These vegan oatmeal cherry almond cookies are a twist on classic oatmeal raisin cookies. Dried tart cherries take the place of raisins and almonds take the place of walnuts. But the base stays true to the original, yielding cookies (big or small—your choice) that are perfectly crisp on the outside with soft, chewy interiors. Move over, chocolate chip cookies. 👋🏻
Oatmeal raisin cookies might just be my very favorite cookie... at least in this season of life.
And while these cookies clearly aren't oatmeal raisin, they are a nod to the classic. If you're looking for vegan oatmeal raisin cookies, do checkout my almond butter version here, no-bake buttercream slathered version here, and bar version here.
With cherries taking the place of raisins and almonds taking the place of walnuts, these cookies are a sort of summery twist on the original.
While you know I love a good swap to cut back on more refined and gluten-filled options, these oatmeal cookies stay a bit truer to classic veganization methods. Cane sugar, vegan butter, all purpose flour, etc. Not because I don't still adore those closer-to-the-earth, less refined methods but because more and more lately my soul has been calling me to bake without worry or judgment.
I've also been giving more thought to ingredients and how I can make my own recipes more inclusive to a wider audience. Oftentimes it's simply a matter of making things less complicated and fussy.
It's a privilege to eat this way. To have access to nearly any ingredient I need/want/desire. But that isn't the reality for many or even most, and I want my recipes to be welcoming to all. That's always been my mission—for you to know that you don't have to fit into any label or box to be here.
On that note, if there are types of recipes you want to see more of or less of, ingredients you want to see more of or less of, etc., please don't hesitate to reach out via comments or email to let me know. As always, I'm here to learn and so much of that learning comes directly from you.
Speaking of learning from you, I took a quick poll on Instagram the other day to learn more about your cookie size preferences. I'd originally been testing this recipe with small cookies and wanted to know whether you prefer your homemade cookies to be big or small.
A little over half of you (55%) prefer BIG cookies, leaving a still solid 45% of you that prefer small cookies. Who am I to deprive nearly half of you of something you want? And so, my sweet friends, you're getting recipe instructions for how to make both BIG and small cookies.
Total honesty: I thought I'd prefer the big ones, but I actually prefer the small ones. I don't know why but to me they taste better in small form. It doesn't really make sense and yet it's true. But really, you can't go wrong. Both options yield cookies with crispy exteriors and soft, chewy interiors.
Here's a stack of the big ones...
To make them, you'll start by preparing a flax egg. A flax egg is made by whisking together ground flaxseed with a bit of water. The mixture then rests for 5 minutes or until it thickens into a gloopy (highly technical term), egg-like consistency.
While your flax egg gloop-i-fies, you'll cream together cane sugar, vegan butter, molasses, and vanilla. If you don't have cane sugar + molasses but you do have brown sugar, simply use brown sugar instead.
Cane sugar is a bit heartier than granulated sugar and therefore requires a bit more creaming to get it to break down, so you'll beat this mixture for a solid two minutes (I set a timer) before moving on to the next step. This ensures you won't have any gnarly sugar *grit* in your finished cookies.
Once you're done beating the above together, add the flax egg and beat again for just 30 seconds.
In a separate bowl, whisk together rolled oats, flour (bread flour, all purpose, and white spelt flour all work great), baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and beat again until just combined.
Then, add dried tart cherries and slivered/flaked/chopped almonds and beat again for just a few seconds to incorporate.
Your finished dough should look something like this:
Now, you have a choice.
If you prefer BIG, hunky cookies, you'll scoop out mounds of about 3 tablespoons of dough, form each into a ball, and transfer to one of two lined cookie sheets.
If you prefer small, dainty cookies, you'll scoop out just 1 ½ tablespoons of dough, form each into a ball, and transfer to one of two lined cookie sheets.
Here's a shot of the BIG dough balls...
Bake the cookies until golden brown on the bottoms. Big cookies require about 16 minutes, small cookies require about 14 minutes.
Let the cookies cool for about 10 minutes on the pan before moving or enjoying. I find the flavor intensifies the more these cool, so this is an instance where cool cookies > warm cookies. My two cents though, so you do you.
If you make these vegan oatmeal cherry almond cookies, let me know! Leave a comment, rate the recipe, and don’t forget to tag a photo #blissfulbasil on Instagram.
📖 Recipe
Vegan Oatmeal Cherry Almond Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
- 2 tablespoons filtered water
- ½ cup (1 stick) vegan butter
- ¾ cup organic cane sugar*
- 1 tablespoon molasses*
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup bread flour, all purpose flour, or white spelt flour**
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup dried (montmorency) tart cherries
- ¼ cup slivered almonds, shaved almonds, or chopped almonds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flaxseed and the filtered water. Set aside for 5 minutes to thicken.
- To a large mixing bowl, add the vegan butter, sugar, molasses, and vanilla extract. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or hand mixer fitted with the beater attachments, beat on high for 2 minutes.
- Add the flaxseed mixture and beat again for 30 seconds.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture and beat on medium-low until just combined. Don't over-mix.
- Add the dried cherries and almonds and beat again for just a few seconds to incorporate.
- For 22 to 24 small*** cookies: Use a cookie scoop or a spoon to scoop out approximately 1 ½ tablespoons of dough. Form into a ball and transfer to one of the lined cookie sheets. Repeat until all dough is used. You should have about 22 to 24 cookies. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown.
- For 12 large cookies: Use a cookie scoop or a spoon to scoop out 2 ½ to 3 tablespoons of dough. Form into a ball and transfer to one of the lined cookies sheets, leaving a few inches of space between each cookie. Repeat until all dough is used. You should have about 12 cookies. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown.
- Let cool for at least 10 minutes before moving or enjoying.
- Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
groofer says
Look delicious!
Ashley says
Thank you! :)
Brittany says
These look so tasty! What are your thoughts on using fresh cherries? I have some that were going bad that I tossed in the freezer to save. Could it work? Also do you think AP GF flour would work?
Ashley says
Thanks, Brittany! I wouldn't recommend using fresh cherries as they'll soften the cookies and could cause them to come out of the oven a bit soggy. I think AP GF flour should work, but I can't say for certain since I haven't tested it this way yet myself. If you give it a try and have time to share your feedback, I'd LOVE to know how they turn out.
Veronica says
These are so good! I made them with chocolate chips and dates since I didn't have any other dried fruit and they turned out amazing. Thanks for the recipe! I will definitely make them again :)
Ashley says
So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Veronica! Wonderful to know they turned out tasty with the swaps you made, too. Thanks for taking the time to rate and let me know—means a lot. :)
SAV says
I did it with gluten free bread mix flour and sugared cherries From the jar. the dough was very moist but I baked it an extra 10 min or so and they turned out just fine. Thanks for the recipe!!
Ashley says
Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for taking the time to come back and share your ratings and thoughts. :)