easy vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
make these easy cookies with common vegan baking staples and in 1 bowl!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp golden flax meal
- 4 tbsp water
- 2 ripe bananas, mashed
- 1/2 C natural unsalted peanut butter (or other nut butter)
- 2 tbsp neutral vegetable oil or melted coconut oil
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (can omit if you don't have)
- 2 C old fashioned gluten-free rolled oats
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 C vegan chocolate chips
- 1/2 C rough chopped pecans (optional)
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 375°F and line a large baking sheet with a silpat mat or parchment paper.
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In a large mixing bowl combine golden flax meal and water and set aside to thicken.
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Once flax mixture is thickened add mashed bananas, peanut butter, oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract if using. Use a whisk to combine this really well.
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To the bowl add rolled oats, sea salt, baking powder, cinnamon, chocolate chips, and pecans. Use a spatula to fold the mixture together until well combined.
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Take a heaping tablespoon, nearly 2 tablespoons of batter and form it into a ball. Place these spaced an inch apart on the baking sheet. Slightly flatten the cookies with your hand and shape into circles or leave them as mounds if you prefer. They will not spread much during baking.
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Continue baking in batches, one baking sheet at time on the middle rack for about 14 to 16 minutes per batch or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean from the center. The bake time may vary depending on moist your cookies are to begin with which may depend on how ripe your bananas are!
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Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes before removing with a spatula onto wire racks to cool.
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Store in a container that's not air tight at room temperature or in the fridge.
Recipe Notes
Rolled oats are only certified gluten-free if it's marked on the package! AND thanks to some readers who have tested using quick cooking rolled oats, they said it worked but probably has a slightly softer texture. I usually advise against quick cooking rolled oats just in case they get mushy, but if it's all you have I think it'll be ok for this recipe.
The bake time may vary depending on the moisture that was in your bananas. In the 2 batches they were quite different. The first took 12 minutes and another batch I made a different day took almost 16 minutes. They should not appear raw at all on the inside. They will have a soft baked texture once cooled.