid cookie I’m definitely going to make again.
Hi Chris,
Do the Flax seed meal need to be ground?
Hey, yes flaxseed meal is ground flax seed 🙂
These look great.. is there a substitute for vegan butter I can use..? I can’t find that in my country.
Hey Alicia! Coconut oil should work 🙂
I’ve been looking for a good vegan oatmeal raisin cookie recipe and I’m so glad I found yours! These cookies were perfectly spiced and deliciously chewy! My family loved them. Thanks for the great recipe!