These easy-to-make vegan Apple Oatmeal Cookies are flavored with vanilla and cinnamon, making them the perfect homemade fall holiday treats. You can make these deliciously moist and chewy oat cookies generously flecked with apple bits and crushed walnuts in less than 30 minutes!
I have always loved classic Swedish Oatmeal Cookies! They are so much healthier than regular cookies so I can indulge my sweet tooth a bit more. Not only are they dairy-free and eggless, but they are also easy to make gluten-free. This fall season, I decided to step up my oat cookie-making game and make them more fit for the season by adding fresh apples, crunchy walnuts, and a dash of cinnamon. What can be more festive than a warm-spiced homemade cookie made with the season’s best fruits right?
Quick and Easy Homemade Cookies
I love making Christmas cookies! They are easy, fun, and make me feel giddy and warm inside. Plus they make the house smell awesome. Some of my faves are my Cinnamon Stars (German Zimtsterne), Sugar Shortbread Cookies, Linzer Cookies, and of course, my popular Vegan Gingerbread Cookies.
These Apple Cinnamon Cookies might not be as festive-looking as the rest, but I think that it makes a great addition to my Christmas cookie collection. They are great for snacking on a cold winter day with a cup of hot chocolate, matcha tea, dalgona coffee, mulled wine or vegan eggnog and would also be an amazing holiday gift to your neighbors and friends.
Ingredients Needed
- Rolled oats: to give the cookies a softer and cake-like texture, I prefer using quick oats for this apple oatmeal cookie recipe. They are also called oat flakes or rolled porridge oats. However, old-fashioned rolled oats will do too. Use a gluten-free brand as needed.
- Apples: cored and diced. Use baking apples that hold their shape well during baking like Fuji, Gala, Braeburn, Honey Gold or Granny Smith apples.
- Walnuts: chopped into smaller pieces. Other nuts like hazelnuts pecan nuts, macadamia, almonds, and pistachios can also be used to give your apple cookies more texture and flavor. For a nut-free cookie version you can use sunflower seeds, raisins or chocolate chips instead.
- Ground vanilla: to give the cookies a pleasant aroma and flavor. You can also use vanilla extract.
- Cinnamon: this woodsy and warm spice taste exactly like Christmas!
- Flour: you can use all-purpose flour, spelt flour, or gluten-free flour for this recipe.
- Baking powder: to make the cookies rise and make them tender. You can substitute this with 1/2 tsp baking soda.
- Raw cane sugar: you can also use brown sugar, coconut sugar, or granulated sugar.
- Vegan butter: adds a richer flavor and moisture to the cookies. Vegan margarine or coconut oil are the best replacements if you do not have it.
- Lemon juice: this will help keep the apples from browning after slicing them into small pieces.
- Salt
How to make Apple Oatmeal Cookies
As always, I recommend checking out the recipe video and these step-by-step instructions first. Then, you can find the full recipe with the exact measurements in the recipe card below!
Step 1: Make the cookie dough
Start by chopping the apples. Drizzle with lemon juice and set aside. Next, combine oats, flour, baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. In another medium bowl mix the soft vegan butter and sugar with an electric hand mixer (or stand mixer with paddle attachment) until fluffy and creamy. Then add to the dry ingredients and knead briefly.
Step 2: add apples and walnuts, then bake!
Now chop the walnuts. Then add them with the apples to the cookie dough and gently incorporate. Shape into cookies and place them on a prepared cookie sheet. Sprinkle with a little sugar and bake at 356 °F (200 °C) for about 12-15 minutes until slightly golden brown. Allow to cool and enjoy! 🙂
Tips when Making Apple Oat Cookies
- Peeling the apples is not necessary. I prefer them with the peel on because they are much more nutritious and the skin gives the cookies more color.
- Slice the apples into small even pieces to make sure they bake through and you’ll get more of them in every piece.
- If the cookie dough mixture looks too dry after mixing all the ingredients, you can add a little more lemon juice or a dash of water or plant milk to get the perfect consistency.
- Use an ice cream or cookie scoop to scoop out evenly sized cookie dough balls.
- Place the cookies evenly spaced apart on the prepared baking sheet to give them enough space to spread without melding together.
- Let the cookies cool on the sheet pan for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack. The cookies will still be quite soft after baking but will crisp up as they cool.
Make ahead and Storing Notes
Once the cookies have cooled, place them in a cookie tin or airtight container. Place the container in a cool dry spot in your pantry or kitchen and they should last for up to 5 days.
You can make the cookie dough ahead of time. Wrap it tightly in cling foil and place in the fridge overnight. Make sure to take it out to soften a bit at room temperature before shaping and baking to get moist and tender cookies. You can also freeze the dough. It keeps for up to 3 months in the freezer.
This Vegan Apple Oatmeal Cookie recipe is:
- Dairy-free
- Egg-less
- Easy to make
- Rich in fiber
- Moist
- Soft and chewy
- Fruity
- Nutty
- Festive
- The perfect fall cookie for the holidays!
More Vegan Cookie Recipes:
- Shortbread Cookies
- Swedish Oatmeal Cookies
- Linzer Cookies
- Gingerbread Cookies
- Cinnamon Stars
- Vanilla Crescent Cookies
- Nut Corners
- Pecan Pie Bars
- Almond Horns
If you try this apple cinnamon oatmeal cookie recipe, feel free to leave me a comment and a star rating! And if you take a photo of your dessert snacks and share it on Instagram or Facebook, please tag me @biancazapatka and use the hashtag #biancazapatka because I love seeing your creations! Happy baking! 🙂
Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies
Author:You do not have a fitting cake pan at hand right now? Try my Cake Pan Conversion Calculator!
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cup (120 g) rolled oats gluten-free oats if needed
- 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose or spelt flour or gluten-free flour
- 1 tsp baking powder or ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp ground vanilla or 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 pinch of salt
- ½ cup (100 g) raw cane sugar or other sugar to taste
- 4.2 oz (120 g) soft vegan butter or margarine or coconut oil
- 3.5 oz (100 g) apple cored and diced
- ½ lemon squeezed
- ½ cup (60 g) walnuts chopped
Instructions
*Note: Check out the step-by-step pictures and recipe video above!
- Preheat the oven to 356 °F (200 °C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Core the apple and chop it into small cubes. Drizzle with lemon juice and set aside.
- Combine oats, flour, baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon and salt in a bowl.
- In another bowl mix the soft vegan butter and sugar with an electric hand mixer until fluffy and creamy. Then add to the dry ingredients and knead briefly.
- Now add the apples and walnuts and incorporate them into the dough. (If the dough looks too dry, you can add a little more lemon juice or a dash of water or plant milk).
- Shape about 20 cookies from the dough and place them on the prepared baking sheet, leaving enough space between each cookie.
- Sprinkle with a little sugar if desired and bake in a preheated oven for about 12-15 minutes until slightly golden brown. Then allow them to cool completely. (The cookies will still be quite soft after baking, but will crisp up as they cool).
- Store in a cookie tin or airtight container or eat immediately. Enjoy! 🙂
Notes
- To make these cookies gluten-free, you can use a gluten-free flour blend and gluten-free rolled oats.
- More helpful tips and information about the recipe are mentioned in the blog post above!
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Thanks for a great recipe. Very tasty and not too sweet. I love a sugar laden cookie as much as anyone but appreciated a more wholesome taste in these cookies.
Thank you so much. Glad you like it. ❤️
Amazing recipe! Tasty, easy and fast! I will definitely recommend it.
Awesome! Thanks for your feedback! 🙂