Oat Flour Cookies [Gluten-Free, Vegan, Refined Sugar-Free & with Nut-Free Option]

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These soft and chewy Oat Flour Cookies are vegan, gluten-free and refined sugar-free! You can easily make them nut-free too by swapping out the pecans for chocolate chunks or chips.

I'd like to take you on a little trip back in time...

The year was 2015. I was working full time as a marketing assistant for an engineering company while moonlighting as a food blogger. 

Mornings weren't aren't really my thing, so getting to work on time was a daily struggle.

I was lucky to be fully clothed by the time I left the house, which left no time for eating breakfast...that is, not until I arrived at work.

Our office had a fully functional kitchen, of which I took complete advantage. I guess I was in there a little too often because one of my bosses even said he was going to move my desk into the kitchen.

Anyway, each morning I would head straight to the kitchen and prepare my morning grub before I got to my desk. 

In my own defense, sitting at a desk all day isn’t that healthy, so getting up periodically to walk around is good for blood circulation. So what if it’s walking to the kitchen to get food! 😉

My typical "work" breakfast consisted of oatmeal with pecans stirred into it.

Oatmeal is an easy work food to make, unless of course it explodes because the bowl you cooked it in was too small and you end up having to wipe down the entire microwave.

Be warned! It can happen to you! 😉

One way to avoid exploding oatmeal is to use the oats to make cookies instead. That is why you’re here and all.

You may be wondering what any of this had to do with cookies in the first place. Well, one day while eating my oatmeal and pecans, I had a vision - a vision to make oatmeal cookies with pecans.

And to this day, these cookies just happen to be our most pinned recipe on Watch Learn Eat.

HOWEVER, I made it a goal to create a vegan, gluten-free and refined sugar-free version to reflect my current way of eating.

So, I started what I call "the cookie project." After some lots of experimenting, these gluten-free and vegan oat flour cookies were born!

The cookie project has been successfully completed. On a side note, I was just going to say that would be a good title for a show but according to IMDb, The Cookie Project is already a movie...from none other than 2015!

Now if that isn’t a strange coincidence, I don’t know what is!

So, now you can get started on your own cookie project by baking up a batch of these tasty treats. 

What makes these cookies gluten-free?

These cookies are made with gluten-free oat flour rather than all-purpose wheat flour.

Since oats can be subjected to cross-contamination, be sure to purchase certified gluten-free oat flour, such as Bob's Red Mill. I also used Bob's certified gluten-free rolled oats in this recipe. 

What makes this recipe vegan?

To replace the dairy-based butter, I used vegan buttery sticks by Earth Balance. I also substituted aquafaba (liquid from canned chickpeas) for the eggs.

What makes these cookies refined sugar-free?

Instead of using white granulated sugar or refined brown sugar, I used unrefined, organic coconut sugar as the sweetener for this recipe.

How to make these oat flour cookies

Preheat your oven to 350º F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Add vegan butter, coconut sugar, aquafaba and vanilla in a large bowl.

Stir until well combined. In another bowl, combine oat flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Pour flour mixture into butter mixture and stir to combine.

Stir in oats, and add shredded coconut and chopped pecans.

Fold in the coconut and pecans. Use a cookie scoop or your hands to create dough balls and place them on the parchment-lined baking sheet.

Press down on each dough ball lightly with your fingertips. 

Bake approximately 12-16 minutes until cookies are set and edges appear light golden brown.

Cool on baking sheet for approximately 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to continue to cool.

What can I use instead of pecans?

Not a pecan fan? No worries! You can swap out the pecans for chopped walnuts or even vegan, refined sugar-free chocolate chunks or chips.

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