Last Updated on September 22, 2026 by The Allergy Chef
Alright baking buddy, it’s time for us to make an amazing dairy free oatmeal cookie recipe together. These dairy free cookies have a classic chewy texture, and a bright pop of flavour from the cranberries (you can also use raisins or golden raisins), and they’re also gluten-free oatmeal cookies. Personally, I love adding these to a holiday table because the colours just POP.
The nice thing about these dairy-free oatmeal cookies is that they’re pretty inclusive and you can share with your gluten free friends (so long as they tolerate GF oats), your vegan friends, your top 9 free friends, and many more.
So, grab your tools, fire up your oven, and let’s get baking.
Allergy Status (Does Not Include Your White Chocolate Chips of Choice)
Free From: Wheat/Gluten, Dairy, Egg, Soy, Tree Nuts, Peanut, Fish, Shellfish, Sesame, Top 9 Allergens, Alliums, Avocado, Banana, Beans & Lentils, Buckwheat, Carrot, Celery, Cinnamon, Citrus, Coconut, Cruciferous, Garlic, Legume, Lupin, Mushroom, Mustard, Nightshade, Onion, Pea & Pea Protein, Potato (Nightshade Variety), Poultry, Red Meat, Rice, Squash & Gourd, Stone Fruits, Strawberry, Sweet Potato & Yam, Tapioca/Cassava/Yuca/Manioc, Tomato, Yeast
Friendly To: EOE, Vegan
Compatible With: Apple Free, Latex Cross Reactive Foods Free (H/M)
- Apple & Latex Cross Reactive Free: Use an alternative vinegar such as white or rice.
Pascha White Chocolate Chip Ingredients: Organic Cocoa Butter, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Tapioca Starch, Organic Rice Syrup Solids, Organic Rice Maltodextrin, Organic Vanilla, Salt.
Tools Needed for This Dairy Free Oatmeal Cookie Recipe
- Kitchen Scale (this is the one that I love)
- Small Bowl (for flax gel OR beating your eggs)
- Stand Mixer with Paddle Attachment OR Handheld Electric Mixer + Large Bowl
- Baking Tray
- Parchment Paper (you won’t need cooking spray)
- Spatula (this is the one that I really like)
- Cookie Scoop (a medium cookie scoop is the ideal size for these delicious pumpkin cookies)
Recipe Video for These Easy Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
Dairy Free Oatmeal Cookie Ingredients
Pascha White Chocolate Chip Ingredients: Organic Cocoa Butter, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Tapioca Starch, Organic Rice Syrup Solids, Organic Rice Maltodextrin, Organic Vanilla, Salt.
Flax Gel/Bind
- 5 TBSP Golden Flax Meal (use this brand for best results)
- 10 TBSP Water
Note: This is sometimes called a flax egg, but I don’t use the term since there isn’t a universal measurement.
Part 1 Ingredients (Wet Ingredients)
- 225g Dairy Free Butter (also called vegan butter), 8 ounces, room temperature, but not super soft
- 220g Organic Light Brown Sugar
Part 2 Ingredients (Dry Ingredients)
- 200g Organic Gluten Free Purity Protocol Rolled Oats
- 180g Brown Rice Flour, superfine OR Sorghum Flour, superfine
- 30g Arrowroot
- 3 tsp Baking Powder
- 2 tsp Organic Vanilla Extract
- 2 tsp Organic Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
Part 3 Ingredients (Mix-Ins)
Technically, these are optional add-ins, but they really take the cookies to the next level.
- 120g Organic Cranberries
- 130g Organic White Chocolate Chips
Cranberry Note: If possible, source minimally sweetened or unsweetened cranberries.
Chocolate Chip Note: This recipe works with both white and brown chocolate chips.
Ingredient Notes & Substitutes
Flax: If you’re not vegan and you’re not allergic to eggs, you can substitute this with 1 large egg or 2 small/medium eggs that are well whisked. When I call for the flax gel, pour in your whisked egg instead.
Light Brown Sugar: This is a granulated sweetener with a little bit of molasses in the mix. The only sugar substitutes that will work are other granulated sweeteners (dark brown sugar, white sugar, caster sugar, maple sugar, coconut sugar, date sugar, and so on). Liquid sweeteners (maple syrup, agave, etc.) will not work and will ruin your delicious cookies.
Keep in mind, if you make this swap, you’ll be losing some of the depth of flavour, or if you choose an unrefined sweetener, you’ll lose some of the natural sweetness in these cookies. It won’t be the end of the world, but I also want to make sure you’re aware.
Gluten Free Flour: If you don’t need gluten-free flours, you can swap the rice + arrowroot (210g) for an all purpose flour (sometimes called regular flour). Do not swap this for a single flour such as almond flour, oat flour, or coconut flour. It needs to be a proper all purpose flour to work well.
Gluten Free Oats: If you’re not gluten free, not managing Celiac Disease, or don’t have a wheat allergy, you don’t need to use certified gluten-free oats. Use the oats you normally use (I have a kiddo allergic to wheat, and several tasters have Celiac).
Mix-Ins: You can make all sorts of swaps here. Chopped nuts, chopped seeds, different types of chocolate chips, carob chips, and the list goes on. Just try to stick to the same weight as to not disrupt the balance of your delicious cookies.
Dairy Free Oatmeal Cookie Directions
Before we dive into the recipe instructions, preheat your oven.
- Bake Temperature: 325f/163c
- Baking Time: 17 – 19 Minutes
- Cool on Tray Time: 15 Minutes
First, combine your flax and water together in a small bowl. Mix and set aside. This is also a good time to preheat your oven.
For cookies, I use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. If you don’t have a stand mixer, use a large mixing bowl (a medium bowl will be too small) with an electric hand mixer or whisk + wooden spoon or spatula.
Place your empty mixing bowl on your kitchen scale, tare to zero, and add your Part 1 Ingredients (vegan butter and sugar)
Cream (mix) the ingredients together on medium speed for 30 seconds. Turn the mixer off, scrape down the bowl, and return it to your scale. Tare and add the Part 2 Ingredients (dry ingredients). Don’t forget to tare between weighted ingredients.
Return the bowl to the stand, then pulse to combine, and when enough of the flour is wet, turn the mixer on medium speed (this prevents a huge mess). When the ingredients are mostly combined, turn your mixer off.
Add your flax gel (or whisked eggs) and mix again until a cookie dough forms. Turn the mixer off, add your Part 3 Ingredients (optional mix-ins) and mix one last time to combine.
Your cookie dough is now ready to roll.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper, and use a medium or large cookie dough scoop to portion out your dough. Roll each portion between the palm of your hands to form a ball. Place said ball on your baking tray, and press down some (not more than half way). You can comfortably get 12 cookies to a large baking tray (half sheet).
Once the baking sheet is loaded, bake at 325f/163c for 18 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the tray for 15 minutes before transferring or enjoying. Don’t skip this last step as the carryover cooking will help you.
That’s it! You’ve got awesome gluten free, vegan, dairy free oatmeal cookies to enjoy.
Fun Mix-Ins to Try
The white chocolate chips should stay put, and here are some delicious swap ideas for the cranberries. OK, well, I have a few ideas that include a chocolate swap.
- White Chocolate Chips + Dried Blueberries + Lemon Zest
- White Chocolate Chips + Cranberries + Orange Zest (use a good amount of zest, and if you have it, a few drops of food grade organic orange oil, not extract)
- Dark Chocolate Chips + Chopped Cherries
- White Chocolate Chips + Chopped Dried Apples (add a pinch of cinnamon and/or nutmeg as well because that hint of cinnamon will be *chef’s kiss*)
- White Chocolate Chips + Chopped Dried Apricots (only do this if you love apricots as they can be a little polarizing)
- Dark Chocolate Chips + Shredded Zucchini/Courgette (squeeze all the liquid out first)
- Milk Chocolate Chips + Dried Banana or Banana Chips
How to Store Your Dairy Free Oatmeal Cookies
After you’ve got delicious cooled oatmeal cookies, it’s time to store them (assuming you didn’t eat them all with your kids, and no judgement if you did). You can store your cooled cookies on the countertop at room temperature for 4 days (covered), or you can freeze them for many months (the best way if you ask me). I don’t suggest storing your cookies in the refrigerator.
One of the best things about this recipe is that your cookies are freezer friendly. To freeze your white chocolate chip cookies, place them in a single layer on your large baking tray lined with parchment paper. It’s OK if the sides are touching. If you need a second layer, place a piece of parchment paper over the first layer of oatmeal cookies first. The pieces of parchment paper between the layers will prevent the cookies from freezing together and clumping or being hard to separate.
Place the entire baking tray into your freezer. Once your cookies are frozen solid, transfer them to an airtight container or freezer bag. Be sure to label your freezer-safe container with the flavor and date.
These cookies can be frozen for 4 – 6 months before you start to see a decline in the texture. To thaw, leave some cookies out on the counter, at room temperature for 45 – 60 minutes. Once thawed, you’ve got the perfect little treat.
More Awesome Dairy Free Cookie Recipes
Alright baking buddy. You made it this far down the page, and the reward is MOREEEEEEE cookies! I know, right? What’s so cool about all of these dairy free cookie recipes is that they’re also gluten free, vegan, use simple ingredients, and they’re pretty easy to make.
- Vegan Dairy Free Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookie Recipe (such a great recipe for a holiday dessert table)
- Gluten & Dairy Free Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Recipe (amazing chewy cookies)
- Soft Baked Dairy Free Gingerbread Cookies Recipe (also a great holiday cookie option)
- Chocolate Mint Dairy Free Cookie Recipe (this is a MUST make, just for the little candies alone)
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Answering Your Questions About This Dairy Free Oatmeal Cookie Recipe
How does this cookie compare to a classic old fashioned cookie?
Totally different. Like, I’m not going to sit here, blow smoke, and let you think you’re getting something you’re not. These aren’t old fashioned cookies, nor are they a play on one. They’re like, their own little thing.
It’s like an oatmeal cookie and a quasi-sugar cookie got together and said, hey, want to be friends? And then cranberries and white chocolate chips walked by and they were like, hey, can we play too?
So, it’s really great holiday flavours in a delicious cookie vessel, but by no means is this a classic old fashioned cookie. If you want old fashioned, try this gluten free, dairy free oatmeal cookie recipe instead. It’s from my award winning free-from bakery, and I think it may be closer to what you’re looking for.
Is it possible to make these into breakfast cookies?
Usually, breakfast cookies contain a lot less sugar, a fruit like bananas, and more flour and oats. Let’s take a go at it:
Keep the flax and water. Trade the white chocolate chips for chopped walnuts or chopped pecans. I mean, maybe keep 1/3 of them for the sweetness? For nut free, use unsalted chopped sunflower seeds. Keep the cranberries (or swap for raisins, golden raisins, or even goji berries [or a combo]). Oh, dried chopped cherries are another good option.
Swap the light brown sugar for an unrefined sweetener (maple sugar, date sugar, or coconut sugar) and reduce the amount to 85g. Trade half of the sorghum flour for oat flour, use an extra 50g of rolled oats, and finally, add 150g of smashed ripe banana to the mix.
Keep in mind, this is totally untested, but that’s what I’d do, bake it up, then next time, make some adjustments. Also, LOOK at your cookie dough. Does it sort of look like mine from the video? Does it need a little more moisture to stick together? If so, add a little plant based milk of choice until you’re happy. Do a test bake of 2 cookies, then adjust the batter if needed before baking up the rest.
Also, pics or it didn’t happen, so report back with photos of your lovely breakfast cookies.
Can I make this cookie recipe in my food processor?
Honestly, no. Usually I’m like, yeah, go for it, use what you have, rah rah rah, and cheer people on. A food processor is excellent for things like pie crust and power balls (aka protein balls). If you were to use it for this cookie dough recipe, it would kind of liquefy the oats, and you’d lose the classic chewy texture.
Now, if you want to make something like granola butter, you absolutely could use this cookie recipe as a base and use the food processor, then fold in the optional mix-ins at the end.
However, I’m going to assume you want cookies, and tell you that if you don’t have a stand mixer, the next best thing is a large mixing bowl + an electric hand mixer. If you don’t have one, you can mix by hand with a whisk, but it’s going to take some elbow grease.
Who sells the best dairy-free chocolate chips?
OK, so I’m pretty biased, but only because of the allergen stand point. In my world, Pascha and Enjoy Life are always going to be my top picks because they’re gluten free, vegan, dairy free, top 9 free, and more. The inclusion is what I’m really after (so long as it tastes good because there’s no point in inviting everyone for meh food, yanno?)
Now, there are other dairy-free chocolate chips to choose from and you can read about them in this article, my Ultimate Guide to Dairy Free Substitutes. I’ve also included notes on other major allergens, in case you’re more than dairy free.
Which vegan butter is the best for this cookie recipe?
Fun fact! Whilst there are a lot of dairy-free milk and dairy-free butter options on the market these days, I haven’t tried most, and for good reason. My goal is to always include the most amount of people possible, so I always use the Earth Balance food service box that’s top 9 free and coconut free.
Commercially, you can choose from Country Crock, Earth Balance (their line is HUGE), Melt, and a few others. You can read about the different dairy free and vegan butter options in my Ultimate Guide to Dairy Free Substitutes. I’ve linked you to the butter section, and there are notes on other major allergens.
If I were in a situation where I didn’t have taste testers allergic to coconut (most contain coconut these days), I’d do side-by-side bakes and report in. So, I’m going to have to leave that to you. Be sure to let me know which one you think produces the best dairy free cookies.
Can I use coconut sugar in place of the light brown sugar?
Yes, you can swap coconut sugar for light brown sugar and still get a delicious cookie in the end. I will say this though, your cookies will read as less sweet since coconut sugar is an unrefined sweetener.
And in case you’re wondering, you can also use other granulated sweeteners including maple sugar and date sugar.
Could I use coconut oil instead of dairy-free butter?
This is a “just because you can doesn’t mean you should” situation. Well, for most people. Coconut oil has a TASTE and if you don’t love it so much that you want to marry it, don’t make this swap. Seriously, you need to LOVE coconut. Like, buy a house together and everything kind of love.
If you don’t love the taste of coconut oil that much, and you can’t use dairy-free butter, you can use palm shortening or avocado shortening in its place. They will alter the taste and texture a bit, but you’ll still have a pretty good cookie in the end.
Will this make an edible dairy free oatmeal cookie dough?
Yes and no. So, a lot of people think that the eggs in most cookie recipes is the reason you can’t eat it raw. It’s also the flour. In the case of these egg free and dairy free cookies, there’s an easy trick to make it an edible dough: roast/bake the flour. Here’s how it works.
- Measure out the flour, including the rolled oats.
- Transfer the flour to a large baking tray covered in parchment paper.
- Oven roast at 350f/175c for 20 minutes, or until you see some golden brown development. It’s important to spread the flour evenly so you don’t have a bunch of burned little bits in the corner of the tray.
- Allow the flour to cool completely (don’t get impatient and skip this step).
- Make this dairy free oatmeal cookie recipe as instructed. When it’s time to add the flour, add your cooled roasted flour.
- When the cookie dough is done, now you have a proper, safe, edible cookie dough.
Whilst you can store your edible dough on the counter, I suggest storing your edible dough in the fridge. It’s OK to leave some out for 30 minutes if you don’t want it to “taste cold”. You can also pre-portion your edible cookie dough and freeze it. This allows you to grab a little container in the future and have a nice tasty treat.
Do I need to chill these oatmeal cookies before baking?
Great news! There’s no chilling time required, so you can skip the fridge and get straight to baking. Just follow the tasty recipe and pop your cookies straight into the oven once your tray is loaded.
Should I cool these vegan cookies on a wire rack?
No, you don’t need to cool these gluten free vegan cookies on a cooling rack. Just allow them to cool on the baking tray for 15 minutes after they come out of the oven as directed, and you’ll be good to go. Happy baking!
Could I use Bob’s Red Mill all purpose gluten-free flour in place of your flour?
Generally, you can swap my gluten-free flour blend (sorghum + arrowroot in this case) for something like Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour (or King Arthur’s Measure for Measure Flour that’s GF). However, there will be some differences since it is a different blend and usually contains extra ingredients like xanthan gum.
If you opt to swap, just make sure you manage your expectations and go into it eyes wide open because not all GF flours are created equally, and I make a custom free-from blend for each recipe that I develop.
Also, remember, this is an oatmeal cookie recipe, so don’t change the oats for anything.
Are old fashioned oats the same thing as rolled oats?
Yes, they’re going to be the same thing. And in case you need to know, gluten free oats are a 1:1 swap for old-fashioned oats. Also, steel cut oats are not the same thing and should not be used as a substitute.
Can I use quick oats to make these dairy free cookies?
Yup! You can use rolled oats, quick oats, gluten free oats, quick cooking oats, instant oats, or old fashioned oats when making these awesome cookies. However, you cannot use steel cut oats.
Will this gluten free oatmeal cookie recipe turn out well even though there’s no xanthan gum?
Yes!! Great news, well, not great, but you get the idea. I personally have a severe, life threatening corn allergy. That means a LOT of ingredients are off the table, including most xanthan gum.
I’ve been able to own and operate an award winning GF + free-from bakery, all without xanthan gum. Now, I did tinker with guar gum at one point, but when I did side by side comparisons (even with a freeze and thaw test), the guar gum didn’t have a meaningful impact.
Here’s why: I don’t call for gluten free all purpose flour. Instead, I make a custom gluten free flour blend for all of my recipes. This means there’s balance from the start, and you don’t need dough conditioners and enhancers and additives to boost the results. In the case of these gluten & dairy free chocolate chip cookies, even though there’s limited gluten free flours, they’re in perfect balance with the sugar and supporting ingredients, so you don’t need extra bits and bobs to get them to work well.
As long as you follow the recipe as-is, yes, your chewy oatmeal cookies will turn out beautifully, even without xanthan gum, guar gum, and all their friends.
Can I use baking soda instead of baking powder?
Nope, and I’m so glad you asked because they aren’t the same type of leavening agent. Well, no as a 1:1. Generally, you don’t want to use more than half a teaspoon of baking soda in a batch of cookies. If you use more, you’ll negatively impact the flavour. Some recipes can get away with up to a teaspoon, but more than that and people will KNOW.
Since this is a gluten free + egg free recipe, the baking powder is there to provide lift (you can see that bit of puff in the recipe video). If you’re all out of baking powder, you can make your own.
Alternatively, you can use 1/2 tsp baking soda + the acid that’s already in this recipe (apple cider vinegar), and still get a little lift. It won’t be the same, but you’re still going to enjoy these gluten-free oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Can I call them that if it’s white chocolate?
Is a cookie sheet the same thing as a baking tray?
A cookie sheet and a baking tray (also called a baking sheet) are similar, but not quite the same. Unfortunately, a lot of homemade cookie recipes online use the terms interchangeably. A baking tray is solid, without holes, and generally has some weight to it, which prevents warping. It’s also usually dishwasher safe.
On the other hand, a cookie sheet is lighter, usually doesn’t have a lip/raised border, and often has small holes all over to promote better airflow. These slight changes allow for most cookie dough balls to bake up to cookie perfection.
In terms of if you’ll see a huge difference between the two, that’s going to depend on the cookie recipe. Some genuinely require improved airflow to perform their best. If you’re following my recipe, know that for the best cookies, you’ll only need a standard baking tray.
