I’m a creature of habit and when I come across something I fancy, I’ll fall into a rut where that is all I want. Every December, I discover a new Christmas album and listen to it on repeat until I memorize the lyrics to every song. This year it’s Pentatonix, last year was Kelly Clarkson, and the years before that were Michael Buble (oh such a classic).
It’s final exam season for us university students right now so my life is wake up at 7am, study for the whole day, and hop into bed at 10pm because I #can’thandle anymore. No need to change out of my pajamas because I barely see daylight, thanks to the apartment building in front of me that blocks everything.
Whenever I’m in need of a study break (i.e. every 10 minutes), I’ll turn on the Pentatonix Christmas album and sing through the whole album. 10 minutes studying, then 45 minutes of music, and repeat. I’ve been listening to this particular album so much that it got stuck in my head during my chemistry final. Thankfully I was just checking my answers for the 3rd time, because having ‘Winter Wonderland × Don’t Worry Be Happy’ play in the forefront of your brain is very distracting. However, that’s probably better than having the girl sitting next to you hum out loud (or was it a lengthy whimper?) or the guy sitting behind you crunch on a large apple, as per Chew’s experience that evening.
Anyways, another rut: these cookies.
Chew and I can’t stop remaking these cookies over and over and over again because they’re honestly the best vegan oatmeal cookies ever. They’re soft and chewy, vegan, gluten free, and require a few basic ingredients (we have a post about what items we always keep on hand here). The secret to a successful batch of cookies is using the traditional method of creaming the fat and sugar together until creamy, then adding in the ‘egg’.
To make them more fit for the holidays, I gave it a bit of a holiday spin by adding the mighty delicious combination of chocolate and orange. Cardamom adds a subtle floral-y scent too! These are a great addition to the cookie gifts you may be handing out this year. Or, when it’s not Christmas (I’ll be very sad), they make great portable snacks for work or school.
I hope you’ve been enjoying this streak of Christmas cookies lately. We’ve shared a recipe for perfected gingersnaps, salted rosemary chocolate cookies, and these adorable macaroon mountains. All of which I’m very excited to be gifting away to the friends that have been tortured by behind-the-scenes Snapchats for too long.
- 1 tbsp chia seeds, ground + 3 tbsp water
- ⅓ cup soft coconut oil
- ⅓ cup coconut sugar
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- A pinch of salt
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- Zest of ½ a large orange
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 cup oat flour
- ⅓ cup oats
- ½ cup milk chocolate chips or chunks*
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a cookie sheet with a non-stick silicone mat or parchment paper.
- Make a vegan 'egg' by mixing the ground chia seeds and water in a small bowl. Let it gel up while you start the cookie dough.
- In a medium mixing bowl, cream together the coconut oil and coconut sugar until homogeneous and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract, salt, cardamom, and vegan 'egg' and mix until even.
- Add the baking soda, oat flour, and oats and mix until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Portion out golf ball-sized pieces of cookie dough and flatten until about ¾" thick. These cookies don't spread much in the oven so shape them as desired. Arrange cookie dough on prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned, just before the centre is set. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes and then enjoy!
Adapted from our Vegan Walnut Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies
These look amazing! I love cardamon, but haven’t ever tried it in cookies!
The flavor combo of these cookies are out of this world! Such a creative and fun recipe!
I must try this! 😀
Looking forward to trying this recipe! Can we use whole chia seeds for the ‘egg’ mixture? Does it need to be grounded? Been struggling grinding in food processor or blender. Thanks
Hi AJ, the chia seeds can be left whole. Just give it about 5 minutes to gel up with the water. The cookies will have a bit more texture to them but it’ll still turn out yummy!
What other flour can we substitute for oat flour?
Hi AJ, sorry for the late reply! You can try 3/4 cup all purpose flour instead. Oat flour is less absorbent than all purpose so start with less!
Can we substitute ground chia seeds with ground flax seeds? Also have a difficult time grinding chia seeds and wonder if ground flax seeds will have a better texture than whole chia seeds that are completely gelled.
Thank you!
Hi Alex, yes ground flax seed will work in this recipe. Just let it sit with the water for 5-ish minutes to become a gel. I use a coffee grinder to make my own ground chia seeds!
Yummy flavor but cookie crumbles, it’s not edible as a cookie. Followed recipe exactly, allowed cookie to cool completely but still a very crumbly cookie. Was really looking forward to this recipe but it didn’t work out for me unfortunately.
Using in nut milk and adding fruit for a crumble fruit breakfast.