Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies (vegan, gluten-free, whole grain)
These vegan and gluten-free walnut chocolate chip cookies are soft, chewy and made with a healthy amount of walnut butter. They’re also made with oats and oat flour, making them 100% whole grain!
I’m a terribly forgetful and disorganized person. After 3 1/2 years of blogging, I thought it was time to go through my post drafts folder and clean things up.
I found this recipe from March 2011, which was before I even started posting anything. I wanted it to be one of my first posts, but here we are in 2015. Whoops.
These walnut chocolate chip cookies are adapted from Vegetarian Times’ Heart Healthiest Chocolate Chip Cookies in the World, but after tweaking it for the past few years, only the amount of walnuts and oat flour remains the same.
The original recipe is great as is, but somehow I just found myself changing things here and there. I also made it easier by omitting a step where you boil 1/2 cup of water and the sugar.
I assume it has a purpose, but I couldn’t taste any difference between doing that and just adding the sugar to the batter and adding 1/2 cup of milk. I’m all for easier, so that’s what I went with.
It’s worth noting that other nuts don’t seem to work well in these cookies. I’ve tried using the same amount of peanut butter and almond butter, and they came out pretty terribly. Stick with walnuts!
Even if you don’t like walnuts, I bet you’ll love these cookies – just leave out the chopped walnuts!
The recipe calls for processing walnuts in a food processor until you have nut butter. Out of all the nut butters I’ve made, I think walnut butter is the quickest.
It takes about 2 minutes in my food processor. I guess you could also use store-bought walnut butter, but this way is so much cheaper!
If you were hoping for a more Easter-y post today, here’s an awesome 100% whole wheat carrot cake, and here’s a grain-free carrot cake recipe. I hope you all have a lovely Easter! :)
Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies (vegan, gluten-free, whole grain)
Ingredients
- 2 cups (220 grams) walnuts not any other type of nut
- 1 1/2 cups (138 grams) oat flour use certified gluten-free oat flour, if necessary
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup (56 grams) refined coconut oil room temperature
- 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (175 grams) raw sugar or coconut sugar
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) milk of choice (but not canned coconut milk, as it's too thick)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups (161 grams) rolled oats use certified gluten-free oats, if necessary
- 1/2 cup (55 grams) chopped walnuts
- 3/4 cup (128 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips use dairy-free / vegan chocolate, if necessary
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C). Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a food processor fitted with an S-blade, grind the walnuts until they have the consistency of natural peanut butter. Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl, stir together the oat flour, baking powder, and salt. When the walnut butter is ready, transfer it to a large mixing bowl.2 cups (220 grams) walnuts, 1 1/2 cups (138 grams) oat flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon salt
- To the large bowl, add the coconut oil, sugar, milk and vanilla and beat with a large spoon or with an electric hand or stand mixer until well combined. Slowly add in the dry ingredient mixture and stir just until combined.1/4 cup (56 grams) refined coconut oil, 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (175 grams) raw sugar, 1/2 cup (120 ml) milk, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Fold in the oats, walnuts and chocolate chips. Form into 1″ balls and place 3″ apart on the prepared baking sheet. Do not press the balls down.1 3/4 cups (161 grams) rolled oats, 1/2 cup (55 grams) chopped walnuts, 3/4 cup (128 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Bake for 10 minutes or until the centers of the cookies no longer appear wet (they should not brown – if they do, they’re overbaked and will be cakey instead of chewy). They should have formed a light crust.
- Let cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Notes
- If you don’t have oat flour on hand, use a coffee grinder or small food processor to grind rolled or quick oats until powdery.
- I used refined coconut oil, which doesn’t have any coconut flavor. If you use unrefined coconut oil, these will likely have some coconut taste to them.
- The nutrition information provided is calculated as a courtesy and is only an estimate. I am not a licensed nutritionist or dietitian. For the most accurate nutritional data, consult a professional or use your preferred calculator.
- Adapted from Vegetarian Times.
These are now my favorite cookie!!!!!!
I love how there is so much walnuts!
I’m so glad to hear that! Thanks for your feedback. :)
Are these cookies soft and chewy or crunchy?
I plan on making these soon once i get a response.
Thanks in advance
Soft and chewy. :)
I LOVE these cookies. I have made them several times and they come out perfectly even at altitude (almost 10,000 feet). The only adjustment I make is cut the baking powder in half and increase cooking time by 3 extra minutes. Thank you for the recipe!
You’re welcome for the recipe! I’m really glad that you enjoyed them and that they came out well at altitude. Thanks for sharing your adjustments and your comment!
Hi Erin! I had trouble making these cookies! For some reason they did not come out of the oven correctly, instead they didn’t bake very well! when the dough was ready, it would not form in a ball – it was way too sticky and hard to mold. then in the oven the did not rise or spread out, but stayed the same.
any tips? Maybe less coconut oil?
please let me know!
Hi Natalie! I’m sorry that you had problems! You processed the walnuts until it formed a runny nut butter, like natural peanut butter, right? If you didn’t process it long enough, that could explain the problem. Or did you make any subs or changes at all to the recipe?
That is so helpful! Now that I think of it, I did not process the walnuts enough to form a butter. I am retrying the recipe tonight!
Thank you!
You’re welcome! Good luck. :)
hi! awesome recipe both vegan and gf!!
is there anything i can substitute for rolled oats? I just don’t like the taste… sorry.
I was thinking maybe cooked quinoa (I love IT in cookies) but maybe the rolled oats are there to soak the liquids and cooked quinoa doesn’t do it.
maybe ground almonds? cornmeal? ground flax or chia seeds?
thanks for sharing!
Hi! Thanks. :) You’re right in that cooked quinoa doesn’t work as a sub for oat flour. I’ve never found a good sub for it but have read that millet flour, rice flour, or sorghum flour could work. I wouldn’t recommend it, though, since I haven’t tried it. The 1 1/2 cups of oat flour are the base of the recipe so I’d recommend finding a different recipe without oats. :( Sorry about that!
Hi! I made them this morning! I put less sugar but it is still much enjoyable! Thank you for the recipe!!
You’re welcome! I’m happy to hear that they work well with less sugar. :) Thanks for the tip!
Are these cookies supposed to flatten when
Baking? Mine stayed in a ball
They do! I tried flattening the dough balls a little with my hand when I first made them but they flattened too much then. Did you make any subs?
So did mine????
Hi Rachel! You processed the walnuts until it formed a runny nut butter, like natural peanut butter, right? If you didn’t process it long enough, that could explain the problem. Or did you make any subs or changes at all to the recipe?
These were SO yummy! So much flavour with the walnut butter, I’ve never used/made walnut butter before so I was pleasantly surprised! I think I’ll add a bit more salt next time as I think it would give them a ‘salted caramel’ type taste, which I am crazy about!
Yum! I like the idea of adding extra salt. I’m so happy you liked the cookies! Thanks for your comment. :)