Eggless Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

These egg-free oatmeal cookies are just plain GOOD cookies—you’d never know they’re made without eggs! Deliciously chewy, with crisp edges, & perfectly salty-sweet. I baked a batch of eggless oatmeal chocolate chip cookies this time, but you can use this recipe for eggless oatmeal raisin cookies as well! A comforting & easy egg-free treat you can whip up in under 30 minutes.

I do still love to bake & eat classic cookies with eggs. But it’s pretty convenient to know I can make tasty oatmeal chocolate chip cookies without eggs when I don’t have any at home. (Or when eggs are super expensive.) You don’t even need a specific egg substitute like flax eggs or applesauce. This eggless oatmeal cookie recipe uses just butter & milk to replace the eggs!

Perfecting the Eggless Cookie

I’ve made several other eggless cookies using butter & milk to substitute for the eggs, and they turned out delicious—like my eggless sugar cookies & peanut butter cookies. And this is actually the same base as my eggless chocolate chip cookie recipe, except with less flour & a whole lot of oats added. But something about those chewy oats makes this eggless oatmeal cookie recipe the best yet!

Eggless Oatmeal Cookies Ingredients

• Butter. The creamy saturated fats in butter are key to bind these oatmeal cookies together without eggs. Egg yolks are a great binder that can add fluffiness to baked goods, but I’ve found softened butter works just as well—whether I’m making eggless brownies or cookies! Let the butter soften for at least a few hours, or even overnight. Vegan butter should also work in this recipe if you want to make vegan oatmeal cookies.
• White & Brown Sugar. I think the combination of white and brown sugars makes these cookies softer, gooier, & chewier! If needed though, you can use all white sugar.
• Milk of Choice. Any variety of dairy or nondairy milk should work—its main purpose is to replace the moisture that eggs would typically add to the dough. I made my eggless chocolate chip oatmeal cookies with 2% milk (& milk choc chips), but you could also use whole or skim, almond or oat, soy or coconut, whatever you like!
• Vanilla. A bit of vanilla extract adds a sweet, comforting flavor that’s subtle but classic in chocolate chip cookies!
• All-Purpose Flour. This is my go-to reliable flour for baking—particularly eggless desserts like this. I’m already making my oatmeal cookies with no eggs, so I think using a flour with gluten improves the texture overall! I haven’t yet tested this personally, but I do think a gluten-free all-purpose flour could work in this recipe, although the GF cookie’s texture might be different.
• Baking Soda. This is an ideal leavening agent for making chewy oatmeal cookies, helping them to rise a bit & spread as they bake.
• Salt. A little salt goes a long way to make all of the comforting flavors in these cookies shine!
• Rolled Oats. Whether they’re eggless or not, I’ve found the best oatmeal cookies are made with rolled oats rather than quick-cooking oats. Oatmeal cookies are more likely to turn out dry & crumbly if they’re made with quick oats, but rolled oats will give you a moist, chewy, hearty texture.

Choose Your Mix-Ins

You can make egg-free oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with your favorite chocolate chips—milk, semisweet, dark, or white. Or use raisins instead to make egg-free oatmeal raisin cookies! So many different mix-ins could taste great in this eggless oatmeal cookie dough: chopped nuts, dried fruit, shredded coconut, M&M’s, toffee or butterscotch chips. Have fun with it!

How to Make Oatmeal Cookies without Eggs

This is as simple to make as any classic oatmeal cookie recipe—just without the eggs! And the whole process only takes around 25 minutes. The only additional prep that’s essential beforehand is to let your butter soften at room temperature for at least a few hours or up to overnight. (This will allow the butter & sugars to cream together properly.)

1 Mix Wet & Dry Ingredients Separately

In a large bowl, cream together softened butter, white sugar, and brown sugar with a hand mixer, until the mixture is soft & fluffy. Then, beat in milk and vanilla extract until they’re well combined. Separately, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, & salt.

2 Add Dry Ingredients into Wet Mixture

Next, pour the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, this time using a rubber spatula to mix.

Tip: Don’t Over-Mix the Dough!

When mixing the dry into the wet ingredients to form your cookie dough, use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon rather than an electric hand mixer. You want to mix just until the flour is fully incorporated & the dough is consistent—then stop. Overmixing at this stage develops the gluten in the flour, which can make oatmeal cookies turn out harder & tougher in texture.

3 Fold In Mix-Ins & Chill

Once your eggless cookie dough is integrated, use a rubber spatula to fold in rolled oats & any mix-ins: chocolate chips, raisins, chopped nuts, etc. Sometimes the dough can feel sticky at this point, so I like to chill it in the fridge for 30 minutes or so before scooping it into cookies.

4 Portion Dough

To bake these egg-free oatmeal cookies, I prepare 2 large light-colored baking sheets (to prevent browning too fast on the bottoms) with parchment & cooking spray. Then, using a #50 cookie scoop (4-tsp), scoop the dough directly onto the prepared baking sheet and flatten each cookie slightly into a disc. (Mine spread quite a bit in the oven so you don’t need to flatten them much.)

5 Bake Cookies

Finally, bake your eggless oatmeal cookies at 350°F (180°C) for 12 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. (The edges crisp up more as they cool!) Let them cool for about 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store your eggless cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 week, or in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.