Delicious, chunky and thick, crispy on the outside-chewy on the inside-bursting with chocolate chunks and m&m candy pieces-loaded oatmeal peanut butter cookies. A classic favorite cookie, ready to be devoured!
But why Unicorn Cookies, and not just The Best Monster Cookies Around? Because they are rare, amazing, and magical! Let’s be honest – it’s kinda hard to find something that has all three: delicious taste, is gluten free, AND is vegan! Why? Lots of gluten free recipes have to have eggs to bind the ingredients together. There are lots of vegan recipes out there, but they’ll probably have flour. And if you search for healthy gluten free vegan cookies you’re likely to find some combination of dried dates and cooked quinoa topped with three dark chocolate flakes. Not very tasty if you ask me.
So, are these healthy monster cookies? Not necessarily. But if you’re looking for gluten-free monster cookies that align with your values as a vegan, this is THE recipe that you want. I adapted it slightly from the original recipe, passed on to me from a good friend, who’s also a pro at the gluten free life. A few simple tweaks to make them vegan, and here we are!
As an added bonus, these tasty flourless cookies are made with simple ingredients you probably already have on hand, and they are super easy to make! Give them a try and let me know if they deserve the 5 star rating I’ve given them in my head or not 🙂
Steps to make gluten free monster cookies :
Set out vegan butter and allow it to warm to room temperature.
Prepare flax egg by mixing ground flax seed and water, set aside to thicken.
Preheat oven to 350.
Combine oats and baking soda.
In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, use a rubber spatula or electric mixer to combine butter, peanut butter, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract.
Once combined, add flax egg and blend well.
Add dry ingredients and mix until combined. Fold in chocolate and candy. The batter will be very thick!
Use a large ice cream scoop or measuring cup to scoop dough into cookies, using about 1/4 cup per cookie.
Arrange cookie dough balls on large cookie sheet, leaving about 2-3 inches between cookies.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until tops are golden brown and dough has spread to about twice it’s original footprint.
Cool on baking sheet for an additional 15-20 minutes. The cookies will continue cooking slightly, get less puffy, and then firm up as they cool
Transfer to wire cooling rack and cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
Notes:
For best results, I prefer quick cooking oats over old-fashioned oats, but either will work! Old fashioned just have a bit more oat-y texture. You can always give them a quick pulse in a food processor to break them up a little first if you want.
If you’re celiac or on a strict gluten free diet, make sure you get certified gluten-free oats. Oats are naturally gluten free, but can often be cross-contaminated. Bob’s Red Mill or Purity Protocol Oats are good choices.
You can use any plant based butter, but my favorite dairy-free option is Country Crock’s plant butter.
To make sure these are totally vegan, go for dark chocolate chunks and dairy free chocolate candies, such as No Whey Food Choco No No’s. If you’re not concerned about the small amounts of dairy in the chocolate, go for classic or mini m&ms.
I use creamy peanut butter, but there’s no reason you couldn’t swap it out for something different like crunchy peanut butter or even sunflower seed butter. I haven’t tested almond butter, it might be too dry, but if you try it, let me know!
If you’re looking for healthier monster cookies, you might want to go find that quinoa/date recipe I mentioned earlier…haha. Just kidding! I haven’t tested this, but I would imagine you could substitute something like coconut sugar and monkfruit sugar for the sugars, and coconut oil for half the butter, and a little more peanut butter for the other half of the butter.
If you are not vegan, this recipe is still v delicious – just use your standard butter and eggs.
Cookies can be stored in a sealed container at room temperature for up to two weeks, up to two months in the refrigerator, or up to 12 months in the freezer.
And one final note on yield – this is a smaller batch recipe. It should make about 12-15 cookies. I like to make things in smaller batches, especially when I’m testing and tweaking! However, you should very easily be able to double this recipe with no problem if you want a bigger batch.
The Best Gluten Free + Vegan Monster Cookies – AKA Unicorn Cookes
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tbsp ground flax seed for flax egg
- 3 ½ tbsp water for flax egg
- ¼ cup vegan butter softened
- ½ cup peanut butter
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar packed
- ½ tbsp vanilla
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 ¼ cup oats GF if celiac
- ½ cup chocolate chips or chunks dark chocolate/dairy free
- ½ cup Mini M&Ms or No Whey Chocolate Candies
Instructions
- Combine flax seed and water to make flax egg, set aside to thicken. Preheat oven to 350°.
- Stir together oats and baking soda in small bowl, set aside.
- In a large bowl, using a mixer or spatula, combine softened butter, peanut butter, sugars and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Add flax egg and mix well.
- Add oats and baking soda, and once combined, fold in chocolate and candy pieces. Batter will be thick.
- Use large ice cream scoop or 1/4 measuring cup to scoop cookies onto sheet, leaving about 2 inches between cookies.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden and puffy. Allow to cool on sheets for another 20 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.
- Store cooled cookies in an airtight container up to two weeks.
If you’re looking for other gluten free or vegan sweets, check out some of my other recipes!
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