Vegan Oatmeal Cookies

Today’s recipe for my Compassion Oatmeal Cookies is dedicated to all those pioneer vegan bakers out there who, through experimentation and innovation, have eased the way for others like me to bake animal-free versions of traditional goodies without sacrificing an iota of taste or flavor.
Anyone who’s learning to bake always hears how baking, unlike cooking, is more science than art. How all the ingredients serve an exact purpose. And how veering even slightly from the measurements and ingredients in a recipe could mean grim consequences- or tough ones or flat ones or just plain tasteless ones.
As a result, most of us have accepted the role of eggs and dairy products like butter and cream in baking without question.
But vegan bakers challenged this notion. The options they suggested appeared a little quaint and even esoteric to those of us not used to natural foods. They asked that we substitute eggs in a recipe with tofu or cornflour or flax seeds and water. Replace dairy with soy milk. And they told us that replacing butter with oil would not really result in a discernible change in taste.
They also pointed out some little-known truths: that chocolate, for instance, could be vegan.
When I first began to bake, as a vegan, I scoured the Internet for suggestions for substitutes to animal products used in baking. I then began experimenting with them, gingerly at first and even a little sceptically. To my surprise, the results were pretty good. What’s more, they challenged me to think and to experiment until I was producing results I could be really proud of. What also appealed to the health nut in me was that most of the substitutes also ended up making my favorite baked goods healthier. I was hooked.
I often tell friends who enjoy eating my vegan Compassion Oatmeal Cookies that they come as close to guilt-free eating (in every way) as any cookie ever will. They are chock-full of nuts, oats and whole wheat goodness, but what’s better, they are absolutely scrumptious.