Gluten free and vegan trail mix cookies made with a mix of whole grain buckwheat and oat flour, mixed seeds, dried fruit, and chocolate. These easy buckwheat cookies can be changed up with whatever add-ins you like as long as you stick to the base recipe, and they make a great snack.
These buckwheat cookies are adapted from a couple of other recipes I’ve shared – these date sweetened oatmeal breakfast cookies and an oldie, hazelnut oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I wanted them to be a bit like chocolate chip cookies but something you could take on a hiking trip too.
The neat thing is here that the cookies aren’t really crumbly at all. Oat and buckwheat flour are great for gluten free baking, easily my favourites, and chia, nut or seed butter, and coconut oil hold everything together here really well.
I chose coconut sugar to do most of the sweetening here. It makes them a bit more dessert like rather than breakfast-y, but with all those seeds it works either way.
Scroll to the bottom of the post or click “skip to recipe” above to see the recipe card with full ingredient measurements and instructions.
Ingredients
It seems like a lot, but these are changeable to what you have on hand – stick to the flour types and chia, and just about anything else in the cookies can be altered to suit what’s in your pantry.
- Buckwheat flour
- Oat flour
- Coconut sugar
- Arrowroot flour (or tapioca or cornstarch)
- Cinnamon
- Baking soda
- Sea salt
- Mixed seeds or nuts
- Raisins or other dried fruit
- Dark chocolate
- Chia
- Nut or seed butter
- Coconut oil
- Non-dairy milk (oat, almond, etc.)
- Maple syrup
Method
If you don’t have the flours on hand, but you have buckwheat groats and rolled oats, you can make your own flour in a high-speed food processor. Just blend until a flour forms (it’s easiest to go by weights for this).
Add the buckwheat flour, oat flour, coconut sugar, arrowroot, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt to a large bowl. Whisk to combine, then stir in the seeds, raisins, chocolate, and chia.
Melt the coconut oil. In another bowl, whisk together the nut butter, coconut oil, milk, and maple syrup. Make sure this mixture has cooled before adding it to the flour mix or the chocolate will melt.
Add the nut butter mixture into the larger bowl and use a wooden spoon to mix until well combined. Don’t worry about over-mixing, it’s not really a concern with gluten free recipes.
Preheat the oven and line two baking sheets. Take scoops of dough (about 2 tablespoons each) and roll them into balls. Place the balls onto the baking sheets, about 5cm (1.5 in.) apart from each other, and flatten them with your hands. They won’t spread much (not enough sugar) so that’s why you press them.
Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes and cool briefly on the tray before removing and cooling fully on a rack. If you have a fan-forced oven, you can bake both trays at once. If you have only one baking sheet, you can bake one batch and then the second, no problem.
Tips and Notes
The cookies freeze quite well in an airtight container. They’re also pretty sturdy! Part of the reason they’re called trail mix cookies is because they work well to bring on a hike and don’t fall apart so easily.
The cookie mixture will seem too wet when you first stir it up, so you let it sit for a few minutes to let the chia do its magic. That’s why the recipe is a bit different than usual and you mix up the dough before heating up the oven. It rests and firms up while the oven heats.
About Buckwheat
Buckwheat, I think, can take a bit of getting used to. As a flour, it’s very neutral and slightly nutty, but the seeds have a texture that can be a bit strange as you chew. If you’re not sure if you like buckwheat seeds then I’d use something else in the mixed seed bit. I haven’t tried these cookies with 100% either oat or buckwheat flour, just the mix. And if you’re not sure, despite the misleading name, buckwheat is totally gluten free!
If you have to buy more buckwheat flour than this recipe calls for, it also makes great gluten free banana pancakes, and several readers have had success using buckwheat to make my tahini banana bread gluten free too. As far as gluten free flours go it’s a solid all-purpose one to have around and has a good flavour.
Substitutions
Flexibility is key here. There are mixed seeds, and other sweeter add-ins (like dried fruits) and those can all be switched up to suit your preferences. I chose sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, and buckwheat for my seeds, with dark chocolate and raisins as the sweeter parts. The nut/seed butter is easy to change up too – sunflower, peanut, almond, and so on, can all be used.
You can use any seeds or nuts you like instead, barring chia or flax. As long as it’s not a seed that sucks up a pile of moisture you’re good. If you have grain free granola kicking around you could toss a cup of that in instead of the seeds too. Other dried fruit can go in place of raisins, and of course you don’t have to add chocolate (but I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t).
I don’t really recommend changing the flours used. There can be some variation in how much liquid is absorbed between types of oat flour and buckwheat flour, so if you feel that the dough seems dry, go ahead and add an extra splash of milk. This might be the case if your nut butter is on the dry side as well.
More Gluten Free Cookies
Vegan Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
Almond Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ultimate Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies
Turmeric Breakfast Cookies
Let’s connect! If you liked this recipe, make sure to leave a comment below, I love hearing from you! Tag me on instagram @occasionallyeggs and #occasionallyeggs so I can see what you’re making, and stay in touch via email, facebook, and pinterest.
Trail Mix Cookies
Gluten free and vegan trail mix cookies made with a mix of whole grain buckwheat and oat flour, mixed seeds, dried fruit, and chocolate. These healthy oat flour and buckwheat cookies can be changed up with whatever add-ins you like as long as you stick to the base recipe, and they make a great snack.
Ingredients
- 120 grams (1 cup) buckwheat flour
- 110 grams (1 cup) oat flour
- 80 grams (1/2 cup) coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 150 grams (1 cup) mixed seeds or nuts
- 60 grams (1/4 cup) dried cranberries or other fruit
- 100 grams (1/2 cup) dark chocolate, chopped
- 50 grams (1/4 cup) chia
- 75 grams (1/4 cup) nut or seed butter
- 60 grams (1/4 cup) coconut oil, melted
- 80 ml (1/3 cup) nondairy milk
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
Instructions
- Add the buckwheat flour, oat flour, coconut sugar, arrowroot, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt to a large bowl. Whisk to remove any lumps, then stir in the seeds, dried cranberries, chocolate, and chia.
- In another bowl, whisk together the nut butter, coconut oil, milk, and maple syrup.
- Add the nut butter mixture to the large bowl and mix until fully incorporated and no streaks of flour remain. Don't worry about over mixing. Let the dough rest while you preheat the oven.
- Heat the oven to 180C (350F) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Measure out about two tablespoons of dough for each cookie and roll them into balls (or use a cookie scoop).
- Place each ball about 5cm (1.5 inches) apart on the prepared baking sheet and flatten slightly with your hand.
- Once all the dough has been used, bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly golden. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the tray for 5 minutes before carefully removing and cooling fully on a rack.
Notes
• As I mentioned above, you can make your own oat and buckwheat flour in a high speed food processor. Just add the same amounts of buckwheat groats and rolled oats into the bowl of a processor and blend until a fine flour forms.
• The mixed seeds or nuts, dried cranberries/fruit, chocolate, and nut/seed butter are all flexible here. Use your favourites for each option as long as you use the same amount in each category. You can leave the chocolate out if you prefer or replace it with more fruit or seeds.
• Not preheating the oven first isn't a typo - the dough needs to sit for a few minutes to allow the chia to absorb some of the moisture and make it easier to handle. Once it's rested slightly, you should be able to roll the dough into balls. If you have a cookie scoop that can be used instead.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
24Serving Size:
1 cookieAmount Per Serving: Calories: 169Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 4gUnsaturated Fat: 5gSodium: 98mgCarbohydrates: 20gFiber: 3gSugar: 10gProtein: 3g
This data is provided by a calculator and is a rough estimation of the nutritional information in this recipe.
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This post was originally published in November 2018. It has been updated with new photos and improvements to the text and recipe as of August 2020.
Katja says
Hi! All of my favourite ingredients in one bite! Have to try! Can I use tapioca flour instead of arrowroot?
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Katja! Yes, I think tapioca would work just fine.
Heidi | The Simple Green says
Seriously, it took me like 30 minutes to scroll through all the preamble to find the recipe…
(JK, obviously).
I’ll definitely give these a go when were back in town; I love how simple the ingredients are! A ‘choose your own adventure cookie’ sounds like an adventure I’d like to have xo
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
lol I GUESS it is a really long post, I didn’t realize. Your scrolling finger has probably fallen off now.
I’m sure you have all the stuff in your pantry, too! I bet Connor would like these too <3
sherri says
Love the recipe – will be playing around with adding some hemp seeds and dates or figs too…yummo
Thanks so much for the great photo and recipe
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Thanks so much, Sherri!
Jenny says
Would these be good to bring on a backpacking camping trip? Are they pretty sturdy cookies?
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
They are quite sturdy! I’ve taken them camping before – just don’t keep them at the bottom of your bag and they should do well.
Jenny says
Awesome! Thank you.
Mia says
Any suggestions for substitutions for the oat flour and chia?
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Both pretty important ingredients in this recipe – I suppose you could try spelt and ground flax, or a gluten free flour blend if you want to keep them gluten free.
anita says
I’m a very avid healthy baker and I love these cookies. They have become my favourite cookie to keep in the freezer for whenever i “need” a dessert. Thank you!