Vegan Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

These Vegan Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies are the perfect healthy Holiday treat. They're easy to make and made with whole foods plant based ingredients. They're perfectly soft and chewy, nobody would even know they're healthy, or vegan. This recipe is: oil-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and of course, vegan.

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I am so excited to share today's Vegan Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies with you guys! These chewy oatmeal cookies are packed full of nutrient dense ingredients, and are super easy to make. Perfect for holiday baking, or a quick and easy weeknight treat.

Ingredients For Vegan Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies:

Dry Ingredients:

• Gluten-Free Flour - I usually stay away from gluten-free flour mixes, because a majority of them are highly processed, and do not retain much of, or any fiber. However I really like the King Arthur gluten-free blend. It is made with whole grains, and it works just like regular flour!
• Rolled Oats - If you eat a gluten-free diet, make sure that the oats you buy are certified gluten-free. If you can eat gluten, it doesn't matter. It's also important to use rolled oats for this recipe and not quick oats. Quick oats will soak up the liquid faster, and end up drying out your cookies.
• Maple Crystals - If you've been around for awhile, then you know how much I love using maple crystals for baking. They work just like cane sugar, however they are low glycemic, and full of vitamins and minerals. I always get mine from Wilderness Poets. As always my code: "VEGAN10" gets you $10 off your purchase!
• Baking Soda - No cookie is complete without baking soda! Baking soda helps the cookies to spread and bake evenly.
• Salt - A pinch of salt is absolutely necessary to bring together any recipe. These cookies wouldn't be complete without a little saltiness.
• Dried Cranberries - If you're looking for refined sugar-free dried cranberries, the best place to get them is Wilderness Poets. Their dried cranberries are sweetened with apple juice, and taste incredible in these Vegan Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies. Again, the code: "VEGAN10" gets you $10 off your purchase!

Wet Ingredients:

• Flax Egg - Ground flaxseed can easily be turn into a vegan egg substitute by combining it with water and setting it aside. I often see vegan cookie recipes leaving out egg substitutes, but I think it is absolutely vital to the success of the recipe.
• Coconut Butter - This is definitely the trickiest ingredient for this recipe. I've played around with a lot of different brands, and I have found this to be the best.
• Vanilla Extract - Is any cookie complete without vanilla extract? I always opt for Mexican Vanilla, because I find that it has a deeper flavor.
• Water - Definetly not a traditional ingredient for cookie recipes, but since these Vegan Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies are oil-free, it helps the ingredients to stick together better.

How To Properly Use Coconut Butter For Oil-Free Cookies:

Using coconut butter for an oil-free substitute is great. It adds more fiber to the cookies making them more filling, and better for digestion. However if you use the wrong type of coconut butter, or coconut butter in the wrong state, things can go wrong quickly.

If you are going to read any section of this recipe post, this is the section to read. In order to properly use coconut butter for these Vegan Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies, you need to first make sure that you are using a new jar of coconut butter. Opened jars of coconut butter can dry out easily. This will leave you with a dry cookie that will not spread.

Next, make sure that the coconut butter you are using is mixed well, and is a liquid not a solid. If the coconut butter is solid, that means the natural oils have separated, and it will not work. There is a quick hack you can do to fix dried out coconut butter. I often do this so I don't waste older jars. If you take cold pressed coconut oil, and add about a tablespoon back into the coconut butter you can achieve the proper liquid texture.

How is that any healthier? Instead of just eating the saturated fat from the oil, you are eating fiber, protein, and vitamins and minerals. It should still be consumed in moderation, but hey it's the holidays!

How To Make Vegan Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies:

These Vegan Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies are one of my favorite treats to bake. They're full of flavor, healthy, and so easy to make. All you need is a large bowl and a baking sheet.

Begin by making the flax egg and setting aside for about 10 minutes, or until it has achieved an egg like texture. Next sift all the dry ingredients except the oats and cranberries together in a large bowl.

Add the wet ingredients to the bowl and mix. Once the ingredients start to clump together, it is easiest to use your hands. Add the oats and cranberries and mix in. Cover and place in the fridge for about 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350. Scoop the cookies out and place on a baking sheet. Place in the oven to bake for about 12 minutes. Once done, place on a cooling rack, or plate to cool completely. Serve and enjoy!

Frequently Asked Questions:

Can I Use Fresh Cranberries For These Vegan Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies?

Fresh cranberries are everywhere during this time of year. They're perfect for so many different recipes. However I would not recommend them for these cookies. The problem with fresh cranberries is that they have to bake for quite awhile to get soft and sweet.

This is a problem, because cookies do not take long to bake at all. Therefore I strongly recommend that you use dried cranberries for this recipe.

Can I Sub Coconut Oil For Coconut Butter?

If you don't want to deal with the hassle of making coconut butter work for this recipe, or you can't find coconut butter, you can use coconut oil for this recipe. I recommend using about ¼ cup less, since the oil doesn't have any fiber to it, it will bind to the other ingredients much quicker than coconut butter.

If you choose to use coconut oil, make sure you look for a high quality, cold pressed oil. It's also important to make sure that the oil has not been treated to stay in liquid form. It needs to be able to solidify in the cold.

What Are Maple Crystals?

One of my absolute favorite plant based sweeteners for baking is Maple Crystals. Maple Crystals are a natural sweeter that come from maple tree sap. It's raw and has the water removed, so it's perfect for baking cookies.

Maple Crystals contain high amounts of antioxidants, have a lower glycemic index score than other sweeteners, and are rich in zinc, manganese, potassium and calcium! Needless to say they're a great addition to any baked good. My personal favorite way to use them is in recipes like these Vegan Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies, because they melt like sugar which gives the cookies that perfect soft crunch.

Related Vegan Christmas Cookie Recipes:

• Vegan Thumbprint Cookies
• Plant Based Gingerbread Cookies
• Vegan Gluten-Free Samoas
• Healthy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Vegan Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

These Vegan Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies are the perfect healthy Holiday treat. They're easy to make and made with whole foods plant based ingredients. They're perfectly soft and chewy, nobody would even know they're healthy, or vegan. This recipe is: oil-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and of course, vegan.

5 from 12 votes

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Servings 10 cookies

Equipment

• 1 large bowl
• 1 Baking sheet

Ingredients

  

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Dry Ingredients:

• ½ cup gluten-free flour
• ½ cup rolled oats
• ⅔ cup maple crystals "VEGAN10" for $10 off
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 pinch salt
• ⅓ cup dried cranberries "VEGAN10" for $10 off

Wet ingredients:

• ⅓ cup coconut butter check the section above about how to properly use coconut butter in baking.
• `1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 flax egg Use a 1 : 3 ratio of ground flaxseed to water. 1 Flax egg = 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed to 3 tablespoon water.
• 2 tablespoon water

Instructions

 

• Begin by making the flax egg and setting aside for about 10 minutes, or until it has achieved an egg like texture.
• Next sift all the dry ingredients except the oats and cranberries together in a large bowl.
• Add the wet ingredients to the bowl and mix. Once the ingredients start to clump together, I recommend using your hands if you're not using an electric mixer.
• Add the oats and cranberries and mix in. Cover and place in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350. Scoop the cookies out and place on a baking sheet. Place in the oven to bake for about 12 minutes. Once done, place on a cooling rack, or plate to cool completely. Serve and enjoy

Keyword christmas cookies, cookies, cranberry bread, Holiday, lemon blueberry baked oatmeal, vegan oatmeal cranberry cookies

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