Reminiscent of a granola bar, these cookies are chock-full of seeds and flavor. And they're incredibly easy to make! Recipe and photo courtesy of Ricki Heller, from Sweet Freedom.
Makes: About 20 cookies
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) pure maple syrup
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) agave nectar, light or dark
- 2 teaspoon (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon (30 ml) natural smooth
almond butter - ⅓ cup (80 ml) tahini (sesame seed paste)
- 1-¼ cups (130 g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats (not quick cooking or instant)
- ¼ cup (35 g) light spelt flour
- ¼ cup (35 g) finely ground flax seeds
- ½ cup (70 g) sunflower seeds, raw or lightly toasted
- ½ cup (75 g) pumpkin seeds, raw or lightly toasted
- ½ cup (100 g) dairy-free chocolate chips
- ⅓ cup (40 g) raisins or dried cranberries
- ⅓ cup (50 g) sesame seeds, raw or lightly toasted
Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper, or spray with nonstick spray.
In a small bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, agave nectar, vanilla, almond butter and tahini until smooth.
In a medium bowl, stir together the remaining ingredients. Pour the wet mixture over the dry and stir to combine well. The mixture will appear a bit crumbly and you may wonder if it will stick together enough; this is as it should be.
Using a small ice cream scoop or tablespoon (15 ml), drop mounds of the mixture about 2 inches (5 cm) apart on cookie sheets (you may need to press the edges a bit for it to hold together). Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, rotating sheets about halfway through, until golden. Allow to cool completely before removing from the sheets (cookies will firm up as they cool). Makes about 20 cookies. May be frozen.
- Sweet tooth still craving? Here are more Vegan Baking and Sweets.
- Explore more of VegKitchen's Vegan Cookies and Bars.
Ricki Heller is the author of Sweet Freedom and several e-books on specialty cooking subjects. Visit her at Diet, Dessert, and Dogs.
renee says
Being celiac is there anything I can replace the spelt flour with?
Nava says
Simply use your favorite GF flour mix - like Bob's Red Mill.
Natalie says
Oh man these look good! But I was hoping that I could make them "school safe"? I want to make something calorie dense like this for her, but her school has a no nuts policy (plus, there is also an anaphylactic allergy to sesame in her classroom!). I think I could replace the almond butter with "Wow Butter" easy enough, but tahini has a unique texture to it. Not sure what I can replace with that? The actual sesame seeds I can replace with hemp seeds easy enough.
Nava says
HI Natalie — you're right, that tahini has a unique taste, but to keep things simple, just substitute with the equivalent amount of your Wow Butter (I'd love to know more about that product!).
Natalie says
"Wow Butter" is a school safe peanut butter replacement. It uses soy beans. It is still a very processed product, so I only use it for the occasional packed lunch. All sunflower seed butters are also made at a factory that also manufacturers peanut or other nut products, so that is not a school safe option either. http://www.soybutter.com/wowbutter.html
KW says
I don't have spelt flour - do you think oat flour would work as a substitution?
Rob says
I LOVE THESE COOKIES.