Vegan Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

The easiest one-bowl vegan peanut butter oatmeal cookies, coming up! With chocolate, of course, and gluten free to boot. These are fabulous thin, chewy cookies with lots of oats, peanut butter, and a nice caramel flavour.

I tested loads of variations of this recipe and I’m very happy to say that this is the perfect peanut butter oatmeal cookie. Depends what you like, I guess, but crispy outer edges and a chewy centre are pretty universally liked.

These weren’t meant to be gluten free but the spelt flour versions just weren’t quite working out the way I wanted them to. Coconut flour adds just the right amount of crisp around the edges – they’re inspired by my gluten free peanut butter cookies.

Why You Should Try This Recipe

Most of the gluten-free and vegan cookie recipes on OE embrace different flavours and textures than traditional cookies. These are an exception and have a very typical, more old-fashioned, cookie taste and flavour – they’re great if you have a craving. They’re also:

• Made in one bowl: less dishes, yes please. Gluten-free baking often only needs one bowl because it’s virtually impossible to over mix.
• No beating needed: the wet ingredients are whisked and then you switch to a spatula or spoon, but there’s no need to bring out the electric mixer.
• They make great ice cream sandwiches: because the cookies are ideally stored in the freezer, they’re perfect for ice cream. See my chocolate coconut milk ice cream recipe for how this can be done.

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Oats: use rolled oats or extra thick, but not quick cook. I have never tested this with other flake types. Use certified GF oats if needed.
• Coconut flour: I tested this recipe with every other flour type in my pantry, and coconut was what gave it the right texture and spread. Don’t be tempted to sub it.
• Sweetener: I used both date syrup and maple syrup during testing and both are excellent, though I particularly like the flavour date syrup adds. Honey can be used if the cookies don’t need to be fully vegan – a darker runny one is best.
• Peanut butter: other nut and seed butters work too. Just make sure you’re looking at the step-by-step photos to make sure your cookie texture is right. Almond or hazelnut butter, sunflower seed butter, and tahini are all good, though the seed butters do make the cookies very slightly bitter.

Step by Step

1. Mix wet ingredients: use a whisk to emulsify fully, mixing very well.
2. Add dry ingredients: add the remaining ingredients except chocolate and mix to combine.

3. Stir in chocolate: mix well to evenly incorporate.
4. Scoop onto baking sheet: line the sheet with parchment and scoop ten cookies.
5. Flatten: use dampened hands to flatten the cookies slightly.
6. Bake: for 10-12 minutes, depending on if you want softer or more crisp cookies.

Recipe Notes

I always use a chopped dark chocolate bar because chocolate chips are exorbitantly expensive here, but a chocolate bar is more likely to burn and spread more while baking than chocolate chips are. If you prefer a more classic oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, then use regular or mini chips.

This is a fairly small batch of cookies, so if you have a large family or would like to freeze some, the recipe can easily be doubled.

A natural peanut butter with no oil or sugar added is essential here. The really sugary stuff with lots of things added to it won’t work as it lacks the same spreading ability due to thickeners. Roasted or raw, salted or unsalted, doesn’t matter. You may want to halve the added salt if your peanut butter already contains salt.

How to Store

Storage: while these can be kept at room temperature or in the refrigerator, they’re best stored in the freezer and eaten from frozen. This is individual preference, of course, and if you prefer a softer cookie, don’t freeze them.

Freezing: place the cooled cookies in an airtight container and freeze for several months. Serve frozen or thawed.

Expert Tips

• Check oven temperature: this is a common problem. Home ovens often run 10-20°C off from what they’re set at (I’ve had an oven that was often 50°C too hot!) so a small oven thermometer works wonders. If you find that your bakes are often failing despite following the recipe exactly, you may need to check this.
• Use parchment paper: while recipes sometimes call for paper when greasing will do just as well, this isn’t one of those times. You must use parchment paper for this recipe as the cookies will stick to a baking sheet, no matter how well greased.
• Don’t make unlisted substitutions: other grain-free flours can’t be subbed 1:1 for coconut flour here. Though you might be able to use cassava flour, or even almond flour, they absorb liquids at a different rate and will require differing amounts. This is a coconut flour specific recipe.
• Use soft peanut butter: the hard, dry bits at the bottom of the jar aren’t ideal for this recipe. It should be runny, or at least spoon-able, but not dry.
• Leave some space: these cookies spread while baking. I use a large baking sheet (the width of my oven, about 55cm) and the batch works well. For a smaller sheet, you may want to go in two batches.

More Gluten Free Cookies

Vegan Almond Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Buckwheat Trail Mix Cookies
Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies
Flourless Chocolate Tahini Cookies (grain free)

If you make these Gluten Free Oatmeal Cookies or any other cookie recipes on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.

This post was originally sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill. It has been updated with sponsored links removed, but please note that the cookies will work well with their extra thick rolled oats.