These delicious chocolate chip quinoa cookies are soft, nutty, easy to make in one bowl and the perfect way to use up leftover quinoa. This recipe is vegan, gluten-free and oil-free.

Stack of three gluten-free vegan chocolate chip quinoa cookies against a grey background.

Here are the main ingredients you’ll need to make these simple, healthy quinoa cookies:

  • Oat flour. If you have oats on hand, you’re all set for oat flour. Just blend them up into a fine flour and you’ve got the oat flour needed for the recipe. You can use quick oats, rolled oats or old fashioned oats to make oat flour.
  • Applesauce. You’ll need unsweetened applesauce to help bind, sweeten and replace oil in this recipe. Any brand works or you can use sugar-free homemade applesauce.
  • Sugar. You’ll need a granulated sugar of choice to sweeten the cookies. I used organic cane sugar but coconut sugar, demera, sucanut or any other granulated sugar works. For a sugar-free cookie, you can use Lakanto Monk Fruit Sweetener. I have not tried this recipe with a liquid sweetener.
  • Nut or seed butter. For nut-free cookies, use sunflower seed butter, otherwise almond, cashew or peanut butter all work great.
  • Cooked quinoa. The star of these cookies is quinoa! It adds a wonderful soft texture and perfect, nutty flavour. It’s the perfect way to use up any leftover quinoa you’ve got on hand from other recipes, however, these are so tasty, go ahead and cook up some quinoa just to make a batch! White or red quinoa are both fine to use.
  • Chocolate chips. I used Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips but for a lower-sugar cookie you could always leave them out or substitute them with chopped nuts such as walnuts or pecans. Chopped dark chocolate or cacao paste would also work.
Applesauce, sugar and sunflower seed butter in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon.
Quinoa cookie dough with chocolate chips in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon.

Mixed chocolate chip quinoa cookie dough in a glass mixing bowl with a wooden spoon.
Three chocolate chip cookies stacked on top of each other.

Quinoa Cookies Recipe

These tasty, healthy quinoa cookies are an excellent choice for those with allergies as they’re naturally gluten-free, oil-free, vegan and can be refined sugar-free and nut-free.

They’re super easy to make too and while the cooking time is a little longer than most cookies, they take just minutes to prepare. You’ll love their soft texture and delicious, nutty flavour.

Close up of the inside of chocolate chip quinoa cookies showing the texture.

Love these quinoa cookies? Here are some more recipes you might like (all gluten-free!):

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Stack of three gluten-free vegan chocolate chip quinoa cookies against a grey background.

Chocolate Chip Quinoa Cookies

  • Author: Deryn Macey
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 26 mins
  • Total Time: 31 minutes
  • Yield: 12
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegan
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Description

These wholesome, allergen-friendly cookies have the most amazing texture and perfectly sweet, nutty flavour.


Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup (125 g) unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/3 cup (68 g) organic cane sugar
  • 1/4 cup (60 g) sunflower seed butter (or almond or peanut butter)
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup (100 g) rolled oats blended into fine oat flour
  • 1.5 cups (190 g) cooked quinoa
  • 1/2 cup (85 g) dairy-free chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Add the applesauce, sugar and nut or seed butter, baking powder and salt to a mixing bowl and stir until smooth and combined.
  3. Make some oat flour if you don’t have any prepared, then add the oat flour and quinoa and gently fold to combine.
  4. Fold in the chocolate chips.
  5. Prepare a baking tray with a quick spray of non-stick cooking spray or use a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
  6. Drop spoonfuls of the dough onto the baking tray to make 12 cookies. You can use your fingers to shape them a bit but no need to be perfect.
  7. Bake for 26 minutes then remove from the oven and let cool on the pan for 2-3 minutes before gently transferring to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before storing. The cookies can be stored at room temperature for up to 4 days in an air-tight container, in the fridge for about a week or frozen for up to 2 months.


Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 cookie
  • Calories: 159
  • Sugar: 12 g
  • Sodium: 99 mg
  • Fat: 6 g
  • Carbohydrates: 24 g
  • Fiber: 3 g
  • Protein: 4 g

Keywords: quinoa cookies, vegan quinoa cookies